Mehmed IV

Mehmed IV took the throne in 1648 as a child, installed after a coup tore his father down. What followed was four decades of rule split into thirds: early chaos, a long middle surge tied to the Köprülü grand viziers who steadied the state and drove conquest, then a final unraveling. The empire pressed farther into Europe than it ever had, and Mehmed earned the title gazi - holy warrior - for the campaigns waged in his name. But he spent those years hunting, a passion that defined him more than governance. In 1687, soldiers fed up with losses in the War of the Holy League forced him out. He withdrew to Edirne and lived there quietly until his death in 1693, six years after the throne left him.