Sezen Aksu
Sezen Aksu concert Maltepe University, 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Fatma Sezen Yıldırım
Also known as	Sezen Aksu
Born	(1954-07-13) July 13, 1954 (age 57)
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1975–present
Website	Official Website

Sezen Aksu (Turkish pronunciation: [seˈzen ˈaksu]; born: Fatma Sezen Yıldırım; July 13, 1954 in Denizli) is a Turkish pop music singer, song-writer and producer who sold over 40 million albums worldwide.^[1] Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop"^[2] and Minik Serçe ("Little Sparrow").

Aksu's influence on Turkish pop and world music has continued since her debut in 1975, and has been reinforced by her patronage of and collaboration with many other musicians, including Sertab Erener, Şebnem Ferah, Aşkın Nur Yengi, Hande Yener, and Levent Yüksel.^[3] Her work with Tarkan resulted in continental hits like "Şımarık" and "Şıkıdım" and her collaboration with Goran Bregović widened her international audience.

Biography[link]

Sezen Aksu was born in Sarayköy, Turkey. Her family moved to İzmir when she was 3 years old and she spent her childhood and early youth there. Aksu's parents discouraged her singing because they wanted her to have a steady profession as a doctor or engineer. She used to wait until they left the house and sing on the family's balcony.^[4] After finishing high school, she began studying at the local agricultural institute, but left college to concentrate on music.

Along with her close friend Ajda Pekkan, Aksu is credited with laying the foundations of Turkish pop music in the 1970s.^[5] Her sound has also spread across the Balkans and Greece.^[6] It was this sound that changed the face of the Eurovision song contest when her protégé Sertab Erener won in 2003. Aksu has also toured in Europe and the U.S to critical appraise.^[7]

She has championed a variety of causes, including women's rights, the environment, and educational reform in Turkey.^[2] Aksu has been married and divorced four times, but kept the name from her second marriage to Ali Engin Aksu, a doctor of geology who currently resides in Canada. She has a son with Sinan Özer.

Career[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2011)

Sezen Aksu released her first single, Haydi Şansım/Gel Bana (Come on My Luck/Come to Me) in 1975 under the name of Sezen Seley. However, she remained undiscovered until her 1976 single Olmaz Olsun/Vurdumduymaz (Wish It Never Happened/Insensitive) reached number one in the Turkish charts. Her first album was 1978's Serçe (Sparrow), which was to give her the nickname, penned by a Turkish journalist.

An Aksu drive finally got Turkey to apply for the Eurovision Song contest in the mid-70s. Ironically however, even though she competed in the national finals for the competition three times - "Küçük Bir Aşk Masalı" (A Little Love Tale) was a duet with Özdemir Erdoğan, "Heyamola" was performed as a trio with Coşkun Demir and Ali Kocatepe and "1945" was her solo performance - none got the chance to represent Turkey abroad. It was to be left to her pupil Erener to win the Eurovision and realise Aksu's dream to push her musical vision further into Europe.

In the 80's, Aksu had a relationship with producer Onno Tunç that was both romantic and professional. As a couple they put their signatures to works that broke new ground in Turkish pop music, such as Sen Ağlama (Don't Cry), Git (Go), Sezen Aksu'88 and Sezen Aksu Söylüyor (Sezen Aksu Sings). Her music matured in the 90's, when she co-produced her best selling album to-date Gülümse (Smile) with Tunç. The A-1 track from the album called Hadi Bakalım (Come On Now) was a hit in Turkey and Europe, and was published as a single in Germany. It was to be later rediscovered in Europop by singer Loona as Rhythm of the Night. She also began to produce albums for her vocalists, notably producing Aşkın Nur Yengi's debut album Sevgiliye (To a Lover) again with Tunç. She was to repeat her success with artists Erener and Yüksel also.

Parting ways with Tunç, in 1995, Aksu branched out with the experimental album Işık Doğudan Yükselir (Light Rises From the East), drawing both on western classical and regional Turkish musical traditions. This album made her name outside Turkey and gave her a world music following across Europe. In 1996, she released Düş Bahçeleri (Dream Gardens) as a tribute to Tunç, who died that same year tragically when his private plane crashed. In 1997, she released Düğün ve Cenaze (The Wedding And The Funeral), this time collaborating with Goran Bregović.

She returned to her roots with Adı Bende Saklı (Its Name Is Hidden In Me), which was released in 1998. She began to use experimental sounds and was once again pushing Turkish pop into the future. Aksu continued with this trend with her subsequent albums Deliveren (Crazymaker), Şarkı Söylemek Lazım (Gotta Sing) which also featured former Sparks bassist Martin Gordon as engineer/mixer (and also as bass player on her subsequent European tour), Yaz Bitmeden (Before The Summer Ends) between the years 2000 - 2003. After a two year hiatus, she returned with Bahane (Excuse) in 2005. That same year she released Kardelen (Snowdrop) where all proceeds went to charity, and before the end of 2005 released a Bahane/Remixes (Excuse/Remixes) double-CD album which contained the original Bahane album in disc one and the remixes of songs in Bahane in disc two. At the end of the year her albums Bahane, Kardelen and the re-released album Şarkı Söylemek Lazım were the three best-selling albums in the country.

