10 Maddest People Ever To Be In Charge Of A Country

In the rich tradition of insane rulers, it takes some doing to earn the sobriquet 'the Mad'. Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire managed it, perhaps due to the bizarre circumstances of his early life when he was raised in a windowless building called 'the Cage' to keep him from becoming a pawn in the politics of succession. When everyone was dead except for him, Ibrahim emerged from the Cage with a vengeful desire to live life to the full.

'To the full' to Ibrahim meant 'full of as much sex and bling as possible'. He had a thing for virgins and would have them rounded up and brought to his palace in their dozens. He liked fur, too, and carpeted his entire palace in sable.

When an outsider was alleged to have slept with one of his immense harem, he flew into an rage and drowned all 280 concubines in the Rives Bosphorus, pausing only to stab his young son in the face and leave him with a permanent scar.

In 1648 Ibrahim was deposed and thrown back in the Cage, where he went finally, hopelessly, howling mad, screaming day and night until he was finally strangled to death.