Sultan of the Ottoman Empire; Murad III (4 July 1546鈥?5/16 January 1595) was the eldest son of Sultan Selim II (1566-74); and succeeded his father in 1574. Murad began his reign by having his five younger brothers strangled. His authority was undermined by the harem influences; more specifically; those of his mother and later of his favorite wife Safiye Sultan. The power had only been maintained under Selim II by the genius of the all-powerful Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokollu who remained in office until his assassination in October 1579. The reign of Murad III was marked by wars with Safavids and Habsburgs and Ottoman economic decline and institutional decay.