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Suleiman the Magnificent

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Historical figures

   Image:20pxOttomanicon.png Suleiman the Magnificent
                             Ottoman Period
          Preceded by:
   Selim I                   Sultan
                             1520–66 Succeeded by:
                                     Selim II
          Preceded by:
   Selim I                   Caliph
                             1520–66 Succeeded by:
                                     Selim II

   Suleiman I ( Modern Turkish: Süleyman; Arabic: سليمان‎ Sulaymān) (
   November 6, 1494 – September 5/ 6, 1566), was the tenth Osmanli Sultan
   of the Ottoman Empire, and its longest-serving, reigning from 1520 to
   1566. Under his leadership, the Ottoman Empire reached its zenith and
   became a world power, and Suleiman was considered one of the
   pre-eminent rulers of 16th-century Europe, a respected rival to Charles
   V, Holy Roman Emperor (1519–56), Francis I of France (1515–47), Henry
   VIII of England (1509–47), and Sigismund II of Poland (1548–72).

   Suleiman personally led Ottoman armies to conquer Belgrade, Rhodes, and
   most of Hungary, besieged Vienna, and annexed huge territories of North
   Africa as far west as Morocco and most of the Middle East. Briefly,
   Ottomans achieved naval dominance in the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea,
   and Persian Gulf, and the empire continued to expand for a century
   after his death.

   Within the empire, Suleiman was known as a fair ruler and an opponent
   of corruption. He was a great patron of artists and philosophers, and
   was noted as one of the greatest Islamic poets, as well as an
   accomplished goldsmith. He is known in the West as Suleiman the
   Magnificent and in the Islamic world as the Lawgiver (in Turkish
   Kanuni; Arabic: القانونى‎, al-Qānūnī), a nickname stemming from his
   complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system.

Early life

   Suleiman was born at Trabzon in modern day Turkey. At the age of seven
   he was sent to study science, history, literature, theology, and
   military techniques in the schools of the Istanbul palace, and as a
   young man maintained a close friendship with Pargalı İbrahim Pasha, a
   slave who would become one of his most trusted advisors.

   Suleiman's early experience of government was as governor of several
   provinces, most notably Bolu in northern Anatolia, and his mother's
   homeland of Caffa in Crimea.

   During the rule of his father, Selim I (1512–20), the Ottoman Empire
   destroyed the rival Mamluk Sultanate, which led to the annexation of
   Syria, Palestine and Egypt, and conquered the holy cities of Mecca and
   Medina. Selim claimed the title of the Khadim ul Haremeyn, "The Servant
   of The Two Holy Shrines", (the Great Mosque in Mecca and the Mosque of
   the Prophet in Medina, the holiest places in Islam), and also claimed
   to be the Caliph, the "guardian of Islam" considered to be the chief
   civil and religious ruler of all Islam, both Shi'ite and Sunni. Selim
   also subjugated Persia, whose ruler Shah Ismail (1501–24) also claimed
   to be the Caliph, and captured Egypt along with Al-Mutawakkil III
   (1509–17), the last Caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, enabling Selim to
   acquire the emblems of the Caliph, the sword and the mantle of the
   Prophet Muhammad.

   Thus, at the age of 26, upon the death of his father, Suleiman ruled a
   substantially more powerful Empire and Sultanate, which he would
   continue to expand until his death in 1566.

Military Achievements

Capture of Belgrade

   Upon succeeding his father, Suleiman began a series of military
   conquests, first putting down a revolt led by the Ottoman-appointed
   governor of Damascus in 1521. By August, 1521, he had completed the
   capture of the city of Belgrade from The Kingdom of Hungary,
   penetrating deeper into the heart of Central Europe.

Rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem

   By 1517 the Islamic Ottoman Empire, ruled by Selim I, took Palestine
   from the Egyptian Mamelukes. Suleiman was so taken with the city of
   Jerusalem and its plight (having suffered centuries of neglect under
   Mameluke rule), that he ordered the construction of a magnificent
   surrounding fortress-wall that still stands around the Old City.

Rhodes

   Selim had planned to assault the Christian stronghold of Rhodes prior
   to his death. In 1522, Suleiman accomplished his father's goal as 400
   ships delivered 200,000 men to the island. Against this force the
   Knights of St. John had about 7,000 men-at-arms, and the walls of the
   city. The resulting siege lasted six months, at the end of which
   Suleiman I permitted the survivors to leave and retreat to the Kingdom
   of Sicily. In exchange, the Knights promised to leave Suleiman's
   subjects in peace; a promise they would soon violate.

