"Suleiman I (Ottoman Turkish ˜˜˜˜˜˜ Sulaymān, Turkish Süleyman; almost always
Kanuni Sultan Süleyman in Turkish) (November 6, 1494 – September 5/6, 1566), was the tenth and longest-reigning
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in
1566.
He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as the Lawgiver (in Turkish Kanuni; Arabic alQānūnī), for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system. Suleiman became the preeminent 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 Persians 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 Indian Ocean. 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. Ina
break with Ottoman tradition, Suleiman married a harem girl who became Hürrem Sultan, whose intrigues in the court and power over the Sultan have become as famous as Suleiman himself" -- Reference Wikipedia.org back to 241)
Share with your friends: