History Focus
September 6

Suleiman the Magnificant was also known as Suleiman the Magnificant. He was sultan over the Ottoman Empire for 46 years. He ruled from 1520 to 1566.

His rule brought prosperity, justic and culture to his empire. Suleiman is considered the greatest of Turkish sultans. He excelled as an administrator, earning the title Kanuni ("lawgiver"), and was an influential patron of the arts and sciences. At his death the Ottoman Empire controlled much of the Balkans, northern Africa, and the Middle East, and was the ruling power on the Mediterranean Sea.

Suleiman was born on November 6, 1494, in Trabzon (Trebizond), the son of Selim I. His father Selim the Grim, took the throne by killing his brothers and secured Suleiman's succession by killing all his other sons and grandsons. Suleiman I brought the Turkish Ottoman empire to the height of its power and grandeur. He conquered Iraq, Hungary, and Albania and established Ottoman naval supremacy in the Mediterranean. He was the caliph of the Arabs and ruler of Islam. His ships dominated the Mediteraniean and eastern seas.

In 1521, at the beginning of his reign, Suleiman captured the Hungarian city of Belgrade (now in Serbia). The following year he repelled the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, a military and religious order, from the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea. In 1526 he again invaded Hungary, killing Louis II, king of Hungary, and incapacitating the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohács. Suleiman next directed his arms against Iran. In 1534 he conquered the cities of Tabrìz and Baghdad. In 1535 he concluded an alliance with Francis I, king of France, against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The treaty opened the commerce of the Levant to the French flag alone, and as a result of the agreement, diplomatic relations between France and Turkey lasted for centuries. In 1541 Suleiman invaded Hungary for the third time, this time capturing Buda and incorporating all of central Hungary in his empire. Two years later the combined French and Turkish fleets ravaged the Italian coasts and pillaged Nice. The Turks were now supreme in the Mediterranean; in 1551 Tripoli fell into their hands.

More important than his military accomplishments were his administrative abilities. Suleiman codified and institutionalized the classic structure of the Ottoman state and society, making his dominions into one of the great world powers. In this system, the ruling class was responsible for administration and finance, the military, culture, and religion, as well as maintaining the sultan and making sure the system worked. The vast subject class was left to carry out all other functions of state through autonomous religious communities, called millets--for the Jews, the Armenian Christians, the Greek Orthodox Christians, and the Muslims--and through artisans' guilds and popular mystic orders and confederations, which together formed a substratum of popular society.

More important than his military accomplishments were his administrative abilities. In Istanbul Suleyman built magnificent mosques, bridges, and aqueducts. He also oversaw the building of strong fortresses in the lands he had conquered. He revised the legal system of the empire. Suleiman codified and institutionalized the classic structure of the Ottoman state and society, making his dominions into one of the great world powers. In this system, the ruling class was responsible for administration and finance, the military, culture, and religion, as well as maintaining the sultan and making sure the system worked. The vast subject class was left to carry out all other functions of state through autonomous religious communities, called millets--for the Jews, the Armenian Christians, the Greek Orthodox Christians, and the Muslims--and through artisans' guilds and popular mystic orders and confederations, which together formed a substratum of popular society.

Compared to religious strife in other areas, Suleiman's empire was remarkably tolerant. Non-Muslims were required to pay a simple tax, but could fully participate in society. He died besieging Szigetvár in Hungary on September 6, 1566.

Sources: Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) | Compton’s Encyclopedia