Ahmed II

Ahmed II (February 25, 1643 – 1695) was sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Ahmed was the son of Sultan Ibrahim I and succeeded his brother Suleiman II in 1691.

Reign

During his short period of reign, Sultan Ahmed II devoted most of his efforts to the wars against the Habsburgs and foreign policy related to governmental and economic affairs. One of the most important political decisions he made was tax reform and the introduction of the agriculture tax (malikane). Only a few weeks after his ascension to the throne of the Ottoman Empire he suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Slankamen by the Austrians under Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden and was expelled from Hungary.

One of the most significant characteristics of his reign was his dependence on Köprülüzade Fazil Mustafa Pasha, to whom he granted the position of Grand Vizier after his ascension to the throne. When the latter ascended to the position of Grand Vizier, he ordered the execution dozens of officials and replaced them with men more loyal to him than to Ahmed. During Ahmed's reign, the tax system was reviewed through an adjustment to the capabilities of taxpayers affected by the recent wars. He also reformed troop mobilization and increased the pool of recruits for the army with the collaboration of the Balkan and Anatolian tribes. In 1690 he lost the city of Belgrade, a key point at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, to the Habsburgs.

In June 1692, the Habsburgs conquered Arad, in Romania, which had been part of the Ottoman Empire since 1660. Three years later, their troops attempted to recover the city of Arad, but the attempt was in vain. In 1695, with the fall of Gyulia, the only territory in Hungary that was still in the hands of the Ottoman Empire, they lost the war. Three weeks later, on February 6, 1695, Ahmed II died at Edirne Palace, exhausted by illness and pain.

Marriage and offspring

Ahmed II married Rabia Sultan and had four children:

• Sehzade Ibrahim (6 October 1692 – 4 May 1714), twin brother of Selim, became Crown Prince on 22 August 1703.
• Sehzade Selim (6 October 1692 – 15 May 1693), Ibrahim's twin brother.
• Asiye Sultan (24 December 1693 – 9 December 1695).

• Atike Sultan (born and died on October 21, 1694).