Murad III (born July 4, 1546,Manisa, Ottoman Empire [now in Turkey]—died Jan. 15/16, 1595,Constantinople [now Istanbul]) was anOttomansultan in 1574–95 whose reign saw lengthy wars againstIran andAustria and social and economicdeterioration within the Ottoman state.

Externally Murad continued the military offensive of his predecessors. He took Fez (nowFès, Mor.) from the Portuguese in 1578. He fought an exhaustingwar against Iran (1578–90), which extended his rule overAzerbaijan, Tiflis (nowTbilisi, Georgia),Nahāvand, andHamadān (now in Iran). In Europe he began a long war against Austria (1593–1606), which saw an alliance in 1594 of the Ottoman vassal rulers of Moldavia, Transylvania, and Walachia with Austria in defiance of Ottoman authority.

Murad came under the influence of the women in his harem and of his courtiers, and he ignored the advice of the brilliant grand vizier (chief minister) MehmedSokollu, who was assassinated in 1579. Under Murad, nepotism, heavy taxes necessitated by the long wars, and inflation, aggravated by the influx of cheap South American silver from Spain, all contributed to the decline of the major Ottoman administrative institutions. Thetımar (fief) system suffered dislocation when the peasants, because of high taxes, were forced to leave their lands. The highly effectiveJanissary corps (elite forces), because of a policy ofindiscriminate recruitment, degenerated into a body of ruffians that threatened the urban and rural populations.

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