Suleiman the Magnificent

Suleiman the Magnificent (Sultan Suleyman) was born on 6 November 1494 in Trabzon. His father was Sultan Selim (1512-1520), and Sultan Suleyman holds the record for being the longest-reigning Ottoman Sultan, with a reign of 46 years from 1520 to 1566. He was the 10th Ottoman sultan and the 89th Islamic caliph. When Sultan Suleyman ascended to the throne in 1520, Canberdi Gazali did not recognize him as the Sultan. Canberdi Gazali, the governor of Damascus, claimed the title for himself. However, Sultan Suleyman dispatched Ferhat Pasha to resolve this issue, and Ferhat Pasha successfully resolved the matter in 1521.

Sultan Suleyman’s first military campaign was against Belgrade, a Hungarian city in the Balkans. He conquered Belgrade on 29 August 1521, leading to the collapse of the Hungarian Empire in 1521. In 1522, just one year after the conquest of the Hungarian Empire, Sultan Suleyman laid siege to Rhodes, an island in the Mediterranean. The Ottoman forces, consisting of 100,000 soldiers and 400 battleships, successfully took Rhodes on 26 December 1522.

In 1526, Sultan Suleyman launched another campaign into Hungary, winning the Battle of Mohacs in just two hours against the Hungarian army on 29 August 1526. Sultan Suleyman then laid siege to Vienna on 27 September 1529, but due to adverse weather conditions and the unpreparedness of the Ottoman army, he lifted the siege, returning to Istanbul on 16 December 1529.

On 28 September 1538, the Ottoman navy, led by Chief Admiral Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, engaged in the Naval Battle of Preveza against Andrea Doria, a commander under Pope Paul III. Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha emerged victorious, securing Ottoman dominance in the Mediterranean. In 1546, after Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha’s death, Sokollu Mehmed Pasha became Chief Admiral and Grand Vizier for 14 years.

In 1533, the governor of Baghdad voluntarily surrendered the city to the Ottomans, but the Safavid dynasty later reclaimed Baghdad. In 1534, Sultan Suleyman launched an expedition against the Safavid dynasty, successfully recapturing Baghdad and Tabriz. His final military campaign in 1566 was against the Holy Roman Germanic Empire, but Sultan Suleyman fell ill and passed away on 7 September 1566. Although the Ottomans took Zigetvar, Sultan Suleyman did not witness the victory. Suleiman the Magnificent remained the longest-serving sultan, conquering territories such as Hungary, Baghdad, Tabriz, Rhodes, and Belgrade. Despite two sieges, Sultan Suleyman could not capture Vienna.