The Life of Kanunî Sultan Süleyman

The Golden Age of the Ottoman Empire - The Life of Kanunî Sultan Süleyman

Kanunî Sultan Süleyman depicted with his wife, Hürrem sultan 

Kanunî Sultan Süleyman is the most famous and longest-reigning Ottoman Sultan under whose rule the empire reached its zenith. Born on November 6, 1494, in the Black Sea coastal town of Trabzon, where his father, the future Sultan Selim I (r. 1512–20), was prince-governor, Süleyman I is regarded as one of the most important rulers of Islam and of the world. He was born as the only son of Sultan Selim I, and he received a very good education from his childhood, focused on state and military administration, as well as the Islamic sciences, and was raised meticulously. At thirteen years old, he moved to Şebinkarahisar and to Bolu the following year where he was assigned to the post of governor of Kaffa. On September 30th, 1520, eight days after the sad news of his father's death reached him, he arrived in Istanbul and rose to the throne following the ascension ceremony in the Topkapı Palace.

Süleyman’s fame is due as much to his conquests in Europe and to the splendour of his court. He led his armies on 13 campaigns, spending most of his reign on campaigns. These brought Iraq (1534–35) and Hungary (1526, 1541) under Ottoman rule, threatened the Habsburg capital Vienna twice (1529, 1532); his victories at Rhodes in the eastern Aegean (1522) and at Preveza in northwestern Greece (1538) made the Ottomans masters of the eastern Mediterranean, leaving only Malta and Cyprus unconquered for the time being. The fact that he was a contemporary of Europe’s most illustrious monarchs also assured Süleyman’s reputation. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (r. 1519–56) was Süleyman’s chief antagonist with whom the Sultan engaged in an epic and exhausting rivalry for world supremacy. Francis I of France (r. 1515–47), “the most Catholic king of France” was Charles V’s archenemy and the Sultan’s ally. Süleyman’s victories were commemorated by lavishly illustrated chronicles, poem-books, festivities, and by the many masterpieces of Ottoman architecture. Known to Europeans as “the Magnificent”, to his subjects and to Muslims in general he was known as Kanuni (the Lawgiver), because it was under his rule that Sultanic (kanun) were compiled, systematized, and harmonized with Islamic law (Sharia).

An Ottoman miniature drawing of Sultan Süleyman

Traditional historiography maintains that after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Sultans embarked upon a centralizing project, which resulted in the establishment of the “classical” absolutist Ottoman state, a patrimonial world empire, with its tenure system and centralized administration. Under Süleyman I the Ottoman central administration in Istanbul is said to have reached its perfection, increasing its control over the provinces and frontiers. Consequently, frontier societies and institutions became similar to those in the core territories of the Empire. Almost everything that one may read in general historical works on the Empire’s central and provincial administration, and on its army, economy, society, and culture, is limited to this one-hundred-year period. Western observers and scholars, from the 16th-century Italian politician and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) to the Marxist historian Perry Anderson, have long focused on the idea of “Turkish despotism.” In recent research, the Ottomans emerge as pragmatic and flexible rulers who accepted local forms of taxation, monetary systems, and economic forms; compromised with and co-opted local elites into their military and bureaucratic systems; and adjusted their military according to new challenges.

Internal Reforms

Sultan Süleyman began his reign with a campaign to secure justice and virtue in order to gain for himself the loyalty of his subjects. Sultan Süleyman attempted to to build a system of justice and he placed new emphasis on the protection of the lives, property, and honour of individuals regardless of their religion.

One day after ascending to the throne, Sultan Süleyman decreed a ferman ordering that soldiers should pay for all provisions taken along their paths of their campaigns in Ottoman or enemy territory. Taxes were levied only according to the ability to pay. The system of courts previously established was enlarged, and additional police and inspectors were charged with seeing that the court decrees and the laws were obeyed.

Administration of the Empire was reorganized, dismissals only being issued for good reason, not due to the whims of the Sultan and the higher officials of state. Only merit was to be considered in the appointment or promotion of officials. Hundreds of legal scholars and jurists were brought into the service of the Sultan, and laws and law codes were issues that institutionalized and defined the structure of government as well as the rights and responsibilities of all members of the ruling class, as well as the subjects of the Sultan.

