Ottoman sultan who on succeeding to the throne in 1730 restored order after the Patrona Halil (Halil, Patrona) uprising in Constantinople; during his reign the Ottomans fought a successful war against Austria and Russia, culminating in the Treaty of Belgrade (1739).

Mahmud spent the first months of his rule eliminating the rebels, and in 1731 he suppressed a Janissary uprising. A war with Iran that lasted, with intervals, until 1746 was inconclusive. Mahmud, advised by Comte de Bonneval (Humbaraci Ahmed Paşa, a French convert to Islām), participated in political and military affairs and attempted a partial reform of the army. A patron of music and literature, he wrote poetry in Arabic.