Hungary

   Location of Hungary, present time
   Enlarge
   Location of Hungary, present time

   On August 29, 1526 Suleiman I defeated Louis II of Hungary (1516–26) at
   the Battle of Mohács, and Ottoman forces occupied most of Hungary in
   1541. Louis was killed, and upon encountering the lifeless body of the
   twenty-year-old King, Suleiman is said to have lamented, "I came in
   arms against him but it was not my wish that he should be thus cut off
   while he scarcely tasted the sweets of life and royalty.". (Severy, p.
   580)

   Under the Ottoman attacks central authority collapsed and a power
   struggle ensued, with some Hungarian nobles proposing that Ferdinand,
   Archduke of Austria (1519–64), who was ruler of neighbouring Austria
   and tied to Louis II's family by marriage, be King of Hungary, citing
   previous agreements that the Habsburgs would take the Hungarian throne
   if Louis died without heirs. However, other nobles turned to the
   nobleman John Zápolya, who was supported by Suleiman, and who remained
   unrecognized by the Christian powers of Europe. A three-sided conflict
   ensued as Ferdinand moved to assert his rule over as much of the
   Hungarian kingdom as he could, resulting in a three-way partition of
   the Kingdom by 1541: Suleiman claimed most of present-day Hungary,
   known as the Great Alföld, for the Ottoman Empire, and installed
   Zápolya's family as rulers of the independent principality of
   Transylvania, a vassal state of the Empire. Ferdinand claimed " Royal
   Hungary", including present-day Slovakia, western Croatia, and adjacent
   territories, temporarily fixing the border between the Habsburgs and
   the Ottomans.

   Under Charles V and his brother Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, the
   Habsburgs took Hungary. Suleiman twice re-invaded, but was repulsed
   after besieging Vienna in 1529 and 1532. In 1533 a treaty was signed
   with Ferdinand, splitting Hungary between the Habsburgs and Zapolya,
   but on Zapolya's death, Ferdinand was left the Hungarian territories,
   prompting another struggle to annex Hungary and several peace treaties
   restoring the status-quo.

Persia

   Persia (Iran) at its 1512 borders
   Persia (Iran) at its 1512 borders

   As conflict raged along the European borders of Suleiman's domain,
   success continued on another front: the longstanding rivalry with the
   Shi'a Safavid dynasty of Persia (Iran). Suleiman waged three campaigns
   against the Safavids. In the earliest, the historically important city
   of Baghdad fell to his forces in 1534, and the city, once the most
   populous in the Middle East, fell into decline, eclipsed by the growing
   population and wealth of the Sultan's Istanbul.

   The second campaign, 1548– 1549, resulted in temporary Ottoman gains in
   Tabriz and Azerbaijan, and a lasting presence in the province of Van,
   and some forts in Georgia.

   In his third campaign, in 1555, his forces failed to eliminate the
   Shah's army, which withdrew into the mountains of Luristan, and
   eventually signed a treaty at Amasya, in which the Shah recognized the
   existing borders and promised to end his raids into Ottoman territory.

North Africa and the Middle East

   Huge territories of North Africa east to Morocco were annexed. The
   Barbary States of Tripolitania, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco became
   autonomous provinces of the Empire, and served as the leading edge of
   Suleiman's conflict with Charles V, whose attempt to drive out the
   Turks failed in 1541. The piracy carried on thereafter by the Barbary
   pirates of North Africa remained part of the wars against Spain, and
   the Ottoman expansion was associated with naval dominance for a short
   period in the Mediterranean Sea.

   Ottoman navies also controlled the Red Sea, and held the Persian Gulf
   until 1554, when their ships were defeated by the navy of the
   Portuguese Empire. The Portuguese would continue to contest Suleiman
   I's forces for control of Aden.

Tunis

   In 1533 Khair ad Din known to Europeans as Barbarossa, was made
   Admiral-in-Chief of the Ottoman navies which were actively fighting the
   Spanish navy. In 1535 the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V
   (Charles I of Spain, ruled 1516–56)) won an important victory against
   the Ottomans at Tunis, but in 1536 Francis I of France allied himself
   with Suleiman against Charles. In 1538, the Spanish fleet was defeated
   at the Battle of Preveza by Khair ad Din, securing the eastern
   Mediterranean for the Turks for 33 years (1538–71).