The mosque of Rüstem Pasha in the main port district of Eminönü in Istanbul, is famous for its lavish Iznik ceramic decoration. Rüstem Pasha was one of the Grand Vizier of Süleyman I and the husband of Süleyman’s daughter Mihrimah.

Europe

King Francis I of France was taken prisoner in Pavia by Charles V in the war that broke out between France and the Holy Roman Empire. As such, the French decided to ask the Ottomans for help, and Francis' mother, Louise de Savoie requested that Sultan Süleyman save her son. Francis I thought that Charles V would release him if the Ottomans marched onto Hungary.

French King Francis I and Suleiman the Magnificient

On August 29th, 1526, the Ottoman army commanded by Sultan Süleyman crushed the Hungarian army in Mohács on the right bank of the Danube river in one of the shortest pitched battles in history. After this victory, the French king Francis I was set free by Charles V. Francis made a statement to the Venetian ambassador Giorgio Gritti telling him that he regarded the Ottoman Empire as the only power to protect the European countries against the belligerent expansion of Charles V, illustrating how the Europeans perceived Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. 

Distribution of rewards after the siege of Szigetvár

By 1535, Charles V had captured Tunis on the Mediterranean theater, and Ottoman naval forces reacted under the leadership of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, who plagued the Europeans as he captured several Venetian fortresses in the Aegean and conducted a score of conquests off the shores of Italy. 

As a result, Venice, Genoa, and Malta unified their forces on the Corfu island off the coast of Albania to end the Ottoman domination in the Mediterranean, establishing a remarkable crusader fleet. As a culmination of this tension, Andrea Doria, the imperial admiral of Charles V's naval forces captured Koroni, on the southwest side of the Morea from the Ottomans. In return, Sultan Süleyman assigned Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, the famous Turkish admiral (Kaptan-ı Derya) as the imperial commander general of the Ottoman navy. Barbaros Pasha would quickly defeat the Charles V's holy league navy at the Battle of Preveza in 1538. Andrea Doria fled and barely saved his own life. The victory of Preveza sealed Ottoman sovereignty in the Mediterranean. 

Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, the Kaptan-ı Derya (Captain of the Seas), defeats the Holy League of Charles V under the command of Andrea Doria at the Battle of Preveza (1538)

Iran and the Middle East

On the Iranian front, Shah Tahmasp succeeded his father Shah Ismail for the Safavid throne. They had suffered a great defeat against the Ottomans at the Battle of Çaldıran during the reign of Sultan Selim I and when the new shah tried to establish alliances with the Austrian Kingdon and the Holy Roman Empire, Sultan Süleyman marched against the Safavids. Shah Tahmasp had also provide several Beys in Anatolia against the Ottoman authority which had threatened Ottoman domination in eastern Anatolia, which gave Sultan Süleyman another reason to begin the offensive against Safavid Persia. Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha entered the capital of Tabriz with his army, and Sultan Süleyman directed his campaign up to Hamadan soon after he captured Azerbaijan. Shah Tahmasp, who could not risk challenging the Ottoman Empire, fled to the depths of inner Persia. Sultan Süleyman moved his forces south and conquered Baghdad in 1534. This conquest allowed Sultan Süleyman to bring under Ottoman control a massive portion of the Silk Road. By the time Sultan Süleyman was fighting in Central Europe, the Safavids initiated a counter-attack against the Ottomans, and thus, Sultan Süleyman declared a second campaign over Safavid Persian in 1548. These battles culminated in the signing of the Treaty of Amasya, and is the first Ottoman-Persian agreement in history. The treaty gave the Ottomans possession of eastern Anatolia, Azerbaijan, Tabriz, and Iraq.

Sultan Süleyman's conquests were followed by continuous territorial expansion until the Empire's peak.

