Kosem Sultan

Kösem Sultan (c. 1589-1651), also known by her harem name Mahpeyker, was the wife of Sultan Ahmed I and mother of Sultans Murad IV and Ibrahim I. As valide sultan and regent she dominated Ottoman politics for four decades before being killed in a palace power struggle with her rival, Turhan Sultan.

Mehmed IV (1642-1693) reigned thirty-nine years from the age of six. His reign spanned the near-collapse of the 1650s, the Kopruluu recovery, the capture of Candia, the failure before Vienna in 1683, and the losses that led to his deposition in 1687.

Murad IV (1612-1640) became Ottoman sultan at eleven, took personal control at twenty in 1632, and imposed order by force. He banned tobacco, alcohol and coffeehouses, recaptured Baghdad from the Safavids in 1638, and fixed the eastern frontier by the Treaty of Zuhab.