   Francis I was persuaded to sign a peace treaty with Charles V in 1538,
   however he again allied himself with the Suleiman in 1542. In 1543
   Charles allied himself with Henry VIII of England and forced Francis to
   sign the Truce of Crepy-en-Laonnois. Charles signed a humilating treaty
   with Suleiman to gain some respite from the huge expenses of the war.

   In 1544, when Spain declared war on France, the French King Francis
   asked for help from Suleiman. He then sent a fleet headed by Khair ad
   Din who was victorious over the Spaniards, and managed to retake Naples
   from them. Suleiman bestowed on him the title of Baylar Bey (Commander
   General). One result of the alliance was the fierce sea duel between
   Dragut and Andrea Doria, which left the northern Mediterranean European
   and the southern Mediterranean in Islamic hands.

Malta, a turning point

   Location of Malta
   Enlarge
   Location of Malta

   When the Knights Hospitallers were re-established as the Knights of
   Malta in 1530, their actions against Muslim navies quickly drew the ire
   of the Ottomans, who assembled another massive army in order to
   dislodge the Knights from Malta. In 1565 they invaded, starting the
   Great Siege of Malta, which began on May 18 and lasted until September
   8, and is portrayed vividly in the frescoes of Matteo Perez d'Aleccio
   in the Hall of St. Michael and St. George. At first the battle looked
   to be a repeat of the one on Rhodes, with most of the cities destroyed
   and about half the Knights killed in battle, but a relief force from
   Spain entered the battle, resulting in the loss of 30,000 Ottoman
   troops.

   After this Suleiman turned his eye to Hungary again. He died of a
   stroke during the Battle of Szigetvár in Szigetvár, Hungary, (1566,
   September 5 or 6).

The lawgiver

   "The primacy of Suleiman as a law-giver is at the foundation of his
   place in Islamic history and world view.". The Ottomans called Suleiman
   Kanuni, or "The Lawgiver," and the inscription on the Suleymanie Mosque
   constructed for him, describes him as Nashiru kawanin al-Sultaniyye, or
   "Propagator of the Sultanic Laws," based on Suleiman's revision and
   application of Sultanic " kanun" laws used in situations not explicitly
   covered under Islamic Shari'ah: "In Islamic tradition, if a case fell
   outside the parameters of the Shari'ah, then a judgement or rule in the
   case could be arrived at through analogy with rules or cases that are
   covered by the Shari'ah... [a] method of juridical thinking... accepted
   by the most liberal school of Shari'ah, Hanifism", which "dominated
   Ottoman law". After Suleiman the Kanun laws attained their final form,
   and the code of laws became known as the kanun-i Osmani, the "Ottoman
   laws".

Justice and equity

   Suleiman was renowned as a just and fair ruler, choosing his
   subordinates according to merit rather than social status or
   popularity. The Austrian Ambassador, Ghiselain de Busbecq, wrote of
   him, "In making his appointments, the Sultan pays no regard to any
   pretensions on the score of wealth or rank, nor does he take into
   consideration recommendations or popularity; he considers each case on
   its own merits, and examines carefully into the character, ability and
   disposition of the man whose promotion is in question.".

   In 1553 Suleiman declared a law to stop the persecution of Jews via
   Blood libels, decreeing that all accusations of the slaughter of
   Christian children by Jews be referred to the Imperial Divan where the
   courts would expose these lies. The preparation of the law included the
   input of Moses Hamon, a favorite doctor and dentist of the Sultan.
   Another symbol of the Muslim-Jewish tolerance was the building of a
   synagogue and mosque which was built by Suleiman.

Cultural Achievements

   Under Suleiman's rule, hundreds of imperial artistic societies (called
   the Ehl-i Hiref, "Community of the Talented") were administered at the
   Imperial seat, the Topkapi Palace.

   After an apprenticeship, artists and craftsmen could advance in rank
   within their field and were paid commensurate wages in quarterly annual
   installments. Payroll registers that survive testify to the breadth of
   Suleiman's patronage of the arts: "The earliest document, drawn up in
   1526, lists 40 societies with over 600 members; by the 17th century the
   number of societies had increased and their membership had risen to
   some 2,000. In addition to the artists employed in the imperial
   societies, Istanbul, like all the major centers of the empire, had
   diverse guilds of artisans which supplied both domestic and foreign
   needs."

The Poet

   British historian E.J.W. Gibb wrote that "at no time, even in Turkey,
   was greater encouragement given to poetry than during the reign of this
   Sultan."

   Some of Suleiman's verses, composed under the nom de plume "Muhibbi",
   have become Turkish proverbs, including the well-known "Everyone aims
   at the same meaning, but many are the versions of the story," and "In
   this world a spell of good health is the best state.". He wrote in
   Turkish, Persian, and Arabic.

