Murad III

Murad III
Ottoman Caliph Amir al-Mu'minin Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
Life-size portrait, attributed to a Spanish artist, 17th century
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Padishah)
Reign	27 December 1574 – 16 January 1595
Predecessor	Selim II
Successor	Mehmed III
Born	4 July 1546 Manisa, Ottoman Empire
Died	16 January 1595(1595-01-16) (aged 48) Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Burial	Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Consorts	Safiye Sultan Others
Issue Among others	Hümaşah Sultan Ayşe Sultan Mehmed III Şehzade Mahmud Şehzade Selim Fatma Sultan Mihrimah Sultan Fahriye Sultan
Names Murad bin Selim
Dynasty	Ottoman
Father	Selim II
Mother	Nurbanu Sultan
Religion	Sunni Islam
Tughra

Murad III (Ottoman Turkish: مراد ثالث, romanized: Murād-i sālis; Turkish: III. Murad; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavids. The long-independent Morocco was for a time made a vassal of the empire but regained independence in 1582. His reign also saw the empire's expanding influence on the eastern coast of Africa. However, the empire was beset by increasing corruption and inflation from the New World which led to unrest among the Janissary and commoners. Relations with Elizabethan England were cemented during his reign, as both had a common enemy in the Spanish. He was also a great patron of the arts, commissioning the Siyer-i-Nebi and other illustrated manuscripts.