An outline, era by era

Ottoman Empire at its peak (Suleiman the Magnificent)

Early Modern Era · ~1500 – ~1800

The Ottoman Empire reached its greatest power in the sixteenth century, above all under Sultan Suleiman I, known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and to his own subjects as Kanuni, the Lawgiver. He reigned from 1520 to 1566. From Istanbul the empire ruled the Balkans, Anatolia, Syria, Egypt, much of Iraq, the Hejaz with the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and the coast of North Africa.

Suleiman led armies into Hungary and to the gates of Vienna, took Rhodes and Baghdad, and built a large navy that contested the Mediterranean. At home he oversaw a body of administrative and land law, and his reign saw great achievements in architecture, especially the mosques of the architect Sinan, as well as in poetry, painting and calligraphy. The empire was a multi-ethnic, multi-religious state governed through a salaried bureaucracy and a standing army. Its rise and its long contest with Habsburg Europe and Safavid Persia shaped the politics of three continents.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Selim I conquers Syria and Egypt

    Event

    What happened

    In 1514 Sultan Selim I defeats the Safavid shah Ismail at Chaldiran. In 1516 he defeats the Mamluks at Marj Dabiq near Aleppo, and in January 1517 at Ridaniyya near Cairo. Syria, Egypt and the Hejaz come under Ottoman rule.

    The rest is history

    These campaigns roughly doubled the empire's size and brought in great revenue from Egypt. The Ottomans now guarded Mecca and Medina, which raised the dynasty's standing across the Muslim world. Selim died in 1520 and left this enlarged empire to his son Suleiman. The border with Safavid Persia, drawn after Chaldiran, remained contested for generations.

    Sources

    1. BookFinkel, Caroline. Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923. London: John Murray, 2005.
    2. BookInalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age, 1300-1600. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1973.

  2. Belgrade and Rhodes, 1521 and 1522

    Event

    What happened

    Soon after taking the throne, Suleiman besieges and captures Belgrade in August 1521, a fortress that had held against Mehmed II in 1456. In 1522 he besieges the island of Rhodes, held by the Knights of St John, who surrender in December. The knights are allowed to leave with honours.

    The rest is history

    Belgrade opened the road into Hungary, and Rhodes removed a Christian base close to the sea route between Istanbul and Egypt. The knights later settled on Malta. The two victories set the pattern of Suleiman's early reign, which combined land and sea power.

    Sources

    1. BookClot, André. Suleiman the Magnificent: The Man, His Life, His Epoch. London: Saqi Books, 1992.
    2. BookFinkel, Caroline. Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923. London: John Murray, 2005.

  3. The battle of Mohács, 1526

    Event

    What happened

    On 29 August 1526 Suleiman's army destroys the Hungarian army at Mohács, on the Danube. King Louis II of Hungary dies while fleeing the field. The Ottomans enter Buda soon afterwards but withdraw.

    The rest is history

    Hungary's crown was claimed by both the Habsburg Ferdinand and the nobleman John Zápolya, who became an Ottoman client. In 1541 Suleiman took Buda, and central Hungary was ruled directly by the Ottomans for around 150 years. The kingdom's division made Hungary the main frontier between the Ottoman and Habsburg empires.

    Sources

    1. BookFodor, Pál. In Quest of the Golden Apple: Imperial Ideology, Politics, and Military Administration in the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul: Isis Press, 2000.
    2. BookClot, André. Suleiman the Magnificent: The Man, His Life, His Epoch. London: Saqi Books, 1992.

  4. The siege of Vienna, 1529

    Event

    What happened

    In September 1529 Suleiman's army arrives before Vienna, defended by a small garrison under Habsburg command. Heavy rain, supply problems and the late season hamper the Ottomans. After a few weeks and several failed assaults, they lift the siege in mid-October.

    The rest is history

    This was the farthest Ottoman advance into central Europe in Suleiman's reign, though Vienna was threatened again in 1532. The failure showed the limits of campaigning far from Istanbul. Afterwards the Habsburg-Ottoman frontier settled in Hungary, and Vienna became a symbol of Europe's defence. An Ottoman army returned to Vienna only in 1683.

    Sources

    1. BookFinkel, Caroline. Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923. London: John Murray, 2005.
    2. BookMurphey, Rhoads. Ottoman Warfare, 1500-1700. London: UCL Press, 1999.

  5. Barbarossa and the navy

    Event

    What happened

    Hayreddin Barbarossa, a corsair based in Algiers, places himself under Ottoman protection in the 1520s. Suleiman appoints him admiral of the fleet around 1533. In 1538 his fleet defeats a Christian league's fleet at Preveza.

    The rest is history

    Preveza gave the Ottomans naval superiority in the eastern Mediterranean for decades. Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli became Ottoman provinces or dependencies. The Ottoman navy was defeated by a Christian fleet at Lepanto in 1571, but was rebuilt within a year.

    Sources

    1. BookImber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
    2. BookMurphey, Rhoads. Ottoman Warfare, 1500-1700. London: UCL Press, 1999.

