Historical Figure
Suleiman the Magnificent
1495–1566
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1520–1566)
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Biography
Suleiman I, commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent, was the Ottoman sultan from 1520 to 1566. The longest-reigning Ottoman sultan, his rule brought about a notable peak in the Ottoman Empire's economic, military and political power, and raised the number of the empire's subjects to at least 25 million people.
In Their Own Words (2)
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 worldly strife and constant war;Worship of God is the highest throne, the happiest of all estates.
Quoted by Mansel, Philip, Constantinople: city of the world's desire 1453-1924 (1995), p. 84 , 1995
The green of my garden, my sweet sugar, my treasure, my love who cares for nothing in this world. My master of Egypt, my Joseph, my everything, the queen of my heart's realm. My Stanbul, my Karaman, my land of the Roman Caesars, My Badakhshan, my Kipcak, my Baghdad, and Khorasan. O my love of black hair with bow-like eyebrows, with languorous perfidious eyes. If I die you are my killer, O merciless, infidel woman.
Quoted by Mansel, Philip, Constantinople: city of the world's desire 1453-1924 (1995), p. 84 , 1995
Timeline
The story of Suleiman the Magnificent, told in moments.
Captures Belgrade. The fortress had resisted Ottoman sieges for 70 years. He's 26. The following year he takes Rhodes from the Knights Hospitaller after a five-month siege. Christian Europe starts paying attention.
Destroys the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohacs. King Louis II of Hungary drowns fleeing the field. Hungary is partitioned. Most of it becomes Ottoman territory. The battle lasts about two hours.
Marries Hurrem, a former slave from Ruthenia. She's the first concubine an Ottoman sultan has formally married in centuries. She becomes his chief advisor. Her influence reshapes the court and ushers in the era historians call the Sultanate of Women.
At the peak of his power. The empire stretches from Algeria to Iraq, from Hungary to Yemen. 25 million subjects. His chief architect Sinan builds the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul. Suleiman writes poetry under the pen name Muhibbi. He goldsmiths. The Ottomans call his era their Golden Age.
Dies in his tent during the siege of Szigetvar, Hungary. He is 71. His death is hidden from the army for 48 days to prevent panic. His body is carried back to Istanbul. The longest-reigning Ottoman sultan. His son Selim II inherits an empire that has already begun to crack.
Artifacts (2)
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