Selim III (1761-1808), the twenty-eighth Ottoman sultan, was a late-18th-century reformer who sought to end the stagnation and decay weakening the empire.

Born on Dec. 24, 1761, Selim was the son of Mustafa III and successor to his uncle Abdul Hamid I, who died April 7, 1789. As a youth, the new sultan had benefited from a moderately free existence in contrast to the century-old custom of caging Osmanli princes. He was better educated then most of his recent predecessors.

Selim initially devoted himself to prosecuting the 2-year-old Austro-Russian War, an outgrowth of the first detailed plan to divide the Ottoman Empire, drawn up by Austria and Russia in 1782. The Peace of Sistova, in August 1791, involved no territorial changes with Austria, but the Peace of Jassy (lasi), in January 1792, advanced the Russian border to the Dniester.

Internal Reforms

Profiting from unrest in Europe which preoccupied his enemies, Selim introduced domestic reforms...