Born in 1673, Ahmed III was the son of Mehmed IV and the brother of Mustafa II, and his mother was Rabia Emetullah Gulnus Sultan. After Suleyman II ascended to the throne, he lived under surveillance in Topkapi Palace for a while with his father Mehmed IV and his older brother Mustafa, and then he was transferred to Edirne. When Mustafa II was dethroned by rebels in 1703, Ahmed III became the next sultan.
Ahmed III tried to maintain the neutrality of the Ottoman Empire by not participating in the wars in Europe, especially between Sweden and Russia. However, when the Swedish king took refuge in the Ottoman Empire without the sultan's knowledge, relations with Russia became tense and he was forced to declare war on Russia in 1711. The Republic of Venice and the Ottoman navy entered into war in the Mediterranean, and the Morea peninsula and some regions in Crete island were seized. In the Austrian war that lasted between 1715-1718, when the Ottoman Empire was defeated, the sultan lost a significant part of Serbia with the Treaty of Passarowitz signed between the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian Archduchy and the Republic of Venice on July 21, 1718. In the East, the Ottoman army and the Iranian-Afghan forces faced each other in 1726 and the Ottomans were defeated in this battle.
Some economic and social problems such as the imposition of new taxes due to the campaigns, the lack of order in the provinces, the banditry of the Janissaries and the widespread unemployment in the capital Istanbul caused a general discontent against the state administrators. Finally, the Patrona Halil Rebellion broke out in 1730. When Ahmed III could not achieve success against the rebels, he was forced to accept their demands and surrender his son-in-law, Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha of Nevsehir, and some statesmen to the rebels by strangling them. Later, he was forced to abdicate the throne and was replaced by Mustafa II's son, Mahmud I. Ahmed III, who spent the last six years of his life locked up in Topkapi Palace, died in 1736 at the age of sixty-three. He was buried in the tomb of his grandmother Valide Turhan Sultan next to Eminonu Yenicami mosque.
Sultan Ahmed III, who ruled during the Tulip Era, which had an important place for the Ottoman Empire, was interested in art, calligraphy and poetry. Since Ahmed III was a sultan who loved gardens and flowers, "florism" became a profession during his time. Later, the tulip, which became a symbol and caused those years to be called the Tulip Era, became a very valuable flower and books were written about its varieties and cultivation methods. The Çiragan ceremonies attended by Ahmed III were also held in gardens and mansions decorated with these valuable tulips, especially around Kagithane on the shores of the Golden Horn, and the Bosphorus, and around Uskudar. During this period, a printing house that printed books in Turkish was established for the first time in 1727 with a decree received from Ahmed III.
Ahmed III was one of the most married amongst Ottoman sultans. His sons Mustafa III and Abdulhamid I later became sultans.