Selim III

Selim III (Turkish: III. Selim; Ottoman Turkish: Selim-i sâlis; 1761 – 1808), born Selim bin Mustafa, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807.

Biography

Sometime before 1805, Selim came into possession of a Piece of Eden called the Koh-i-Noor. He also learned about the existence of both the Assassins and Templars and sought to prevent them from stealing his "treasure", taking all necessary precautions to protect the Koh-i-Noor.

At some point, Selim took a man named Ahkbar into his employ as a spy, unaware of his Assassin affiliations. When Tavis Olier, the Templar Black Cross, infiltrated his palace in Tripoli in an attempt to retrieve the Koh-i-Noor, the Sultan's guards caught him. Despite Ahkbar's suggestion to kill the man, Selim decided to keep Olier alive in case he would ever need him as a bargaining chip, and had him thrown into the dungeon.

In 1805, Ahkbar tricked Jan van der Graff, a Flemish agent of Napoleon, and Solomon Bolden, the new Black Cross, by giving them directions towards a tunnel where he and several men ambushed them, which resulted in Ahkbar killing Bolden and van der Graff being captured. Afterwards, Selim approached van der Graff after his interrogation and was informed by Ahkbar, who had supervised the interrogation, that the Flemish was not a Templar like Bolden and knew nothing of the true power of the Koh-i-Noor. However, Selim remarked that the Templars could have been using van der Graff as a tool without him being aware of it and ordered him to be thrown into the same cell as Tavis Olier.

In July 1808, Selim was informed by the Libyan Assassins that they intended to buy the Koh-i-Noor and expected him to deliver the relic to them. However, Selim refused to hand over the artifact, believing that its power would allow him to withstand both the Assassins and the Templars. On 28 July, Selim was informed by Ahkbar that the Assassins were approaching and was urged to abandon the palace. Although he did not see a good reason to leave, Selim was convinced by Ahkbar to abandon the palace after being told that Assassins would stop at nothing to retrieve the Koh-i-Noor.

However, much to Selim's shock, Ahkbar then took the box containing the relic, revealing himself to be an Assassin. Selim asked Ahkbar if he was going to kill him, which prompted Ahkbar to reveal that he had poisoned Selim's tea earlier and that he would be dead soon. As Ahkbar had predicted, Selim died shortly after.

Behind the scenes

Historically, Selim III was deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries in 1807, who then placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV. The following year, Selim was killed by a group of assassins in Topkapı Palace in Constantinople on the orders of Mustafa, his last words apparently being "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great").

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Templars