  6. Suleiman's laws and administration

    Event

    What happened

    Through his reign Suleiman issues regulations for provinces, taxes, land and offences, building on the law codes of earlier sultans. Scholars and jurists such as the chief mufti Ebussuud Efendi help reconcile sultanic law (kanun) with Islamic law. The codes govern peasants, soldiers and town dwellers across different regions.

    The rest is history

    This work gave Suleiman the title Kanuni, the Lawgiver. The system tied land grants to military service and set tax rates, which gave the empire a steady revenue for its wars. Historians note that it was applied unevenly and was strained later by inflation and population growth. Many provincial law codes survive in Ottoman archives.

    Sources

    1. BookInalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age, 1300-1600. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1973.
    2. BookImber, Colin. Ebu's-su'ud: The Islamic Legal Tradition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997.

  7. Sinan and the Süleymaniye Mosque

    Event

    What happened

    Mimar Sinan becomes chief imperial architect in 1539 and serves for almost fifty years. The Süleymaniye Mosque complex in Istanbul is built for Suleiman between 1550 and 1557. Sinan later builds the Selimiye Mosque at Edirne, completed in 1575.

    The rest is history

    Sinan and his office designed hundreds of buildings, including mosques, schools, bridges and baths. His domed mosques defined classical Ottoman architecture and gave Istanbul its skyline. Suleiman is buried in a tomb beside the Süleymaniye. Both mosques still stand, and the Selimiye is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

    Sources

    1. BookNecipoğlu, Gülru. The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire. London: Reaktion Books, 2005.
    2. BookKuban, Doğan. Ottoman Architecture. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 2010.

  8. Suleiman's death at Szigetvár, 1566

    Event

    What happened

    In 1566 the aged Suleiman leads his last campaign into Hungary and besieges Szigetvár. He dies in camp on the night of 5 to 6 September, shortly before the fortress falls. His officials conceal his death for some weeks while the army returns and his son Selim II takes the throne.

    The rest is history

    Suleiman's reign of 46 years was the longest of any Ottoman sultan. His successors were generally less involved in campaigns, and the empire's government came increasingly into the hands of viziers and the palace. Historians no longer see this as a simple decline, as the empire stayed powerful and grew in places for another century.

    Sources

    1. BookFinkel, Caroline. Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923. London: John Murray, 2005.
    2. BookClot, André. Suleiman the Magnificent: The Man, His Life, His Epoch. London: Saqi Books, 1992.

  9. Roxelana the scheming sultana

    Popular belief

    The legend

    Roxelana, a slave girl from Ruthenia, enchants Suleiman and schemes her way to power. She is said to have poisoned the sultan's mind against his eldest son Mustafa and his grand vizier Ibrahim Pasha so that her own sons could rule.

    The rest is history

    Roxelana, known as Hürrem Sultan, was real, and Suleiman broke with custom by marrying her, probably in the 1530s. She wrote letters to him, funded charities and held great influence at court. Ibrahim was executed on Suleiman's orders in 1536 and Mustafa in 1553. Whether she caused either is uncertain, and many accounts come from hostile foreign observers, such as Venetian ambassadors, rather than from Ottoman records. Her letters survive, and her tomb stands beside Suleiman's.

    Sources

    1. BookPeirce, Leslie P. The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
    2. BookFinkel, Caroline. Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923. London: John Murray, 2005.

  10. The sultan who ruled by a harem and a Turkish bath

    Popular belief

    The legend

    Many people picture the Ottoman court as a hidden harem of idle pleasure, where the sultan spent his days among concubines while women and eunuchs ran the state.

    The rest is history

    The harem was in fact the private family quarters of the palace, run by strict rules, and it was also a place of training and politics. Imperial women, especially the sultan's mother, could hold real influence, and Suleiman's reign shows some of it. The image of the idle, sensual harem was largely created by European travellers and later painters, who were not allowed inside. Historians such as Leslie Peirce have used Ottoman records to show a more orderly institution.

    Sources

    1. BookPeirce, Leslie P. The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
    2. BookSaid, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.

  11. Ottoman Empire as a fixed 'decline' after Suleiman

    Popular belief

    The legend

    It is often said that the Ottoman Empire began a steady decline the moment Suleiman died, and was the 'sick man of Europe' from then on.

    The rest is history

    Older histories, such as those that took Suleiman's reign as a golden age, described all that followed as decline. Recent scholars reject this view. The empire expanded again in the seventeenth century, taking Crete in 1669 and reaching Vienna in 1683, and it adapted its finances and army to new conditions. The phrase 'sick man of Europe' dates from the nineteenth century, when it was applied to the empire by Tsar Nicholas I, around 1853.

    Sources

    1. BookHoward, Douglas A. A History of the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
    2. ArticleKafadar, Cemal. "The Question of Ottoman Decline." Harvard Middle Eastern and Islamic Review 4, no. 1-2 (1997-1998): 30-75.

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