The Ottoman sultan, Mehmet Reshad was born on 2 November 1844, in Istanbul. His father one of the most progressive sultans of the empire Abdulmecid, raised him as a reformer. He had private education in the palace. He studied Arabic, Persian, and Islam. He became the heir apparent when his brother Abdulhamid had ascended the throne. Mehmed Reshad succeeded his brother after he was deposed with the 31 March event, in 1909.

Mehmet Reshad was 65 when he came to throne on 27 April 1909. In his early sultanate, he dealt with various revolts in the eastern Anatolia. To restore the unity of the empire he went to Roumelia. Meanwhile, the revolts of the Arab habitants began. Italy benefiting from the chaos, landed on Tripoli and Bingazi (Libya). Later she occupied Twelve Islands, in 1912. Mehmet Reshad tried to save the empire from resolution, but all his efforts were null. With the Ouchy Treaty, signed on 15 October 1912, Tripoli and Bingazi were left to Italian administration.

Mehmet Reshad has lost all his power with the Revolution of Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) on 23 January 1913. From now on, Enver and Talat Pashas took the control of the government and Mehmet Reshad became a symbolic sovereign without authority.