In 2005 she was featured in Fatih Akin's documentary film "Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul" with a performance of the song "Istanbul Hatirasi."

Aksu has recently been re-releasing all her old classics digitally remastered and with specially designed new sleeves. After her concert tour in summer 2006.

Sezen Aksu performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, on 7 October 2007. After Zeki Muren, she was only the second Turkish artist to perform at the prestigious venue.

In 2008 Aksu released her album called Deniz Yıldızı through Starfish Records. And in 2009 she released her latest album Yürüyorum Düş Bahçelerinde which sold over 100 000 copies during the first week of its release. The album contains new original songs as well as some older songs which were composed by Sezen Aksu for other singers, most notably Çakkıdı, Kibir, Yok Ki.

Discography[link]

Music Albums[link]

Acting/Musicals[link]

• Sezen Aksu Aile Gazinosu - (Sezen Aksu Family Music Hall) (1982)
• Bin Yıl Önce Bin Yıl Sonra - (1000 Years Before, 1000 Years Later) (1986)

sezen aksu

See also[link]

• Turkish Wikipedia and Sezen Aksu
• List of Turkish musicians

Notes[link]

1. ^ CD Baby
2. ^ ^{a b} 6Moons Review
3. ^ Sezen Aksu and Her Children
4. ^ Grant, Neva (12 April 2010). "Sezen Aksu: The Voice Of Istanbul". Morning Edition. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125787999. Retrieved 24 May 2011. 
5. ^ Aksu's expressive vocal technique, distinctive songwriting, and prolific output were all integral to her success and to the development of a unique Turkish pop sound. Many musicians--for example, Alexander Hacke and several of the artists he interviewed for the documentary Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul--have acknowledged Sezen Aksu's broad influence.
6. ^ With the Greek diaspora from Turkey in the seventies, many brought their musical tastes, which included Aksu's music to Greece; the Greek musicians Haris Alexiou and Giorgos Dalaras acknowledge her influence.
7. ^ Sezen Aksu (June 19, 2002). The Guardian

References[link]

• Sezen Aksu Sezen-Aksu.com.
• Sezen Aksu Discography Sezen Aksu Discography.
• Sezen.net Sezen.net.
• Sezen Aksu (June 19, 2002). The Guardian.
• Songs Must Be Sung (November, 2002). 6 Moons.
• Sezen Aksu And Her Children (September 15, 2004). DEUTSCHE WELLE.
• [1] Producer for Sezen Aksu

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sezen Aksu

• Sezen Aksu Video Klipleri
• Sezen Aksu at the Internet Movie Database
• Can Dündar - Hey gidi günler! (Turkish)
• The Official Sezen Aksu Web Site
• The Sezenciler Fansite
• sezen.onlinecosmos.com
• Sezen Aksu Dinle
• Review of 'Öptüm' (in English)

Suleiman the Magnificent سلطان سليمان اول
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Islamic Caliph Amir al-Mu'minin
File:TheTurkishEmperorSuleiman.jpg
Suleyman I attributed to school of Titian c.1530
Period	Growth of the Ottoman Empire
Coronation	30 September 1520
Full Name	Sulemian I
Born	(1494-11-06)6 November 1494
Birthplace	Trabzon
Died	5/6 September 1566 (aged 71)
Place of death	Szigetvár, Hungary
Buried	Süleymaniye Mosque, Constantinople[1][2] (present day Istanbul)
Predecessor	Selim I
Successor	Selim II
Consort	Hürrem Sultan
Wives	Haseki Hürrem Sultan Mahidevran Sultan
Offspring	Shahzade Mahmud (1511–1521) Shahzade Mustafa (1515–1553) Shahzade Mehmed (1523–1543) Mihrimah Sultana (1524–1578) Selim II (1525–1574) Shahzade Bayezid (1527–1561) Shahzade Cihangir (1535–1553)
Royal House	House of Osman
Dynasty	Ottoman Dynasty
Father	Selim I
Valide Sultan	Ayşe Hafsa Sultan

Suleiman I ( /ˈsuːlimɑːn/; Ottoman Turkish: سلطان سليمان اول, Sultān Suleimān-i evvel or قانونى سلطان سليمان‎, Kānūnī Sultān Suleimān, Modern Turkish: I. Süleyman (Turkish pronunciation: [sylejˈmɑn]) or Kanuni Sultan Süleyman; 6 November 1494 – 5/6/7 September 1566) was the tenth and longest-reigning Emperor, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent^[3] and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" (Turkish: Kanuni; Arabic: القانونى‎, al‐Qānūnī), for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system. Suleiman became a prominent monarch of 16th century Europe, presiding over the apex of the Ottoman Empire's military, political and economic power. Suleiman personally led Ottoman armies to conquer the Christian strongholds of Belgrade, Rhodes, and most of Hungary before his conquests were checked at the Siege of Vienna in 1529. He annexed most of the Middle East in his conflict with the Safavids and large swathes of North Africa as far west as Algeria. Under his rule, the Ottoman fleet dominated the seas from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.^[4]

At the helm of an expanding empire, Suleiman personally instituted legislative changes relating to society, education, taxation, and criminal law. His canonical law (or the Kanuns) fixed the form of the empire for centuries after his death. Not only was Suleiman a distinguished poet and goldsmith in his own right; he also became a great patron of culture, overseeing the golden age of the Ottoman Empire's artistic, literary and architectural development.^[5] He spoke five languages: Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, Chagatai (a dialect of Turkic languages and related to Uyghur and Uzbek), Persian and Serbian.