          "The people think of wealth and power as the greatest fate,
          But in this world a spell of health is the best state.
          What men call sovereignty is a wordly strife and constant war;
          Worship of God is the highest throne, the happiest of all
          estate's."

Islamic calligraphy

   Diwani is a calligraphic variety of Arabic script, a cursive style
   developed by Housam Roumi that reached the height of its popularity
   under Suleiman's reign. It was used in the Ottoman divan for the
   writing of all royal decrees, endowments, and resolutions, and was one
   of the secrets of the Sultan's palace: the rules of this script were
   not known to everyone, but confined to its masters and a few bright
   students.

                                 Diwani font

Religious tolerance

   Some Christian slaves in the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman rose to
   positions of great prominence. Ibrahim Pasha became Grand Vizier for
   thirteen years.

   Suleiman continued the policy of religious tolerance toward Jews
   initiated by Bayezid II (1481–1512), who had welcomed Jews expelled
   from Spain in 1492.

   In a letter to Pope Paul IV (1555–59) in 1556, Suleiman asked for the
   immediate release of the Ancona Marranos, who faced persecution after
   falling under Papal authority; Suleiman declared them to be Ottoman
   citizens. The Pope had no alternative but to release them, thus
   demonstrating the influence of the Ottoman Empire. Suleiman also
   employed a Jewish personal physician, Rabbi Moshe Hamon.

   In the city of Jerusalem, the rule of Suleiman and the following
   Ottoman Sultans brought an age of religious peace; Jews, Christians and
   Muslims enjoyed the freedom of religion that the Ottomans granted them
   and it was possible to find a synagogue, a church and a mosque in the
   same street. The city remained open to all three religions.

Relationship with Ibrahim Pasha

   Pargalı İbrahim Pasha was the boyhood friend of Suleiman. As the
   Sultan's male favorite, he shared Suleiman's quarters and his tent
   while at home and on campaign. Suleiman made him the royal falconer,
   then promoted him to first officer of the Royal Bedchamber, which was
   most irregular. Eventually, Ibrahim Pasha became the Grand Vizier and
   commander-in-chief of all the armies.

   There have been scholars that have suggested that the two men may have
   shared an intimate relationship, which is quite contrary to both Islam
   and Turkish culture. Eventually Ibrahim may have become too close to
   the Sultan and may have attained too much power, because Suleiman
   eventually had him killed, presumably to keep him silent about the true
   nature of their relationship. This theory would fit with
   characteristics of Suleiman's personality. Ibrahim was Greek and not
   originally Muslim, though he did convert. Suleiman repeatedly was
   attracted and infatuated with the foreign and the unusual, see
   Roxelana, who was ethnically Slavic and religiously Orthodox.

Relationship with Roxelana

   Roxelana
   Enlarge
   Roxelana

   Anastasia Lisovska, also known as Roxelana or Hürrem, a captured
   daughter of an Orthodox priest (from Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth),
   rose through the ranks of the Harem to become Suleiman's favorite wife,
   to the surprise of the Empire and the international community. Breaking
   with 300 years of Ottoman tradition, Suleiman married Roxelana in a
   formal ceremony, making her the first former slave to gain legitimacy
   as the Sultan's legal wife.

   By her he had one daughter, Mihrimar (Mihrumâh), and the sons Mehmed
   (who died young), Selim (later Sultan Selim II (1566–74)), Bayezid and
   Cihangir (born physically disabled). He allowed her to remain with him
   at court for the rest of her life, despite another tradition that when
   imperial heirs became of age, they would be sent along with the
   imperial concubine who bore them to govern remote provinces of the
   Empire, never to return unless their progeny succeeded to the throne.

   He composed this poem for Roxelana:

          "Throne of my lonely niche, my wealth, my love, my moonlight.
          My most sincere friend, my confidant, my very existence, my
          Sultan
          The most beautiful among the beautiful...
          My springtime, my merry faced love, my daytime, my sweetheart,
          laughing leaf...
          My plants, my sweet, my rose, the one only who does not distress
          me in this world...
          My Istanbul, my Caraman, the earth of my Anatolia
          My Badakhshan, my Baghdad and Khorasan
          My woman of the beautiful hair, my love of the slanted brow, my
          love of eyes full of mischief...
          I'll sing your praises always
          I, lover of the tormented heart, Muhibbi of the eyes full of
          tears, I am happy."

