The biography of Sultan Suleiman is one of the most interesting among the biographies of the Eastern rulers. He was the tenth ruler of the Ottoman Empire (1494-1566). Today, this ruler is not only known in the world, but also enjoys popular respect in modern Turkey. If in Europe his nickname - "Magnificent" is better known, then in his homeland they call him a legislator, linking his personality with fair rule and the glorious pages of the heyday of the Ottoman statehood.
Prince Suleiman
The future head of the Turkish state was born in 1494. The boy's parents were Sultan Selim I and one of his concubines, the daughter of the Crimean Khan. The biography of Sultan Suleiman at its initial stage is nothing special. Until the age of twenty-six, the young man was brought up in the traditional spirit of the royal heirs, from a young age taking part in military campaigns and being his father's governor in remote regions of the state. Selim I, who spent most of his life on military campaigns, during the preparation of the next expedition, became infected with an incurablemoment of plague and died in 1520.
On the throne
The biography of Sultan Suleiman during the reign of a powerful empire is an impressive list of military campaigns, in which he significantly surpassed his own father. The views of the young ruler were directed mainly to the west. The first war was declared against Hungary in 1521. During the first invasion, Belgrade, the island of Rhodes and significant territories in the Balkans were captured. Then the conqueror took a break. A few years later, in 1526, the second Turkish invasion of Hungary was launched. This campaign ended with the defeat of the Hungarian army near the town of Mohacs and the occupation of new bridgeheads for the subsequent offensive into Europe. Over the next three years, the Sultan again gathered forces, and in 1529 he launched a war with the Habsburg Empire. The beginning of the campaign was habitually successful for a young, but already quite experienced commander. The Ottomans quickly approached Vienna. However, the siege of this city in 1529 was the last page of the brilliant Turkish expansion into Europe. And 154 years later, the siege of the same city will mark the reconquest of the Europeans and the progressive loss of possessions in the Balkans by the Turks.
In the meantime, the Sultan, despite the failure during the siege of the city, continued the war with the Austrians, as a result of which he got the opportunity to divide Hungary with them. The biography of Sultan Suleiman also knows the eastern campaigns. So, for example, in the 1530s, the commander defeated the Iranian state of the Safavids. And in1538 led his army to Arabia and even India.
Sultan Suleiman: biography, family
The Turkish ruler, as is customary in the Muslim world, had many concubines. But the Slav Roksolana had a special influence on the future fate of the entire state. She became his first wife, having a significant influence on the sovereign. It was her son Selim who became the next ruler of the country in 1566, when Sultan Suleiman died. The biography, children and numerous military successes of this ruler say a lot about a man whose reign was truly the golden age of Ottoman statehood.