In a break with Ottoman tradition, Suleiman married a harem girl, Roxelana, who became Hürrem Sultan; her intrigues as queen in the court and power over the Sultan made her quite renowned. Their son, Selim II, succeeded Suleiman following his death in 1566 after 46 years of rule.

Early life[link]

Suleiman was born in Trabzon along the coast of the Black Sea, probably on 6 November 1494.^[6] His mother was Valide Sultan Aishe Hafsa Sultan or Hafsa Hatun Sultan, who died in 1534. At the age of seven, he was sent to study science, history, literature, theology, and military tactics in the schools of the Topkapı Palace in Constantinople. As a young man, he befriended Pargalı Ibrahim, a slave who later became one of his most trusted advisers.^[7] From the age of seventeen, young Suleiman was appointed as the governor of first Kaffa (Theodosia), then Sarukhan (Manisa) with a brief tenure at Adrianople (now Edirne).^[8] Upon the death of his father, Selim I (1465–1520), Suleiman entered Constantinople and acceded to the throne as the tenth Ottoman Sultan. An early description of Suleiman, a few weeks following his accession, was provided by the Venetian envoy Bartolomeo Contarini: "He is twenty-six years of age, tall, but wiry, and of a delicate complexion. His neck is a little too long, his face thin, and his nose aquiline. He has a shade of a moustache and a small beard; nevertheless he has a pleasant mien, though his skin tends to pallor. He is said to be a wise Lord, fond of study, and all men hope for good from his rule."^[9] Some historians claim that in his youth Suleiman had an admiration for Alexander the Great.^[10][11] He was influenced by Alexander's vision of building a world empire that would encompass the east and the west, and this created a drive for his subsequent military campaigns in Asia and in Africa, as well as in Europe.

Military campaigns[link]

Conquests in Europe[link]

Battle between the Turks and Christians, 16th century

Upon succeeding his father, Suleiman began a series of military conquests, eventually suppressing a revolt led by the Ottoman-appointed governor of Damascus in 1521. Suleiman soon made preparations for the conquest of Belgrade from the Kingdom of Hungary—something his great-grandfather Mehmed II had failed to achieve. Its capture was vital in eliminating the Hungarians who, following the defeats of the Serbs, Bulgarians, Byzantines and Albanians, remained the only formidable force who could block further Ottoman gains in Europe. Suleiman encircled Belgrade and began a series of heavy bombardments from an island in the Danube. With a garrison of only 700 men, and receiving no aid from Hungary, Belgrade fell in August 1521.^[12]

Suleiman as a young man

News of the conquest of one of Christendom's major strongholds spread fear across Europe. As the ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire to Constantinople was to note, "The capture of Belgrade was at the origin of the dramatic events which engulfed Hungary. It led to the death of King Louis, the capture of Buda, the occupation of Transylvania, the ruin of a flourishing kingdom and the fear of neighbouring nations that they would suffer the same fate..."^[13]

The road to Hungary and Austria lay open, but Suleiman diverted his attention to the Eastern Mediterranean island of Rhodes, the home base of the Knights Hospitaller. In the summer of 1522, taking advantage of the navy he inherited from his father, Suleiman dispatched an armada of some 400 ships while personally leading an army of 100,000 across Asia Minor to a point opposite the island.^[14] Following a siege of five months with brutal encounters, Rhodes capitulated and Suleiman allowed the Knights of Rhodes to depart. They eventually formed their new base in Malta.

As relations between Hungary and the Ottoman Empire deteriorated, Suleiman resumed his campaign in Eastern Europe and on 29 August 1526, he defeated Louis II of Hungary (1506–26) at the Battle of Mohács. In its wake, Hungarian resistance collapsed and the Ottoman Empire became the pre-eminent power in Eastern Europe.^[15] Upon encountering the lifeless body of King Louis, Suleiman is said to have lamented: "I came indeed in arms against him; but it was not my wish that he should be thus cut off while he scarcely tasted the sweets of life and royalty."^[16][17]

Under Charles V and his brother Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, the Habsburgs reoccupied Buda and took Hungary. As a result, in 1529, Suleiman once again marched through the valley of the Danube and regained control of Buda and in the following autumn laid siege to Vienna. It was to be the Ottoman Empire's most ambitious expedition and the apogee of its drive towards the West. With a reinforced garrison of 16,000 men,^[18] the Austrians inflicted upon Suleiman his first defeat, sowing the seeds of a bitter Ottoman-Habsburg rivalry which lasted until the 20th century.^[19] A second attempt to conquer Vienna failed in 1532, with Suleiman retreating before reaching the city. In both cases, the Ottoman army was plagued by bad weather (forcing them to leave behind essential siege equipment) and was hobbled by overstretched supply lines.^[20]

King John Sigismund of Hungary with Suleiman in 1556.

