Sultan Achmed III

Sultan Ahmed III (1673-1736)

The reign of Sultan Ahmed III knew relative peace in which culture flourished. The sultan was fascinated by western culture and scholarship. At the beginning of the 18th century ambassadors representing the sultan went to the West for the first time, and knowledge and ideas began to flow between the two cultures. The results ranging from the introduction of book printing to the institution of the fire brigade. Round his passion for unusual tulips the sultan organised magnificent events, so that his reign came to be known as the Tulip Era. In 1730 Ahmed III's reign came to a violent end and he was succeeded by Mahmud I (1696-1754), who abolished the extravagant festivals but kept open the relations with the West.