Under my pen name, Muhibbi, I wrote this poem for my love, Roxelana.
“Throne of my lonely niche, my wealth, my love, my moonlight.
My most sincere friend, my confidant, my very existence, my Sultan,
The most beautiful among the beautiful…
My springtime, my merry faced love, my daytime, my sweetheart, laughing leaf…
My plants, my sweet, my rose, the one only who does not distress me in this world…
My Istanbul, my Caraman, the earth of my Anatolia,
My Badakhshan, my Baghdad and Khorasan.
My woman of the beautiful hair, my love of the slanted brow, my love of eyes full of mischief…
I’ll sing your praises always,
I, lover of the tormented heart, Muhibbi of the eyes full of tears, I am happy.”
Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Famous Quotes
- “I, the sultan of sultans, and the strongest ruler, the loftiest king who defeats the kingdoms around the world, and the shadow of Allah in the Earth, am the son of Sultan Selim who is the son of Sultan Beyazid, Sultan Suleiman, Caesar of Rome, the sultan of Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, and Thrace, and Anatolia, and Karaman and the City of Dulkadir and Diyarbakir and Kurdistan, and Iran and Damascus and Aleppo and Egypt and Mecca and Medinah and Jerusalem and the whole Arab land and Yemen and many more lands that our lofty ancestors conquered with their crushing powers and I conquered with my fire-scattering sword --- You, the king of province France, Francis...”
State Organization
The Imperial Harem |
Cultural Achievements
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem |
Organizational Reforms
During my reign, I made many new organizational reforms that helped to improve the Ottoman Empire. I wanted to change the legislation so that it could adapt to the continuously changing empire. The eternal law of the empire was the Sacred Law, or Shari’ah, and these were the laws that could not be touched. However, the Kanuns, or the canonical law, depended on my decisions and it covered many areas, including criminal law, land tenure, and taxation. I collected all of the judgments that were issued by the nine Ottoman Sultans before me. Then, I organized and issued a single legal code. This single legal code did not violate the basic laws of Islam. My code of laws soon became to be known as the kanun-I Osmani, or Ottoman laws. Another one of my codes was my Kanune Raya, or Code of the Rayas. This focused on the predicament of the rayas, who were Christian subjects who worked the land of the Sipahis, who were the Ottoman cavalry corps. My code helped to raise the rayas’ status above serfdom by governing levies and taxes that gave money to the rayas. Some Christian serfs even migrated to my territories to benefit from the Kanune Raya. Furthermore, I also protected Jews in my Ottoman empire. I issued a decree that formally condemned blood libels, which were false accusations, against Jews. I also made new criminal and police legislation which fined for particular offenses and had less death penalties. Lastly, education was an important aspect for me. I increased the amount of primary schools in the capital so that children could be taught reading and writing. Children were also able to learn the principles of Islam. Furthermore, universities provided higher education for those who wished to learn even more.
Military Conquests
The Siege of Vienna |
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