By the 1540s a renewal of the conflict in Hungary presented Suleiman with the opportunity to avenge the defeat suffered at Vienna. Some Hungarian nobles proposed that Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (1519–64), who was ruler of neighbouring Austria and tied to Louis II's family by marriage, be King of Hungary, citing previous agreements that the Habsburgs would take the Hungarian throne if Louis died without heirs.^[21] However, other nobles turned to the nobleman John Zápolya who, being supported by Suleiman, remained unrecognized by the Christian powers of Europe.

Ottoman Siege of Esztergom (1543).

In 1541 the Habsburgs once again engaged in conflict with the Ottomans, attempting to lay siege to Buda. With their efforts repulsed, and more Habsburg fortresses captured as a result,^[22] Ferdinand and his brother Charles V were forced to conclude a humiliating five-year treaty with Suleiman. Ferdinand renounced his claim to the Kingdom of Hungary and was forced to pay a fixed yearly sum to the Sultan for the Hungarian lands he continued to control. Of more symbolic importance, the treaty referred to Charles V not as 'Emperor', but in rather plainer terms as the 'King of Spain', leading Suleiman to consider himself the true 'Caesar'.^[23]

With his main European rivals subdued, Suleiman had assured the Ottoman Empire a powerful role in the political landscape of Europe.

Ottoman–Safavid War[link]

Miniature depicting Suleiman marching with an army in Nakhchivan, summer 1554

As Suleiman stabilized his European frontiers, he now turned his attention to the ever present threat posed by the Shi'a Safavid dynasty of Persia. Two events in particular were to precipitate a recurrence of tensions. First, Shah Tahmasp had the Baghdad governor loyal to Suleiman killed and replaced with an adherent of the Shah, and second, the governor of Bitlis had defected and sworn allegiance to the Safavids.^[24] As a result, in 1533, Suleiman ordered his Grand Vizier Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha to lead an army into Asia where he retook Bitlis and occupied Tabriz without resistance. Having joined Ibrahim in 1534, Suleiman made a push towards Persia, only to find the Shah sacrificing territory instead of facing a pitched battle, resorting to harassment of the Ottoman army as it proceeded along the harsh interior.^[25] When in the following year Suleiman and Ibrahim made a grand entrance into Baghdad, its commander surrendered the city, thereby confirming Suleiman as the leader of the Islamic world and the legitimate successor to the Abbasid Caliphs.^[26]

Suleiman the Magnificent on horseback. Painting by Hans Eworth.

Attempting to defeat the Shah once and for all, Suleiman embarked upon a second campaign in 1548–1549. As in the previous attempt, Tahmasp avoided confrontation with the Ottoman army and instead chose to retreat, using scorched earth tactics in the process and exposing the Ottoman army to the harsh winter of the Caucasus.^[25] Suleiman abandoned the campaign with temporary Ottoman gains in Tabriz and the Urmia region, a lasting presence in the province of Van, and some forts in Georgia.^[27] In 1553 Suleiman began his third and final campaign against the Shah. Having initially lost territories in Erzurum to the Shah's son, Suleiman retaliated by recapturing Erzurum, crossing the Upper Euphrates and laying waste to parts of Persia. The Shah's army continued its strategy of avoiding the Ottomans, leading to a stalemate from which neither army made any significant gain. In 1554, a settlement was signed which was to conclude Suleiman's Asian campaigns. It included the return of Tabriz, but secured Baghdad, lower Mesopotamia, the mouths of the river Euphrates and Tigris, as well as part of the Persian Gulf.^[28] The Shah also promised to cease all raids into Ottoman territory.^[29]

Campaigns in the Indian Ocean[link]

Aden cannon of Suleiman, founded by Mohammed ibn Hamza in 1530-31 for an Ottoman invasion of Portuguese possession at Diu. The cannon was taken away after the capture of Aden in 1839 by Cap. H.Smith of HMS Volage. (Tower of London)

Ottoman fleet in the Indian Ocean in the 16th century.

Ottoman ships had been sailing in the Indian Ocean, since the year 1518. Ottoman Admirals such as: Hadim Suleiman Pasha, Seydi Ali Reis^[30] and Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis are known to have voyaged to the Mughal imperial ports of Thatta, Surat and Janjira. The Mughal Emperor Akbar, himself is known to have exchanged six documents with Suleiman the Magnificent.^[31][32][33]

In the Indian Ocean, Suleiman led several naval campaigns against the Portuguese in an attempt to remove them and reestablish trade with India. Aden in Yemen was captured by the Ottomans in 1538, in order to provide an Ottoman base for raids against Portuguese possessions on the western coast of modern Pakistan and India.^[34] Sailing on to India, the Ottomans failed against the Portuguese at the Siege of Diu in September 1538, but then returned to Aden where they fortified the city with 100 pieces of artillery.^[34][35] From this base, Sulayman Pasha managed to take control of the whole country of Yemen, also taking Sa'na.^[34] Aden rose against the Ottomans however and invited the Portuguese instead, so that the Portuguese were in control of the city until its seizure by Piri Reis in the Capture of Aden (1548).

