Selim III.

Selim III. ( Born December 24, 1762 Konstantin Opel now Istanbul, † July 28, 1808 ibid ) was from 1789 to 1807 Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Selim was a son of Sultan Mustafa III. and a Georgian and succeeded his uncle Abdülhamid I. on the throne. He had associated much with foreigners and had come to the realization that the state must be thoroughly reformed. First, however, he led the wars against Austria and Russia with little success further. Only after the peace of Sistova 1791 with Austria and the Treaty of Jassy ( Iaşi ) in 1792 with Russia he was in Europe a respite, during Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt and Syria from 1798 tape all the forces of the Ottoman Empire and also the old alliance with the French let break. However, in the peace treaty of 1802 he was able to secure Egypt again for his kingdom.

Selim made ​​the administrative reforms more effectively, especially in finance, drew a numerous feudal military unreliable vassal, trying to improve the education system. The military, he modernized by establishing a engineer and a maritime school. In addition, committed Selim foreign officers as instructors, by which he. , A small, new corps that made ' train Nizam -ı Cedîd / نظام جديد /, New Order These troops were so well organized that they were able to hold their own against rebellious Janissaries in the European provinces. Encouraged by this success, Selim issued an order that in future each year selected men should be transferred from the ranks of the Janissaries in the new force. When Selim then began to prepare plans for a sort of general conscription, the Janissaries charged in Adrian Opel ( Edirne ). Given the number of rebels, who is said to have exceeded 10,000, and given the violence of their opposition, which was also supported by the clergy, presented Selim 1806, the reforms first one.

Serbia, Egypt and other regions were sequentially scene of clashes, in which the Turks proved unsuccessful. The Janissaries rose again to revolt, and brought the Şeyhülislâm to issue a fatwa against the reforms. On May 29, 1807 dethroned and imprisoned Selim and they brought his nephew Mustafa on the throne.

Bairakdar Mustafa Pasha, the Pasha of Rustchuk, a staunch supporter of the reforms, now a 40,000- strong army gathered and marched on the capital to employ the fallen man again as Sultan. However, it was too late; Selim had been murdered. In order to continue the reforms anyway, his brother Mahmud was appointed as the new ruler after Mustafa's dismissal.

Selim's legacy are his valuable compositions for classical Turkish music. He was very artistic and was a lover of music. A total of 46 musical works and maqama are known today. His uncle Abdülhamid I. Selim granted a good education.