Suleiman the Magnificent
The show was primarily about Suleiman Shah and the people close to him. The more I watched the show, the more I was curious about Suleiman's actual life. I decided to do a little research and write a blog about it.
Suleiman the Magnificent (or "the Lawgiver") was born in 1494 and died in 1566. Suleiman's father, Selim I, was the sultan before him and only ruled for 8 years. When Selim I died, Suleiman reigned as the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566. This means he ruled for 46 years!
Suleiman was very well educated. As a child, he received formal education in "science, history, literature, theology, and military techniques in the schools of Istanbul." By 15 years old, he was already a governor of several provinces.
When Suleiman became the sultan, he wasted no time and began military conquests. As you can see by the image below, Suleiman captured and maintained a huge empire. The second lightest blue areas are the areas that Suleiman conquered. All of the blue is the Ottoman empire starting at the year 1300 (black).
The following is an excerpt from the New World Encyclopedia:
"While he may have been seen as dangerous to the outside world, he was known as a fair ruler within the empire who fought corruption and who was a great patron of artists and philosophers. Many Muslims regards his rule as one of the best examples of good governance. He was also noted as one of the greatest Islamic poets and an accomplished goldsmith. He earned his nickname 'the Lawmaker' from his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman law system. The laws that he gathered covered almost every aspect of life at the time. He acted against corrupt officials, especially those who overtaxed the population and on one occasion returned an [over-payment] of taxes to Egypt. He liked to sit in secret on court hearings to ensure that justice was done. Famously, he reversed a death sentence in the case of the Christian Molla Kabiz who had asserted the superiority of Jesus over Muhammad, saying that his arguments had not been disproved although in a later trial, they were judged to have been refuted. He appears to have had a genuine concern for the welfare of his subjects."
Suleiman died in Hungary before winning the Battle of Szigetvar. His life, while successful, was not without tragedy. He killed one of his best friends (Ibrahim Pasa) and had his own firstborn son strangled for becoming too popular with the military (Mustafa).
Until next time on Small Samples of History,
Ryan
Comments
Post a Comment