Suleiman, the conqueror of Hungary and Mesopotamia,called…

Suleiman, the conqueror of Hungary and Mesopotamia,called “the Magnificent”, has also been a preeminent patron of the arts.

Known also as “the Lawgiver”, Suleiman has reformed the Ottoman legal system through his emphasis on fair systems of justice and taxation, a balanced budget, and a rational legislative system.

Under him, the empire has attained unprecedented wealth, power, and grandeur.

His dominion over the Arab world complete, he has created a powerful eastern fleet with which to protect ancient trade routes and revive the economic prosperity of the Arab provinces.

By the time of Suleiman’s death on September 5/6, 1566, the Ottoman Turks have gained control of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden, expelled the Venetians from the Greek mainland and annexed the rest of North Africa, barring a few Spanish ports.

Called “the Magnificent,” Suleiman the conqueror of Hungary and Mesopotamia, has also been a preeminent patron of the arts.

Known also as “the Lawgiver,” Suleiman has reformed the Ottoman legal system through his emphasis on fair systems of justice and taxation, a balanced budget, and a rational legislative system.

Under Suleiman, the empire has attained unprecedented wealth, power, and grandeur.

His dominion over the Arab world complete, he has created a powerful eastern fleet with which to protect ancient trade routes and revive the economic prosperity of the Arab provinces.

Suleiman had in his later years withdrawn from government participation.

His three sons contest bitterly for the succession.

The weakest of these, forty-two-year-old Selim II, known as Sari (“The Blond”) comes to the throne in the wake of palace intrigues and bitter civil strife with his brothers.

He is more inclined to a life of pleasure than to the difficult task of governing, and he entrusts the affairs of state to his able grand vizier (chief minister) and son-in-law, Mehmed Sokollu, who has held this position from June 1565.

Recruited into Ottoman service through the child-tribute (devsirme) levied in the Balkans, Sokollu had risen to the rank of high admiral of the fleet (1546) and later was governor-general (beylerbeyi) of Rumelia.

He had commanded the forces of Selim during the conflict (1559–61) between Selim and Bayezid over the succession to the throne, and he had married (1562) a daughter of the victorious Selim.