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Events on Tuesday 6 November 1494 3
1494Birth -- Trabzon, 6 November 1494Suleiman is born on 6 November 1494 in Trabzon, a Black Sea port city where his father Selim (the future Selim I) serves as governor. He is Selim's only surviving son -- unusual in a dynasty where fratricide was common practice. His mother is Hafsa Sultan, a Crimean Tatar woman. He is raised in the palace school at Topkapi from age seven, educated alongside devshirme boys in a curriculum that combines Islamic theology, Arabic, Persian and Ottoman literature, mathematics, history, horsemanship and the use of weapons. His tutors include some of the finest scholars in the empire. He speaks six languages fluently.
1494 – 1566Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566)Suleiman I -- known in the West as 'the Magnificent' and to his own subjects as 'the Lawgiver' (Kanuni) -- is the longest-reigning, most celebrated and most powerful Ottoman sultan. His 46-year reign (1520-1566) marks the apex of the Ottoman Empire in every dimension: territorial extent (from Vienna to the Persian Gulf, from Crimea to Aden), military achievement (thirteen personal campaigns), administrative sophistication (the Kanun law code), architectural grandeur (Sinan's Süleymaniye), diplomatic reach (the Franco-Ottoman alliance, correspondence with every European court) and cultural brilliance (his own poetry, court miniatures, goldsmithing). He dies as he lived -- on campaign, in a tent outside a Hungarian fortress, age 71.
1494 – 1520Suleimans early life and educationSuleiman is born on 6 November 1494 in Trabzon, where his father Selim I is governor. He is educated in Topkapi Palace alongside devshirme boys -- learning Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, Persian, Chagatai, Serbian and (reportedly) some Greek. He serves as governor of Manisa, Bolu and Kaffa before his accession. His education is broader than any previous sultan's: he studies history, theology, science, poetry and goldsmithing (he becomes a skilled goldsmith). He accedes at 25 on his father Selim's sudden death. His first act is to release political prisoners and pay the Janissaries a substantial accession gift -- beginning his reign with a gesture of clemency that contrasts with Selim's ferocity.