His reign is most notable for the Ottoman–Safavid War, of which the outcome would partition the Caucasus between the two Imperial powers for around two centuries, while it also roughly laid the foundation for the current Turkey–Iran–Iraq borders.

Murad IV was born on 27 July 1612 to Ahmed I (reign 1603 – 1617) and his consort and later wife Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek.

In this period, the Safavid Empire invaded Iraq, Northern Anatolia erupted in revolts, and in 1631 the Janissaries stormed the palace and killed the Grand Vizier, among others.

At the age of 16 in 1628, he had his brother-in-law (his sister Fatma Sultan's husband, who was also the former governor of Egypt), Kara Mustafa Pasha, executed for a claimed action "against the law of God".

[6] An epidemic, which started in the summer of 1625 and was called the plague of Bayrampaşa, spread to threaten the population of Constantinople (present day Istanbul).

[6] In 1632, Murad IV banned the smoking of tobacco and opium and closed coffeehouses, which were believed to be centers of sedition.

Also in the same year as noted by Dimitrie Cantemir, he legalized the selling and drinking of alcohol even for Muslims, an act which had no precedent at the time.

[12] Murad IV's reign is most notable for the Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–39) against Persia (today Iran) in which Ottoman forces managed to conquer Azerbaijan, occupying Tabriz, Hamadan, and capturing Baghdad in 1638.

Murad IV gave them the finest weapons, saddles and Kaftans and ordered his forces to accompany the Mughals to the port of Basra, where they set sail to Thatta and finally Surat.

[19] Due to the prominence of his mother Kösem Sultan during his reign and the fact that all of his sons died in infancy, Murad IV's family is not well known.

[38] Rumours had circulated that on his deathbed, Murad IV ordered the execution of his mentally disabled brother, Ibrahim (reigned 1640–48), which would have meant the end of the Ottoman line.