Ibrahim (; Ottoman Turkish: ابراهيم; Turkish: İbrahim; 13 October 1617 – 18 August 1648) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1640 until 1648.
He was born in Constantinople as the last son of sultan Ahmed I (1590–1617) and Kösem Sultan (1589–1651), also known as Mahpeyker Sultan, an ethnically Greek woman claimed to originally be named Anastasía.
He was called Ibrahim the Mad (Turkish: Deli İbrahim) due to his mental condition and behavior. However, historian Scott Rank notes that his opponents spread rumors of the sultan's insanity, and some historians suggest that he was more incompetent than mad.
Ibrahim was born on 13 October 1617 as the last son of Sultan Ahmed I and his Haseki Kösem Sultan and when he was only an infant his father died and Ibrahim's uncle Mustafa I became the new sultan. Kösem Sultan and her children, including an infant Ibrahim, were sent to the Old Palace. After his brother Murad IV inherited the throne from his uncle Mustafa I, Ibrahim was confined in the Kafes, which affected his health. Murad had Ibrahim's two surviving half-brothers Şehzade Bayezid, Şehzade Süleyman and a few years later, one full-brother Şehzade Kasım executed and Ibrahim feared that he would be next, but after his older brother Murad's death, Ibrahim became Sultan.
One of the most notorious Ottoman Sultans, Ibrahim spent all of his early life in the close confinement of the Kafes before succeeding his brother Murad IV (1623–40) in 1640. Three of their brothers had been executed by Murad, and Ibrahim lived in terror, expecting to be killed at any moment. His life was saved only by the intervention of Kösem Sultan, mother of Ibrahim and Murad.
Murad's death left Ibrahim as the sole surviving prince of the dynasty. Upon being asked by Grand Vizier Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha to assume the Sultanate, Ibrahim suspected that Murad was still alive and plotting to trap him. It took the combined persuasion of Kösem and the Grand Vizier, and personal examination of his brother's dead body, to make Ibrahim accept the throne.
During the early years of Ibrahim's reign, he retreated from politics and turned increasingly to his harem for comfort and pleasure. During his sultanate, the harem achieved new levels of luxury in perfumes, textiles and jewelry. His love of women and furs led him to have a room entirely lined with lynx and sable. His behavior caused political instability in the empire. He once started a large rebellion from several Ottoman Beylerbeyi (administrators) attempting to coerce the governor of Sivas into handing over Perihan Hanım, the wife of a Vizier for his personal harem (which would not be permissible in Islam). The resulting skirmishes between the Ottoman army and rioters even led to Köprülü Mehmed Pasha being captured by the rioters. Due to his infatuation with furs, the French dubbed him "Le Fou de Fourrures" ("The Madman of the Furs"). Kösem Sultan kept her son in check by supplying him with virgins that she personally purchased from the slave market, as well as overweight women, whom he craved.
An account of his reign is given by Demetrius Cantemir. He wrote of Ibrahim:
"As Murat was wholly addicted to wine, so was Ibrahim to lust. They say that he spent all his time in sensual pleasure and when nature was exhausted with the frequent repetition of venereal delights, he endeavoured to restore it with potions or commanded a beautiful virgin richly habited to be brought to him by his mother, the Grand Vezir, or some other great man. He covered the walls of his chamber with looking glasses [mirrors] so that his love battles might seem to be enacted in several places at once. He ordered his pillows to be stuffed with rich furs so that the bed designed for the Imperial pleasure might be the more precious. Nay, he put sable skins under him in a notion that his lust might be flamed if his love toil were rendered more difficult by the glowing of his knees."
Kara Mustafa Pasha remained the Grand Vizier during the first four years of Ibrahim's reign, keeping the Empire stable. With the Treaty of Sèvres (15 March 1642), he renewed peace with Austria and in the same year recovered Azov from the Cossacks. Kara Mustafa also stabilized the currency with coinage reform, sought to stabilize the economy with a new land-survey, reduced the number of janissaries, removed non-contributing members from the state payrolls, and curbed the power of disobedient provincial governors. During these years, Ibrahim showed concern with properly ruling the empire, as shown in his handwritten communications with the Grand Vizier. Kara Mustafa in turn wrote a memo on public affairs to coach his inexperienced master. Ibrahim's replies to Kara Mustafa's reports show that he had actually received a good education. Ibrahim often traveled in disguise, inspecting the markets of Istanbul and ordering the Grand Vizier to correct any problems that he observed.
Ibrahim was often distracted by recurring headaches and attacks of physical weakness, perhaps caused by the mental trauma of his early years. Since he was the only surviving male member of the Ottoman dynasty, Ibrahim was encouraged by his mother Kösem Sultan to distract himself with harem girls and soon fathered three future sultans: Mehmed IV, Suleiman II and Ahmed II. The distractions of the harem allowed Kösem Sultan to gain power and rule in his name, yet even she fell victim to the Sultan's disfavor and left the Imperial Palace.
Ibrahim came under the influence of various unsuitable people, such as mistress of the imperial harem Şekerpare Hatun and the charlatan Cinci Hoca, who pretended to cure the Sultan's physical ailments. The latter, along with his allies Silahdar Yusuf Agha and Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha, enriched themselves with bribes and eventually usurped enough power to secure the execution of Grand Vizier Ḳara Muṣṭafā. Cinci Hoca became Kadiasker (High Judge) of Anatolia. Yusuf Agha became Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral) and Sultanzade Mehmed, Grand Vizier.
In 1644, the Knights of Malta seized a ship carrying high-status pilgrims to Mecca. Since the Knights had docked in Crete, Kapudan Yusuf Pasha encouraged Ibrahim to invade the island. This began 24 years of war with Venice. Crete did not completely fall under Ottoman domination until 1669. In spite of the decline of La Serenissima, Venetian ships won victories throughout the Aegean, capturing Tenedos (1646) and blockading the Dardanelles. Kapudan Yusuf enjoyed temporary success in conquering Canea, starting a jealous rivalry with Nevesinli Salih Pasha, the recently installed grand vizier. The rivalry led to Yusuf's execution (January 1646) soon after the Grand Vizier's deposition (December 1645).
With his cronies in power, Ibrahim's extravagant tendencies went unchecked. He raised eight concubines to the favored position of haseki sultan (royal consort), granting each riches and land. After legally marrying the concubine Telli Haseki Sultan, he ordered the palace of Ibrahim Pasha to be carpeted in sable furs and given to her.
Mass discontent was caused by the Venetian blockade of the Dardanelles—which created scarcities in the capital—and the imposition of heavy taxes during a war economy to pay for Ibrahim's whims. In 1647 the Grand Vizier Nevesinli Salih Pasha, Kösem Sultan, and the şeyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi unsuccessfully plotted to depose the sultan and replace him with one of his sons. Salih Pasha was executed, and Kösem Sultan was exiled from the harem.
The next year, the Janissaries and members of the ulema revolted. On 8 August 1648, corrupt Grand Vizier Ahmed Pasha was strangled and torn to shreds by an angry mob, gaining the posthumous nickname "Hezarpare" ("thousand pieces"). On the same day, Ibrahim was seized and imprisoned in Topkapı Palace. Kösem gave consent to her son's fall, saying "In the end, he will leave neither you nor me alive. We will lose control of the government. The whole society is in ruins. Have him removed from the throne immediately."