Ottoman Diplomacy Between the Treaty of Belgrade and the Death of Sultan Mahmud I, 1739-1754 The Treaty of Belgrade in 1739 was one of the defining achievements of Sultan Mahmud I’s reign and a lynchpin for Ottoman diplomacy till the death of the Sultan in 1754. The period between 1739-1754 was thus one of the most creative and active eras in the Ottoman Empire’s diplomatic history, in which a series of treaties, Capitulations, embassies, and diplomatic innovations were attempted and enacted by the Sublime Porte. During this fifteen-year period, the Sublime Porte was led by powerful figures such as the Kızlar Ağası Hacı Beşir Ağa (death in 1746) and his successor Moralı Beşir Ağa (1746-1752), the wealthy and influential Gümrük Emini İshak Ağa (death in 1763), the emerging Ottoman diplomat Yirmisekizzade Mehmed Said Efendi (later Paşa, death in 1761), and the greatest Ottoman diplomat of his era, the Reisülküttab for most of this period, Tavukçubaşı Mustafa Efendi (death in 1749). This era also had two highly influential European ambassadors to the Porte, namely Austria’s ambassador the Baron Heinrich von Penckler (1741-1754, later 1762-1766) and the French ambassador the comte des Alleurs (1747-1754). The impact and legacy of the Treaty of Belgrade will be examined, as well as Yirmisekizzade Mehmed Said Paşa’s highly successful embassy to France between the years 1741-1742, the numerous Capitulations given to European powers during this period will also be discussed in this article. Additionally, the Porte’s offer of mediation to the belligerent powers in 1745 during the Austrian War of Succession will be discussed within the greater context of the Ottoman-Persian War of 1743-1746, the Ottoman Empire’s last war against Nadir Shah. The role that Ottoman women and the wives of ambassadors along with the patronage between European and Ottomans will also be discussed in this article. The reign of Mahmud I from the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739 until his death in 1754 was one of the most diplomatically and commercial active and expansive eras in the history of the Ottoman Empire, this article will examine this very unique period in Ottoman history from a diplomatic and commercial perspective.