Atmeydanı incident was a rebellion in the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 during the stagnation period. The name Atmeydanı refers to modern Sultan Ahmet Square in İstanbul ( Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 Hippodrome of Constantinople).

Background

Sultan İbrahim

Ibrahim I

Ibrahim I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1640 until 1648. He was born in Istanbul the son of Ahmed I by Valide Sultan Kadinefendi Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Anastasia...

 of the Ottoman Empire was dethroned (12 August 1648) and then killed by the revolters. The new sultan was his 6 years old son Mehmet IV. In the Ottoman Empire it was a custom of the new sultans to tip the soldiers when they ascend the throne. But because of the costly war in Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

, (Cretan War (1645-1669)) the regents of the sultan were unable to pay the tip. The sipahi

Sipahi

Sipahi was the name of several Ottoman cavalry corps...

 corps, the main cavalry units of the Ottoman army were especially complainant, for they were not salaried soldiers.

The incident

Two months later, the Ottoman Porte (government) decided to send sipahi units to Crete . But, the angry sipahis returned to İstanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

 to demand their tips along with some other rights . Some İstanbul citizens also joined them. They gathered in the square named Atmeydanı. According to historian Nicolae Iorga

Nicolae Iorga

Nicolae Iorga was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, poet and playwright. Co-founder of the Democratic Nationalist Party , he served as a member of Parliament, President of the Deputies' Assembly and Senate, cabinet minister and briefly as Prime Minister...

, Kösem Sultan the mother of the former sultan (İbrahim's mother) was secretly supporting them. Although the porte met most of their requests they increased their demands (like execution of some statesmen etc.) The porte sent two sermonizers to them. But the second sermonizer who was actually a member of janissary

Janissary

The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...

 corps was killed by the crowd. Then the janissaries were charged over the sipahis (i.e., infantry troops of the army over the crowd mostly composed of the cavalry troops of the same army.) After the bloody combat more organised janisarries defeated the sipahis.

Aftermath

Sipahis were subdued. But janissaries gained too much power and soon they began the cause of unrest in İstanbul. The troubled years of the empire continued till the beginning of Köprülü era

Köprülü era

The Köprülü era was the period which Ottoman Empire's politics were set by the Grand Viziers, mainly the Köprülü family, which was a notable family of imperial bureaucrats of Albanian origin. Köprülü family generated grand viziers to the Empire, combining ambition with genuine talent...

in 1656.