[1][2] Both he and his half-brother, Mahmud II, were the last remaining male members of the House of Osman after their cousin, the reformist Sultan Selim III (1789–1807).

Mustafa was Sultan Selim III's favourite crown prince, but he deceived his cousin and cooperated with the rebels to take his throne.

[4] He came to the throne in the wake of the turbulent events that led to the fatwa against Selim for "introduc[ing] among the Muslims the manners of infidels and showing an intention to suppress the Janissaries".

Immediately upon ascending to the throne, the Janissaries rioted throughout Constantinople, looting and murdering anyone who appeared to support Selim.

[6] More threatening, however, was a truce signed with the Russians, which freed Mustafa Pasha, a pro-reformist commander stationed on the Danube, to march his army back to Constantinople to restore Selim.

[5] Sarıbeyzade Aleko, the interpreter of Fenerli Divan-ı Hümayun, was executed on 11 September 1807 because he was involved in spying on government affairs unrelated to his job.

The pro-New Order protestors in Anatolia and Çapanoğlu Süleyman Bey, in the first place, had cut all kinds of aid towards Istanbul.