Roxelana and the succession

   Suleiman's son Mustafa, by his consort the Sultana "Rose of Spring,"
   preceded Roxelana's children in the order of succession, and was
   supported by Pargalı İbrahim Pasha, who was by this time Suleiman's
   Grand Vizier. In power struggles apparently instigated by Roxelana,
   Suleiman had Ibrahim murdered and replaced with her son-in-law, Rustem
   Pasha. Later, Suleiman, apparently believing that Mustafa's popularity
   with the army threatened his own position, had Mustafa strangled.

   Suleiman's son Bayezid suppressed a major revolt in Macedonia and
   Thrace, led by a man purporting to be Suleiman's son Mustafa: "This
   Mustafa gathered around him discontented holders of timars (military
   fiefs), peasants, and members of the religious establishment unhappy
   with the dominance of the devshirme (slave) class in Istanbul." The
   pretender was executed after the revolt failed.

   In anticipation of Suleiman's death, in 1559 his sons by Roxelana,
   Selim and Bayezid, engaged in a series of battles for the succession,
   in part, due to the Ottoman practice of fratricide of rival successors,
   in which one of the two would be ordered strangled. The resultant
   turmoil led Suleiman to order the death of Bayezid on September 25,
   1561, after he was repatriated by the Shah of Persia, after having fled
   there for protection, leaving Suleiman's son Selim the heir
   presumptive.

   Suleiman's Grand Vizier Mehmed-paša Sokolović was a Serbian convert
   from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Suleiman relinquished more power to him as
   he grew older. After Suleiman's death in 1566, Mehmed continued Ottoman
   conquests and became the sole ruler of the Ottoman Empire, even while
   in service of Selim II.

Legacy

   Suleiman I's conquests were followed by continued territorial expansion
   until the Empire's peak in 1683.
   Enlarge
   Suleiman I's conquests were followed by continued territorial expansion
   until the Empire's peak in 1683.

   The Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul was built by the famed architect
   Sinan and was completed in 1557. Suleiman and Roxelana are buried in
   separate domed mausoleums attached to the mosque. He died in 1566, the
   night before victory at the Battle of Szigetvar, in Hungary.

   At the time of his death, the major Muslim cities (Mecca, Medina,
   Jerusalem, Damascus, and Baghdad), many Balkan provinces (up to today's
   Austria), and most of North Africa were under the control of the
   empire.

   Ottoman power continued to grow in the century following Suleiman I's
   death, until the resurgence of European powers curtailed the
   Sultanate's expansion in the aftermath of the Battle of Vienna in the
   late 17th century.

Style

   Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent
   Enlarge
   Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent

   Suleiman was called by many titles, and described himself in his
   writings as "Slave of God, powerful with the power of God, deputy of
   God on earth, obeying the commands of the Qur'an and enforcing them
   throughout the world, master of all lands, the shadow of God over all
   nations, Sultan of Sultans in all the lands of Persians and Arabs, the
   propagator of Sultanic laws (Nashiru kawanin al-Sultaniyye), the tenth
   Sultan of the Ottoman Khans, Sultan, son of Sultan, Suleiman Khan".

   Or, "Slave of God, master of the world, I am Suleiman and my name is
   read in all the prayers in all the cities of Islam. I am the Shah of
   Baghdad and Iraq, Caesar of all the lands of Rome, and the Sultan of
   Egypt. I seized the Hungarian crown and gave it to the least of my
   slaves".

   Or, "I am Sultan Suleiman Han, son of Sultan Selim Han, son of Sultan
   Bayezid Han. I am Suleiman. To the east I am the Lawgiver. To the west
   I am the Magnificent."

   Or, "I who am the Sultan of Sultans, the sovereign of sovereigns, the
   dispenser of crowns to the monarchs on the face of the earth, the
   shadow of God on earth, the Sultan and sovereign lord of the White Sea
   and of the Black Sea, of Rumelia and of Anatolia, of Karamania, of the
   land of Rum, of Zulkadria, of Diyarbekir, of Kurdistan, of Aizerbaijan,
   of Persia, of Damascus, of Aleppo, of Cairo, of Mecca, of Medina, of
   Jerusalem, of all Arabia, of Yemen and of many other lands which my
   noble forefathers and my glorious ancestors (may Allah light up their
   tombs!) conquered by the force of their arms and which my August
   Majesty has made subject to my flaming sword and my victorious blade,
   I, Sultan Suleiman Khan, son of Sultan Selim, son of Sultan Bayezid: To
   thee, who art Francis, King of the land of France."

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