Turkey: Portrait of Sultan Mustafa III (1757-1774), late 18th century miniature.

Mustafa III (January 28, 1717 - January 21, 1774) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703-30) and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I (1774-89). An energetic and perceptive ruler, Mustafa III sought to modernize the army and the internal state machinery to bring his empire in line with the Powers of Europe. Unfortunately the Ottoman state had declined so far that any general attempts at modernization were but a drop in the ocean, while any major plans to change the administrative status quo immediately roused the conservative Janissaries and imams to the point of rebellion.