Suleiman the Magnificent
Osmanli Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Suleiman I (Modern Turkish: Süleyman; Arabic: ??????? Sulayman) (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 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: ?????????, al-Qanuni), a nickname stemming from his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system.
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 Damat Ibrahim Pasha, a slave who would become one of his most trusted advisors. [1]
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.
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, Suleyman 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 Suleyman Han, son of Sultan Selim Han, son of Sultan Bayezid Han. I am Suleyman. To the east I am the Lawgiver. To the west I am the Magnificent.”
