Suleiman (Civ5)/Civilopedia

=== History ===
Suleiman I, known as "The Magnificent," "The Legislator," and "The Grand Turk," was the caliph of Islam and the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, taking the reins of the Turkish kingdom in 1520 and ruling until his death in 1566. During his rule Suleiman greatly expanded the Empire's territory, earning the fear (and grudging admiration) of leaders across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
=== Early History ===
Suleiman was the son and grandson of sultans. At an early age he studied science, literature, theology, and the military arts in Istanbul. At 17 he was appointed governor of Kaffa by his grandfather, and he was made governor of Manisa during the reign of his father, Sultan Selim I. His father died in 1520 when Suleiman was 26, and he ascended to the throne. Although still quite a young man, Suleiman had nearly ten years of leadership experience when he came to power.
=== Military Ambitions in Europe ===
According to some historians, Suleiman deeply admired Alexander the Great and hoped to emulate him and create an empire that encompassed Europe, Asia Minor, Africa, and the Middle East. Upon achieving power, Suleiman began planning a campaign against Europe and the Balkans.
In 1521, just a year after achieving power, Suleiman captured Belgrade. In the following year he took the Island of Rhodes from the Knights of St. John. In 1526 he defeated the Hungarians at the Battle of Mohacs, killing the Hungarian king Louis II in combat.
Following Louis II's death, the Hungarian throne was taken by Ferdinand I, the Habsburg archduke of Austria. Seeking to weaken Habsburg power in Eastern Europe, Suleiman supported the claim of John Zapolya, lord of Transylvania. In 1529 he laid siege to Vienna. The siege was unsuccessful, however, but it did serve to keep Hungarian power concentrated on Vienna, effectively ceding control of most of Hungary to Suleiman's puppet, John. When John died in 1540 the Austrians moved back into central Hungary. The two forces would continue to battle inconclusively for the next twenty years, until a peace treaty was signed in 1562, four years before Suleiman's death. To support his land campaigns Suleiman also created a great navy on the Mediterranean, the first such in Ottoman history. He put his forces under the command of admiral Khayr al-Din (known in the west as "Barbarossa"), a sometime pirate with a natural genius for naval warfare who defeated the combined Spanish-Venetian fleets in 1538, effectively giving the Ottomans dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean for the next forty years.
=== Military Adventures in Persia ===
Suleiman waged three major campaigns in Persia during his reign. The first campaign (1534–35) won the Ottomans control over a portion of eastern Asia Minor as well as most of Iraq. The second campaign some ten years later (1548–49) won some additional terrain around the strategically important Lake Van on the border of Persia and Asia Minor. The third campaign was inconclusive, as the Ottomans were unable to sustain an offensive deep in Persian territory and thus were unable to hold onto their gains.
=== Domestic Improvement ===
As sultan, Suleiman surrounded himself with competent, often brilliant, statesmen and administrators. He built mosques, bridges, roads and fortresses across his territory, and the period is seen as a golden age of Ottoman architecture. He also worked to reform and codify the empire's legal system. "The Lawgiver's" legal system would survive almost unchanged for three centuries. He paid attention especially to the plight of his Christian subjects, who until then had been little more than serfs. Jews also were protected, to such an extent that many emigrated to the Ottoman Empire from Europe, where they were much more harshly treated.
=== Culture, Religion and the Arts ===
While his territorial accomplishments were impressive, the Sultan did not ignore the culture of his homeland, Suleiman himself a skilled poet and fervent Muslim. During his rule hundreds of artistic societies flourished across the country. Suleiman commissioned numerous new mosques of a previously unseen grandeur, many designed by master architect Sinan.
=== Verdict of History ===
Suleiman died in 1566 while (once more) campaigning in Hungary. At the time of his death he was famous across the known world. In Europe he was envied for his unbelievable wealth, his magnificent treasury containing more riches than any other leader had possessed in history. He was admired for his military prowess and respected for his fair treatment of non-Muslim subjects.
Muslims respected the Sultan for his belief in the rule of law. The Sultan adopted Islamic sacred law to compliment the traditional law already in place from his predecessors, providing a model for Eastern powers for centuries to come. Almost everyone − Christian and Muslim alike − agreed that he was fully worthy of the title "The Magnificent."