The dawn of 1821 set up the Ottoman Empire stretched to its limits. Sultan Mahmud II, hardened by times of conspiracy and rebellion, believed he'd eventually gained a measure of stability after suppressing the Serbs and defying the rebellious Ali Pasha of Ioannina. Yet the conglomerate’s internal sins, its decaying service, and the restless intentions of its subject peoples were about to enkindle a disagreement that would burn for nearly a decade.  thoroughfares of Istanbul, and judged the Ottoman state to be on the point of collapse.