The Mad Sultan

An Historical Curiosity

of an Empire in Decline

Mustafa I

One of the most curious episodes in modern history was the long, prolonged decline of the Ottoman Empire. Its rise was in many ways surprising but it’s very prolonged decline until the state finally ended shortly after the end of the First World War was one of the most prolonged, protracted declines ever. And the story of that decline is a fascinating one filled with amusing and not so amusing stories. This is one of the more amusing, if only in a black way, stories. This is the story of the mad Sultan who was Sultan twice.