Ahmed III

Grand Vizier Çorlulu Ali Pasha, whom Ahmed appointed, provided valuable assistance in administrative affairs and implemented new measures for the treasury.

[11] During his princehood in Edirne, Ahmed made friends with a bright officer-scribe, Ibrahim, from the city of Nevşehir, who was to become one of the outstanding Grand Viziers of his future reign.

[16] Fındıklılı Mehmed Ağa welcomed the new sultan at the Harem gate on the Hasoda side, entered the arm, brought him to the Cardigan-i Saadet Department and placed them on the throne, and were among the first to pay tribute to him.

He afforded refuge in Ottoman territory to Charles XII of Sweden (1682–1718) after the Swedish defeat at the hands of Peter I of Russia (1672–1725) in the Battle of Poltava of 1709.

[19] In 1710 Charles XII convinced Sultan Ahmed III to declare war against Russia, and the Ottoman forces under Baltacı Mehmet Pasha won a major victory at the Battle of Prut.

In the aftermath, Russia returned Azov back to the Ottomans, agreed to demolish the fortress of Taganrog and others in the area, and to stop interfering in the affairs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Forced against his will into war with Russia, Ahmed III came nearer than any Ottoman sovereign before or since to breaking the power of his northern rival, whose armies his grand vizier Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha succeeded in completely surrounding at the Pruth River Campaign in 1711.

However, this was halted as a report reached Istanbul that the Safavids were invading the Ottoman Empire, causing a period of panic, turning the Sultan's attention away from Russia.

The unsuccessful battle, also commanded by Silahdar Ali Pasha, ended with the Treaty of Passarowitz, signed on 21 July 1718, according to which Belgrade, Banat, and Wallachia were ceded to Austria.

[21] Nevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha who was the second leading figure of the empire after Ahmed had joined the Morea campaign in 1715, and was appointed as the city of Nish's minister of finance the following year.

Ibrahim Pasha's policy of peace suited Ahmed well since he had no wish to lead any military campaigns, in addition to the fact that his interest in art and culture made him reluctant to leave his Istanbul.

Ahmed III left the finances of the Ottoman Empire in a flourishing condition, which had remarkably been obtained without excessive taxation or extortionate procedures.

[22] The Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar, another grandson of Aurangzeb, is also known to have sent a letter to the Ottomans but this time it was received by the Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damad Ibrahim Pasha.

The letter provided a graphic description of the efforts of the Mughal commander Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha fighting against the Rajput and Maratha rebellion.

[24] A library was built by Ahmed in 1724–1725 situated next to the tomb entrance of Turhan Sultan, the structure has stone-brick alternate meshed walls, is square-shaped and covered with a flattened dome with an octagonal rim, which is provided with pendentives.

The districts of Unkapanı, Azapkapı, Zeyrek, Fatih, Saraçhane, Horhor, Etmeydanı, Molla Gürani, Altımermer, Ayazma Gate, Kantarcılar, Vefa, Vez Neciler, Old Rooms, Acemioğlanlar Barracks, Çukur Çeşme, Langa, Davudpaşa were burned from the fire.

The Sultan is in the company of five other deposed European monarchs, and he tells Candide, who initially doubts his credentials: I am not jesting, my name is Achmet III.

In fact, there is no evidence of the deposed Sultan being allowed to make such foreign travels, nor did Voltaire (or Gürsel) assert that it had any actual historical foundation.

Ahmed III is proclaimed sultan and prepares to gird the sword of Osman
Ahmed III in the Imperial Darbar of Topkapi Palace.
Sultan Ahmed III at a reception, painted in 1720
Sultan Ahmed III receives French ambassador Vicomte d'Andrezel at Topkapı Palace .
French ambassador Marquis de Bonnac being received by Sultan Ahmed III.