Sultan Mehmed IV

Mehmed IV (January 2, 1642–1693), also known as Dördüncü (fourth) and Avci (hunter), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He was the son of Ibrahim I by a concubine, Turhan Hadice. Soon after his birth, his father and mother quarrelled and Ibrahim was so enraged that he tore Mehmed from his mother's arms and flung the infant into a pool. Fortunately, Mehmed was quickly rescued.

Known as "Avci," the hunter, outdoor exercise took up much of the time of Sultan Mehmed. His reign is notable for a brief revival of Ottoman fortunes led by the ruthless Grand Vizier, Mehmed Köprülü. Köprülü regained the Aegean islands from Venice and fought successful campaigns against Transylvania (1664) and Poland (1670–1674). At one point Ottoman rule was close to extending into Podolia and Ukraine.

A later vizier, Kara Mustafa was less able. Supporting the 1683 Hungarian uprising of Imre Thököly against Austrian rule, Kara Mustafa marched a vast army through Hungary and besieged Vienna at the Battle of Vienna. On the Kahlenberg Heights, the Ottomans were utterly routed by the Imperial army (under Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine) and the vengeful Poles led by their King, John III Sobieski. Kara Mustafa was strangled in Belgrade on Mehmed's orders and his head was placed on a column just outside the former palace in Edirne, but it was not enough to save the throne for the Sultan who was deposed and imprisoned at Edirne near his favourite hunting grounds.