1-632-647 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

Selim III, Ottoman Emperor, (1808). Selim (1761-1808) was Sultan from 1789-1807. Influenced by the events of the French Revolution, he embarked on a programme of westernisation and reform. Resistance from conservative elements culminating in an uprising by the Janissaries prompted him to abandon his reforms however. He was overthrown in 1807 and strangled by order of his successor, Mustafa IV. From A series of Portraits of the Emperors of Turkey, 1808.