With its strong control of the Red Sea, Suleiman successfully managed to dispute control of the Indian trade routes to the Portuguese and maintained a significant level of trade with the Mughal Empire of South Asia throughout the 16th century.^[36] His admiral Piri Reis led an Ottoman fleet in the Indian Ocean, achieving the Capture of Muscat in 1552.

In 1564, Suleiman received an embassy from Aceh (modern Indonesia), requesting Ottoman support against the Portuguese. As a result an Ottoman expedition to Aceh was launched, which was able to provide extensive military support to the Acehnese.^[37]

Mediterranean and North Africa[link]

Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha defeats the Holy League under the command of Andrea Doria at the Battle of Preveza in 1538

Having consolidated his conquests on land, Suleiman was greeted with the news that the fortress of Koroni in Morea (the modern Peloponnese) had been lost to Charles V's admiral, Andrea Doria. The presence of the Spanish in the Eastern Mediterranean concerned Suleiman, who saw it as an early indication of Charles V's intention to rival Ottoman dominance in the region. Recognizing the need to reassert the navy's preeminence in the Mediterranean, Suleiman appointed an exceptional naval commander in the form of Khair ad Din, known to Europeans as Barbarossa. Once appointed admiral-in-chief, Barbarossa was charged with rebuilding the Ottoman fleet, to such an extent that the Ottoman navy equalled in number those of all other Mediterranean countries put together.^[38] In 1535 Charles V won an important victory against the Ottomans at Tunis, which together with the war against Venice the following year, led Suleiman to accept proposals from Francis I of France to form an alliance against Charles.^[24] In 1538, the Spanish fleet was defeated by Barbarossa at the Battle of Preveza, securing the eastern Mediterranean for the Turks for 33 years until the defeat at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.

Francis I (left) and Suleiman the Magnificent (right) initiated a Franco-Ottoman alliance from the 1530s.

East of Morocco, huge territories in North Africa were annexed. The Barbary States of Tripolitania, Tunisia, and Algeria became autonomous provinces of the Empire, serving as the leading edge of Suleiman's conflict with Charles V, whose attempt to drive out the Turks failed in 1541.^[39] The piracy carried on thereafter by the Barbary pirates of North Africa can be seen in the context of the wars against Spain. For a short period Ottoman expansion secured naval dominance in the Mediterranean. Ottoman navies also controlled the Red Sea, and held the Persian Gulf until 1554, when their ships were defeated by the navy of the Portuguese Empire. The Portuguese had taken Ormus (in the Strait of Hormuz) in 1515 and would continue to vie with Suleiman's forces for control of Aden, in present-day Yemen.

The Siege of Malta in 1565: Arrival of the Turkish fleet, by Matteo Perez d' Aleccio

In 1542, facing a common Habsburg enemy, Francis I sought to renew the Franco-Ottoman alliance. As a result, Suleiman dispatched 100 galleys^[40] under Barbarossa to assist the French in the western Mediterranean. Barbarossa pillaged the coast of Naples and Sicily before reaching France where Francis made Toulon the Ottoman admirals naval headquarters. The same campaign had seen Barbarossa attack and capture Nice in 1543. By 1544, a peace between Francis I and Charles V had put a temporary end to the alliance between France and the Ottoman Empire.

Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, when the Knights Hospitallers were re-established as the Knights of Malta in 1530, their actions against Muslim navies quickly drew the ire of the Ottomans who assembled another massive army in order to dislodge the Knights from Malta. The Ottomans invaded in 1565, undertaking the Great Siege of Malta, which began on May 18 and lasted until September 8, and is portrayed vividly in the frescoes of Matteo Perez d'Aleccio in the Hall of St. Michael and St. George. At first it seemed that this would be a repeat of the battle on Rhodes, with most of Malta's cities destroyed and half the Knights killed in battle; but a relief force from Spain entered the battle, resulting in the loss of 30,000 Ottoman troops and the victory of the local Maltese citizenry.^[41]

Administrative reforms[link]

A bas-relief of Suleiman adorning the interior of the United States House of Representatives. It is one of 23 commemorating famous lawmakers throughout history.

While Sultan Suleiman was known as "the Magnificent" in the West, he was always Kanuni Suleiman or "The Lawgiver" to his own Ottoman subjects. As the historian Lord Kinross notes, "Not only was he a great military campaigner, a man of the sword, as his father and great-grandfather had been before him. He differed from them in the extent to which he was also a man of the pen. He was a great legislator, standing out in the eyes of his people as a high-minded sovereign and a magnanimous exponent of justice".^[42] The overriding law of the empire was the Shari'ah, or Sacred Law, which as the divine law of Islam was outside of the Sultan's powers to change. Yet an area of distinct law known as the Kanuns (canonical legislation) was dependent on Suleiman's will alone, covering areas such as criminal law, land tenure and taxation.^[43] He collected all the judgments that had been issued by the nine Ottoman Sultans who preceded him. After eliminating duplications and choosing between contradictory statements, he issued a single legal code, all the while being careful not to violate the basic laws of Islam.^[44] It was within this framework that Suleiman, supported by his Grand Mufti Ebussuud, sought to reform the legislation to adapt to a rapidly changing empire. When the Kanun laws attained their final form, the code of laws became known as the kanun‐i Osmani, or the "Ottoman laws". Suleiman's legal code was to last more than three hundred years.^[45]

The emperor Suleiman the Magnificent. Sixteenth-century painting by a member of the Venetian school.

