Mehmed III Strangled Nineteen Brothers

Upon ascending the throne in 1595, Mehmed III, the Ottoman Empire's 13th sultan, ordered royal executioners to strangle all 19 of his brothers. Such fratricidal successions had occurred before because Ottoman sultans often fathered dozens of children with their concubines, creating numerous potential claimants. Mehmed eliminated every immediate rival and ruled until his death in 1603, when his 13-year-old son Ahmed I succeeded him.

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