Great Leader of the Ottoman Empire:

Sulieman the Magnificent

Main Life Accomplishments:

 

He was the tenth and longest serving Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1520 to 1566. He is known to the West as Suleiman the Magnificent. In the Islamic world, he is known as the Lawgiver, deriving from his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system. Within the empire, Suleiman was known as a fair ruler and an opponent of corruption. As well as being a capable goldsmith and distinguished poet, Suleiman was also a great patron of artists and philosophers, overseeing the golden age of the Ottoman Empire's cultural development.

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), Sigismund II of Poland (1548–72), and Ivan IV of Russia (1530–84). Under his leadership, the Ottoman Empire reached its Golden Age and became a world power. Suleiman personally led Ottoman armies to conquer Belgrade, Rhodes, and most of Hungary, laid the Siege of Vienna, and annexed most of the Middle East and huge territories in North Africa as far west as Algeria. For a short period, Ottomans achieved naval dominance in the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and Persian Gulf. The Ottoman Empire continued to expand for a century after his death.

 

Basics:

Born:  November 6, 1494 in Trabzon

Died:  September 6, 1566  (aged 72)at Szigetvar, Hungary

Nationality: Turkish

Religion: 

Fields:  Caesar of all the lands of Rome

Main Accomplishments:  A great conqueror and a warrior

 

Chronology of Life Events:

Nov 6, 1494

Birth of Suleiman

 

1501

He was sent to study science, history, literature, theology, and military tactics in the schools of the Topkapı Palace

 

1511

Suleiman was appointed as the governor of first Istanbul

 

1519

Death of his father. Suleiman entered Istanbul and acceded to the throne as the tenth Ottoman Sultan.

 

1521

Suleiman began a series of military conquests

 

1522

Suleiman dispatched an armada of some four hundred ships whilst personally leading an army of 100,000 across Asia Minor to a point opposite the island

 

Aug 29, 1526

he defeated Louis II of Hungary

 

1529

Suleiman once again marched through the valley of the Danube and reoccupied Buda

 

1532

Suleiman retreat ed before reaching to Vienna

 

1533

Suleiman ordered his Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha to lead an army into Asia

 

1534

Suleiman made a push towards Persia,

 

1553

Suleiman began his third and final campaign against the Shah

 

1566

Death of Suleiman

 

Early Life:

Suleiman was born in Trabzon in modern day Turkey, probably on November 6 1494. At the age of seven, he was sent to study science, history, literature, theology, and military tactics in the schools of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. As a young man, he befriended Ibrahim, a slave who would later become one of his most trusted advisors (see Pargalı İbrahim Pasha).

From the age of seventeen, young Suleiman was appointed as the governor of first Istanbul, then Sarukhan (Manisa) with a brief tenure at Edirne (Adrianople). At the age of 25, upon the death of his father, Selim I (1512–20), Suleiman entered Istanbul and acceeded to the throne as the tenth Ottoman Sultan. An early description of Suleiman was provided by the Venetian envoy Bartholomeo Contarini a few weeks following his accession. Contarini observes: "He is twenty‐five years of age, tall, but wiry, and of a delicate complexion. His neck is a little too long, his face thin, and his nose aquiline. He has a shade of a moustache and a small beard; nevertheless he has a pleasant mien, though his skin tends to pallor. He is said to be a wise Lord, fond of study, and all men hope for good from his rule."
 

Wife Background:

According to late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century sources like the famous Polish poet, Samuel Twardowski, who actually did research on the subject in Turkey, Khourrem was born to a father who was a Ukrainian, or Ruthenian, Orthodox priest, in the town of Rohatyn which is located 68 km, south east of Lviv, the capital city of Galicia which was then part of Poland. She was captured by Crimean Tatars during one of their frequent raids into Ukraine and taken as a slave, probably first to the Crimean city of Kaffa (Kefe in Turkish, Caffa in Italian), a major centre of the slave trade, then to Istanbul, and was selected for Süleyman's Harem.

In the Harem, she gradually worked her way up to become Süleyman's favourite concubine, gaining the name "Hasseki." In 1534 she used her influence to have Süleyman's firstborn son, together with his mother, sent away to be a provincial governor, and several years later apparently persuaded Süleyman to have him strangled - see Süleyman the Magnificent for details.

Khourrem was to bear Süleyman five children and, in an astonishing break with tradition, eventually became his wife, leading to one of her sons, Selim, inheriting the empire. Khourrem also may have acted as Süleyman's advisor on matters of state, and seems to have had an influence upon foreign affairs and international politics. Two of her letters to the Polish King Sigismund Augustus have been preserved and during her lifetime, the Ottoman Empire generally had peaceful relations with the Polish state. Some historians also believe that she may have intervened with her husband to control Crimean Tatar slave-raiding in her native land.

Aside from her political concerns, Khourrem engaged in several major works of public building, from Mecca to Jerusalem, perhaps modeling her charitable foundations in part after the caliph Harun al-Rashid's wife Zubaida. Among her first foundations were a mosque, two koranic schools, a fountain, and a women's hospital near the "Women's Slave Market" (Avret Pazary) in Istanbul. As well, some of her embroidery, or at least embroidery done under her supervision, has survived, examples being given in 1547 to the Shah of Iran and in 1549 to King Sigismund Augustus.

Khourrem died on April 18, 1558. She is buried in a domed mausoleum decorated in exquisite Iznik tiles depicting the garden of paradise, perhaps in homage to her smiling and joyful nature. Her mausoleum is adjacent to Suleyman's, a separate and more somber domed structure, at the Süleymaniye Mosque.

 

Father Background:

 

Born October 10, 1465, & Died September 22, 1520 at the age of 55.

 

He dethroned his father Bayezid II (1481–1512) in 1512. Bayezid's death followed immediately thereafter. Like his grandfather Mehmed II, Selim put his brothers and nephews to death upon his accession in order to eliminate potential pretenders to the throne (1451–81). This fratricidal policy was motivated by bouts of civil strife that had been sparked by the antagonism between Selim's father Beyazid and his uncle Cem, and between Selim himself and his brother Ahmed.

 

After his return from his Egyptian campaign, Selim began to prepare an expedition against Rhodes. This campaign was cut short when he was overtaken by sickness and died in the ninth year of his reign. He was about fifty-five years of age. It is said that Selim succumbed to sirpence, a skin infection which he developed during his long campaigns on horseback. (Sirpence was an anthrax infection sometimes seen among leatherworkers and others who worked with livestock) Some historians claim that he was poisoned by the doctor tending to his infection.
 

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