Suleiman gave particular attention to the plight of the rayas, Christian subjects who worked the land of the Sipahis. His Kanune Raya, or "Code of the Rayas", reformed the law governing levies and taxes to be paid by the rayas, raising their status above serfdom to the extent that Christian serfs would migrate to Turkish territories to benefit from the reforms.^[46] The Sultan also played a role in protecting the Jewish subjects of his empire for centuries to come. In late 1553 or 1554, on the suggestion of his favorite doctor and dentist, the Spanish Jew Moses Hamon, the Sultan issued a firman formally denouncing blood libels against the Jews.^[47] Furthermore, Suleiman enacted new criminal and police legislation, prescribing a set of fines for specific offences, as well as reducing the instances requiring death or mutilation. In the area of taxation, taxes were levied on various goods and produce, including animals, mines, profits of trade, and import-export duties. In addition to taxes, officials who had fallen into disrepute were likely to have their land and property confiscated by the Sultan.

Education was another important area for the Sultan. Schools attached to mosques and funded by religious foundations provided a largely free education to Muslim boys in advance of the Christian countries of the time.^[48] In his capital, Suleiman increased the number of mektebs (primary schools) to fourteen, teaching boys to read and write as well as the principles of Islam. Young men wishing further education could proceed to one of eight medreses (colleges), whose studies included grammar, metaphysics, philosophy, astronomy, and astrology.^[48] Higher medreses provided education of university status, whose graduates became imams or teachers. Educational centers were often one of many buildings surrounding the courtyards of mosques, others included libraries, refectories, fountains, soup kitchens and hospitals for the benefit of the public.

Cultural achievements[link]

Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent.

Iznik pottery thrived at the time of Suleiman. 1530–40 plate.

Ottoman miniature art during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent.

Western Anatolia knotted wool "Lotto carpet", 16th century, Saint Louis Art Museum.

Under Suleiman's patronage, the Ottoman empire entered the golden age of its cultural development. Hundreds of imperial artistic societies (called the Ehl-i Hiref, "Community of the Talented") were administered at the Imperial seat, the Topkapı Palace. After an apprenticeship, artists and craftsmen could advance in rank within their field and were paid commensurate wages in quarterly annual installments. Payroll registers that survive testify to the breadth of Suleiman's patronage of the arts, the earliest of documents dating from 1526 list 40 societies with over 600 members. The Ehl-i Hiref attracted the empire's most talented artisans to the Sultan's court, both from the Islamic world and recently conquered territories in Europe, resulting in a blend of Islamic, Turkish and European cultures.^[49] Artisans in service of the court included painters, book binders, furriers, jewellers and goldsmiths. Whereas previous rulers had been influenced by Persian culture (Suleiman's father, Selim I, wrote poetry in Persian), Suleiman's patronage of the arts had seen the Ottoman Empire assert its own artistic legacy.^[50]

Suleiman himself was an accomplished poet, writing in Persian and Turkish under the nom de plume Muhibbi (Lover). Some of Suleiman's verses have become Turkish proverbs, such as the well-known Everyone aims at the same meaning, but many are the versions of the story. When his young son Mehmed died in 1543, he composed a moving chronogram to commemorate the year: Peerless among princes, my Sultan Mehmed.^[51][52] In addition to Suleiman's own work, many great talents enlivened the literary world during Suleiman's rule, including Fuzuli and Baki. The literary historian E. J. W. Gibb observed that "at no time, even in Turkey, was greater encouragement given to poetry than during the reign of this Sultan".^[51] Suleiman's most famous verse is:

Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, built by Mimar Sinan, Suleiman's chief architect.

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 a worldly strife and constant war;

Worship of God is the highest throne, the happiest of all estates.^[53]

Suleiman also became renowned for sponsoring a series of monumental architectural developments within his empire. The Sultan sought to turn Constantinople into the center of Islamic civilization by a series of projects, including bridges, mosques, palaces and various charitable and social establishments. The greatest of these were built by the Sultan's chief architect, Mimar Sinan, under whom Ottoman architecture reached its zenith. Sinan became responsible for over three hundred monuments throughout the empire, including his two masterpieces, the Süleymaniye and Selimiye mosques—the latter built in Adrianople (now Edirne) in the reign of Suleiman's son Selim II. Suleiman also restored the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem city walls (which are the current walls of the Old City of Jerusalem), renovated the Kaaba in Mecca, and constructed a complex in Damascus.^[54]

Personal life[link]

Hürrem Sultan[link]

Suleiman was infatuated with Hürrem Sultan, a harem girl from Ruthenia, then part of Poland. In the West foreign diplomats, taking notice of the palace gossip about her, called her "Russelazie" or "Roxelana", referring to her Ruthenian (Ukrainian) origins.^[55] The daughter of an Orthodox priest,^[28] she was enslaved and rose through the ranks of the Harem to become Suleiman's favourite. Breaking with two centuries of Ottoman tradition,^[28] a former concubine had thus become the legal wife of the Sultan, much to the astonishment of observers in the palace and the city.^[56] He also allowed Hürrem Sultan to remain with him at court for the rest of her life, breaking another tradition—that when imperial heirs came of age, they would be sent along with the imperial concubine who bore them to govern remote provinces of the Empire, never to return unless their progeny succeeded to the throne.^[57]

