Biography
Selim III was born at the Topkapı Palace on 24 December 1761, the son of Sultan Mustafa III and Mihrişah Sultan. His uncle Abdul Hamid I, who reigned after Mustafa, oversaw his education, and on Abdul Hamid's death Selim became sultan on 7 April 1789, at the age of 27.
His first years were taken up by wars with Russia and Austria, which ended for the Ottomans with the Treaty of Jassy in 1792. Selim then pressed reforms of the administration and finances and set up permanent embassies in Britain, France, Prussia and Austria. His most ambitious project was the Nizam-i Cedid, a new infantry corps raised from 1797 and trained by European officers, which grew to about 23,000 men.
When Napoleon landed in Egypt in July 1798, Selim declared war on France and fought alongside Russia and Britain until peace was restored in 1802. French influence later returned, and by 1807 the empire was at war with both Russia and Britain. At home, the Janissaries, provincial notables and many religious scholars resented the new army, and a confrontation at Edirne in 1806 forced his reformed troops to withdraw.
On 29 May 1807 rebellious Janissaries deposed Selim and placed his cousin Mustafa IV on the throne. When the reformist Alemdar Mustafa Pasha marched on Constantinople to restore him, Mustafa IV ordered Selim's death, and he was killed in the palace on 28 July 1808. Selim was also an accomplished composer and performer, credited with dozens of works still played in Turkish classical music.
