Suleiman the Magnificent
Tenth Ottoman sultan. Ruled from 1520 to 1566, the longest reign in Ottoman history and the apex of the empire's power. Codified Ottoman civil law (kanun). Conquered Belgrade, Rhodes, Baghdad, most of Hungary. Died in the field at 71 during his last siege.
- Lived
- 1494 - 1566 CE
- Read next
- Meaning of the name Suleiman
Who was Suleiman the Magnificent? Tenth Ottoman sultan. Ruled from 1520 to 1566, the longest reign in Ottoman history and the apex of the empire's power. Codified Ottoman civil law (kanun). Conquered Belgrade, Rhodes, Baghdad, most of Hungary. Died in the field at 71 during his last siege.
Life
Suleiman ibn Selim I became the tenth Ottoman sultan in 1520 at the age of 26. He inherited an empire that already stretched from the Balkans to Egypt. Over his 46-year reign, the longest in Ottoman history, he doubled its territory and pushed it to the apex of its power.
The Ottomans knew him as Kanuni, the Lawgiver, for his systematic codification of Ottoman civil law. Europe called him the Magnificent.
His military campaigns: Belgrade in 1521 (unlocked the Danube). Rhodes in 1522 (ended the Knights Hospitaller's presence in the eastern Mediterranean). Mohács in 1526 (destroyed the medieval Kingdom of Hungary in a single afternoon). Vienna besieged in 1529. Baghdad and the Iraqi provinces from the Safavids in 1534. Naval campaigns in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf; his admiral Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha made the Ottoman navy the dominant force in the Mediterranean.
His court in Istanbul was one of the great political and cultural centres of the sixteenth century. His architect Sinan built the mosques, madrasas, aqueducts, and bath-houses that still define the skyline of Istanbul.
His relationship with his Ukrainian slave-consort Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana), whom he married against every Ottoman precedent, has been the subject of endless poetry, painting, and speculation across four centuries.
He died in 1566 at 71, in his tent, during the siege of Szigetvár in Hungary. His grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha kept his death secret for 48 days until the siege was concluded and the succession secured.
Stories
Each story below is drawn from the classical Islamic historical sources.
The Lawgiver's court
For 46 years Suleiman I ruled the Ottoman Empire from Belgrade to Baghdad. He was called Kanuni, the Lawgiver, for codifying Ottoman civil law across a multi-confessional empire. He wrote poetry to his wife Hurrem, walked Istanbul at night in disguise, and died in his tent at the last siege of a 46-year reign.