Under his pen name, Muhibbi, Suleiman composed this poem for Roxelana:

"Throne of my lonely niche, my wealth, my love, my moonlight.
My most sincere friend, my confidant, my very existence, my Sultan, my one and only love.
The most beautiful among the beautiful...
My springtime, my merry faced love, my daytime, my sweetheart, laughing leaf...
My plants, my sweet, my rose, the one only who does not distress me in this world...
My Constantinople, my Caraman, the earth of my Anatolia
My Badakhshan, my Baghdad and Khorasan
My woman of the beautiful hair, my love of the slanted brow, my love of eyes full of mischief...
I'll sing your praises always
I, lover of the tormented heart, Muhibbi of the eyes full of tears, I am happy."^[58]

Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha[link]

The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, awaits the arrival of his Grand Vizier Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha at Buda, in the year 1529.

Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha was the boyhood friend of Suleiman. Ibrahim was originally a Christian Greek,or Albanian and when he was young was educated at the Palace School under the devshirme system. Suleiman made him the royal falconer, then promoted him to first officer of the Royal Bedchamber.^[59] Ibrahim Pasha rose to Grand Vizier in 1523 and commander-in-chief of all the armies. Suleiman also conferred upon Ibrahim Pasha the honor of beylerbey of Rumelia, granting Ibrahim authority over all Turkish territories in Europe, as well as command of troops residing within them in times of war. According to a 17th century chronicler, Ibrahim had asked Suleiman not to promote him to such high positions, fearing for his safety; to which Suleiman replied that under his reign no matter what the circumstance, Ibrahim would never be put to death.^[60]

Yet Ibrahim eventually fell from grace with the Sultan. During his thirteen years as Grand Vizier, his rapid rise to power and vast accumulation of wealth had made Ibrahim many enemies among the Sultan's court. Reports had reached the Sultan of Ibrahim's impudence during a campaign against the Persian Safavid empire: in particular his adoption of the title serasker sultan was seen as a grave affront to Suleiman.^[61]

Suleiman's suspicion of Ibrahim was worsened by a quarrel between the latter and the Minister of Finance Iskender Chelebi. The dispute ended in the disgrace of Chelebi on charges of intrigue, with Ibrahim convincing Suleiman to sentence the Minister to death. Before his death however, Chelebi's last words were to accuse Ibrahim of conspiracy against the Sultan.^[61] These dying words convinced Suleiman of Ibrahim's disloyalty,^[61] and on 15 March 1536 Ibrahim's lifeless body was discovered in the Topkapi Palace.

Succession[link]

Suleiman's two Haseki Sultans had borne him eight sons, four of whom survived past the 1550s. They were Mustafa, Selim, Bayezid, and Jihangir. Of these, only Mustafa was not Hürrem Sultan's son, but rather Mahidevran Gülbahar Sultan's ("Rose of Spring"), and therefore preceded Hürrem's children in the order of succession. Hürrem was aware that should Mustafa become Sultan her own children would be strangled. Yet Mustafa was recognised as the most talented of all the brothers and was supported by Pargalı İbrahim Pasha, who was by this time Suleiman's Grand Vizier. The Austrian ambassador Busbecq would note "Suleiman has among his children a son called Mustafa, marvellously well educated and prudent and of an age to rule, since he is 24 or 25 years old; may God never allow a Barbary of such strength to come near us", going on to talk of Mustafa's "remarkable natural gifts".^[62] Hürrem is usually held at least partly responsible for the intrigues in nominating a successor. Although she was Suleiman's wife, she exercised no official public role. This did not, however, prevent Hürrem from wielding powerful political influence. Since the Empire lacked any formal means of nominating a successor, succession usually involved the death of competing princes in order to avert civil unrest and rebellions. In attempting to avoid the execution of her sons, Hürrem used her influence to eliminate those who supported Mustafa's accession to the throne.^[53]

Thus in power struggles apparently instigated by Hürrem,^[59] Suleiman had Ibrahim murdered and replaced with her sympathetic son-in-law, Rüstem Pasha. By 1552, when the campaign against Persia had begun with Rustem appointed commander-in-chief of the expedition, intrigues against Mustafa began. Rustem sent one of Suleiman's most trusted men to report that since Suleiman was not at the head of the army, the soldiers thought the time had come to put a younger prince on the throne; at the same time he spread rumors that Mustafa had proved receptive to the idea. Angered by what he came to believe were Mustafa's plans to claim the throne, the following summer upon return from his campaign in Persia, Suleiman summoned him to his tent in the Ereğli valley,^[63] stating he would "be able to clear himself of the crimes he was accused of and would have nothing to fear if he came".^[64]