The earlier conquests of Istanbul and Egypt assured undisputed Ottoman control of vital commercial routes, so the Europeans had no recourse but to look for new networks of commerce to facilitate their commercial activities. The Portuguese sailed to the Indian Ocean, establishing colonies in India. Furthermore, the exerted pressure on the Muslims states of India at the time and plundered the ships of the Muslim merchants. In response to all of this, Sultan Süleyman had his navy make four successive expeditions to India.

The first expedition under the command of Hadım Süleyman Pasha in 1538 added Yemen, Aden, Sudan, and some tracts of Ethiopia to the Ottoman domains. The second naval expedition in 1551 under the command of Piri Reis brought about the conquest of Muscat in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula.

A Flourishing Empire and A Lasting Legacy

The conquests, cultural activities, and a civilization flourishing marked the forty-six year reign of Sultan Süleyman. His achievements - one of which is his incredible record of riding his horse for 30,000 miles - earned him the deserved title "the Magnificent", which was attributed to him in the West. A major shift of emphasis occurred in his political orientation toward Europe and the Mediterranean countries after the European economy was boosted by the age of discoveries in the 16th century. Sultan Süleyman was foresighted and acted diligently. He had a powerful army and kept a full treasury, and he led his people in many battles in the East and the West, and he died on the battlefield.

Tuğrâ (Imperial Seal) of Süleyman the Magnificent

He was not only a brilliant strategist and statesman, but was also an acclaimed legislator. He led a systematically functioning state administration and a modern, powerful and quite mobile army. There was no fleet or army stronger than his, and he had absolute authority over his forces. The Sultan also became famous for his administrative and legal reforms, which earned him the name Kanuni, or Lawgiver and ensured the survival of the state long after his death. 

His reign also witnessed the zenith of the Ottoman arts and culture. Various imperial artistic societies, called the Community of the Talented (Ehl-i Hiref) were administered under his patronage. According the Ottoman archives, Sultan Süleyman personally inspected the works of artisans and rewarded them for their achievements.

During this period, developments occurred in both fine arts and decorative arts, especially in calligraphy, miniature painting, manuscript painting, gravures, ebru, wood and stone carving, ceramics, tiles and textiles. 

Ottoman Sikke-i Hasene (Gold coins) minted in the year 1520 during the reign of Sultan Süleyman.

The Sultan and his family members also built külliye, complexes of buildings for benevolent services for the public good comprising of colleges, medical schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, inns and public bathhouses. He appointed Mimar Sinan as his chief architect, and had him build more than 300 structures in different parts of the Empire, from the Balkans to the Hijaz, including 57 colleges, 46 inns, 35 palaces, 42 public baths, 22 tombs, 17 almshouses, 25 hospitals, 7 aqueducts, 8 bridges, 8 granaries, and 135 mosques.

The interior of the Süleymaniye Mosque, commissioned by Sultan Süleyman and built by Mimar Sinan.

The Sultan and his family members also built külliye, complexes of buildings for benevolent services for the public good comprising of colleges, medical schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, inns and public bathhouses. He appointed Mimar Sinan as his chief architect, and had him build more than 300 structures in different parts of the Empire, from the Balkans to the Hijaz, including 57 colleges, 46 inns, 35 palaces, 42 public baths, 22 tombs, 17 almshouses, 25 hospitals, 7 aqueducts, 8 bridges, 8 granaries, and 135 mosques.

Sultan Süleyman decided to lead his army for the last time in the year 1566 against Ferdinand of Austria, who broke the peace agreement with the Ottomans by attacking the principality of Transylvania which was under Ottoman suzerainty. Despite his illness and age of seventy-two, Grand Vizier Sokullu Mehmed Pasha convinced him to command the army in person on this campaign. The Ottoman army besieged the Fort of Szigetvár, and after about a month of following the siege from his deathbed, Sultan Süleyman passed away on September 7th, 1566. His death was kept a secret in an effort not to distract the Ottoman army. The fort was conquered following a thirty-four day siege and the march to Szigetvár turned out to be the last successful campaign of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent.

A double-page Ottoman miniature painting depicting the funeral of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent in the book (Süleymanname) that was written by the court historian Luqman at the behest of Suleyman's grandson, Murad III.

The tomb of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, in Istanbul, Turkey. Picture taken in 1880. 

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