Mustafa was confronted with a choice: either he appeared before his father at the risk of being killed; or, if he refused to attend, he would be accused of betrayal. In the end, Mustafa chose to enter his father's tent, confident that the support of the army would protect him. Busbecq, who claims to have received an account from an eyewitness, describes Mustafa's final moments. As Mustafa entered his father's tent, Suleiman's Eunuchs attacked Mustafa, with the young prince putting up a brave defence. Suleiman, separated from the struggle only by the linen hangings of the tent, peered through the chamber of his tent and "directed fierce and threatening glances upon the mutes, and by menacing gestures sternly rebuked their hesitation. Thereupon, the mutes in their alarm, redoubling their efforts, hurled Mustafa to the ground and, throwing the bowstring round his neck, strangled him."^[65]

Jihangir is said to have died of grief a few months after the news of his half-brother's murder.^[66] The two surviving brothers, Bayezid and Selim, were given command in different parts of the empire. Within a few years, however, civil war broke out between the brothers, each supported by his loyal forces.^[67] With the aid of his father's army, Selim defeated Bayezid in Konya in 1559, leading the latter to seek refuge with the Safavids along with his four sons. Following diplomatic exchanges, the Sultan demanded from the Safavid Shah that Bayezid be either extradited or executed. In return for large amounts of gold, the Shah allowed a Turkish executioner to strangle Bayezid and his four sons in 1561,^[66] clearing the path for Selim's succession to the throne seven years later. On 5/6 September 1566,^[68] Suleiman, who had set out from Constantinople to command an expedition to Hungary, died before an Ottoman victory at the Battle of Szigetvár in Hungary.^[69]

Legacy[link]

Sequin of Suleiman the Magnificent.

Suleiman I's conquests were followed by continuous territorial expansion until the Empire's peak in 1683.

Interior of the türbe of Suleiman the Magnificent, located in the Süleymaniye Mosque complex.

The funeral of Suleiman the Magnificent.

At the time of Suleiman's death, the Ottoman Empire was one of the world's foremost powers.^[70] Suleiman's conquests had brought under the control of the Empire the major Muslim cities (Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, and Baghdad), many Balkan provinces (reaching present day Croatia and Austria), and most of North Africa. His expansion into Europe had given the Ottoman Turks a powerful presence in the European balance of power. Indeed, such was the perceived threat of the Ottoman Empire under the reign of Suleiman that ambassador Busbecq warned of Europe's imminent conquest: "On [the Turks'] side are the resources of a mighty empire, strength unimpaired, habituation to victory, endurance of toil, unity, discipline, frugality and watchfulness... Can we doubt what the result will be?...When the Turks have settled with Persia, they will fly at our throats supported by the might of the whole East; how unprepared we are I dare not say."^[71]

Even thirty years after his death "Sultan Solyman" was quoted by the English playwright William Shakespeare as a military prodigy in The Merchant of Venice (Act 2, Scene 1).

Türbe (tomb) of Sultan Süleyman at Süleymaniye Mosque.

Suleiman's legacy was not, however, merely in the military field. The French traveler Jean de Thévenot a century later bears witness to the "strong agricultural base of the country, the well being of the peasantry, the abundance of staple foods, and the pre-eminence of organization in Suleiman's government".^[72] The administrative and legal reforms which earned him the name Law Giver ensured the Empire's survival long after his death, an achievement which "took many generations of decadent heirs to undo".^[73]

Through his personal patronage, Suleiman also presided over the Golden Age of the Ottoman Empire, representing the pinnacle of the Ottoman Turks' cultural achievement in the realm of architecture, literature, art, theology and philosophy.^[5][74] Today the skyline of the Bosphorus, and of many cities in modern Turkey and the former Ottoman provinces, are still adorned with the architectural works of Mimar Sinan. One of these, the Süleymaniye Mosque, is the final resting place of Suleiman and Herenzaltan: they are buried in separate domed mausoleums attached to the mosque.

Full Style[link]

^[75]

Literature[link]

There are many books about the Suleiman the Magnificent. Some of them are listed below.

• Defenders of the Faith: Charles V, Suleyman the Magnificent, and the Battle for Europe by James Reston Jr
• Suleiman the Magnificent by Harold Lamb.
• Suleyman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottomans by Fairfax Downey.
• Kanuni Sultan Süleyman'ın Liderlik Sırları by Tarık Altaylı.
• Kanuni Sultan Süleyman by Yılmaz Öztuna
• Kanuni Sultan Süleyman by Feridun Fazıl Tülbentçi.
• Kanuni Muhteşem Yüzyıl'ın Mimarı Sultan Süleyman by Nazım Tektaş
• The Shadow of God by Anthony A. Goodman
• The Government of the Ottoman Empire in the Time of Suleiman the Magnificent by Albert Howe Lybyer
• Soliman Le Magnifique, by Andre Clot
• Muhteşem Süleyman ve Hürrem Sultan, by Erhan Afyoncu

Notes[link]

References[link]

Printed Sources

On-line sources

• A Guide to Ottoman Bulgaria" by Dimana Trankova, Anthony Georgieff and Professor Hristo Matanov; published by Vagabond Media, Sofia, 2011 www.vagabond.bg/ottomanbulgaria

Further reading[link]

• André Clot Soliman Le Magnifique, Fayard, Paris, 1983, 469 p. ISBN 2-213-01260-1

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Suleiman I

• Sultan Suleyman Tomb
• Portraits and Tughra of Suleiman