The role of a sultan during the Ottoman Empire
was to make sure that they keep the country under control, while continually trying to expand
and increase the exposure of the Ottoman Empire. Sultans were all members of the Ottoman dynasty. Sometime during its height, the Empire was
covering a region that had Hungary in the North and Yemen in the South, Iraq in the
East and Algeria in the West. Clearly, the empire tried to expand as much
as possible, and it was quite the undertaking and challenge to maintain that huge of exposure. As time went by, other nations started to emerge
and they regained control over those regions. But it’s still amazing to see how impressive
and powerful the Empire was. And to think it was all thanks to some amazing
Ottoman Sultans. Here you have a list with some of the most
powerful and influential Ottoman Sultans that made the Empire what it was and something
to remember even during today’s day and age. Number 5: Bayezid I
Bayezid I ruled between 1389 and 1402. But during his 12-year tenure, he managed
to extend the influence and occupation of the empire a lot more than anyone would imagine. He was the son of Gulcicek Hatun and Murad
I. He created one of the most powerful armies
in the world that would eventually attack Constantinople unsuccessfully. But he did defeat the crusaders at Nicopolis. His first major role was as the Kutahya governor. He actually earned that city because he married
the Germiyanid ruler’s daughter. Bayezid I was known for being a very impetuous
soldier. He actually had the nickname lightning. However, Bayezid I ascended to the throne
after his father Murad I died in 1389. Right after he got on the throne, he strangled
his brother to prevent any type of plot. Then the next year he married princess Olivera
Despina. He had numerous clashes with Timur. He defeated the Karaman emir at Akcay in 1397,
and then he killed him with the next year conquering the Djanik emirate and the territory. However, during the battle of Ankara, Bayezid
I was captured by Timur and the story of him being captured is widely known. Bayezid I was humiliated and eventually he
died, either from poison or from suicide. Bayezid I was a very smart ruler, he spoke
multiple languages and he maintained a true focus on his Islamic religion, spreading it
throughout the conquered territories. With that in mind, he was also ruthless, and
a clear sign is that he actually killed his brother to prevent any problems related to
his rule. He had 8 sons and 5 daughters throughout 5
marriages. Number 4: Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent or Suleiman the 1st was the longest reigning sultan during the
Ottoman Empire. He ruled from 1520 and up until his death
in 1566. Right under his rule, the empire was covering
more than 25 million people. He became a sultan right after his father
died, and as soon as he acquired the throne, he started to run campaigns against central
European Christian powers. He conquered Belgrade in 1521 and then the
Island of Rhodes the next year. He is widely known for conquering the Hungarian
military in 1526 at Mohacs. One of the amazing things about Suleiman I
is that he had a lot of control over everything in the empire. He made some major changes when it came to
criminal law, taxation, education and society. His reforms managed to bring in the golden
age of the empire. Not a lot of people know this, but Suleiman the
Magnificent was a goldsmith and a great poet. He also became a patron of culture from an
architectural, literary and artistic standpoint. He married a woman from his harem, basically
breaking the Ottoman tradition. Their son actually succeeded Suleiman I after
he died. He also had another son named Bayezid which
was executed in 1561 alongside with his own sons. Suleiman the Magnificent’s legacy spans
well beyond his death, a true testament to the things that he managed to achieve. He constructed a great image of himself, posing
as a powerful and ideal leader. On top of that, his conquest brought under
the empire control some Balkan provinces, Muslim cities and even most of North Africa. During this time, things were at their peak,
a true testament to Suleiman the Magnificent’s power and unique dedication to reach success. He did manage to get there in the long term. Suleiman I was so powerful during his time
that even 30 years after he died, Shakespeare talked about him in the Merchant of Venice. It was clear that this ruler had a massive
influence and he continued to bring in plenty of challenges. Suleiman the Magnificent’s servants also
played a major role when it came to legal reforms and bureaucratic expansions. Number 3: Murad IV
Murad IV is another influential sultan that ruled from 1623 and up to 1640. He was known for the fact that he restored
the authority of the state. On top of that, Murad IV was also one of the
most brutal rulers at that time. He was born in Constantinople from Kosem Sultan
and Sultan Ahmed I He became ruler due to a palace conspiracy. Some of the most important aspects during
his reign are the Ottoman and Safavid War where the Caucasus were partitioned between
the two powers for more than 2 centuries. This is what actually laid the foundation
for the current Iraq, Iran and Turkish borders that we see today. While he was under the control of his relatives
at the beginning of his reign, but after a few years he had his brother in law executed. During his tenure there was a plague of Bayrampasa
which started in 1625 and this decimated a lot of people, around a thousand people were
dying every day. Starting with 1632, Murad IV started to focus
on an absolute rule. He started issuing executions to the states. Many that did not obey his rule or agreed
to his methods ended up executed, with Ilyas Pasha being an example here. Murad IV is also known for the fact that he
banned coffee, tobacco and alcohol. He was actually patrolling the tavern and
streets in civilian clothes to see if anyone would break the rules. On top of that, Murad IV is known for the
fact that he restored a variety of judicial regulations with help from very strict punishments. While his ideas were noble in nature, many
of his methods were either very questionable or downright awful to begin with. He was one of the sultans that wrote a lot
of poems. Murad IV was also a composer, he created a
composition named Uzzal Peshrev. In addition to these talents, he focused a
lot on architecture, so he had many different monuments built in local styles, like the Meydani
Mosque or the Serafettin Mosque from Konya. Needless to say, this was a very talented
sultan with a lot of unique ideas. But he was also ruthless, which is one of the ways
he remained in history for so many centuries. Number 2: Selim I
Selim I lived between 10 October 1470 and 22 September 1520. He was sultan between 1512 to 1520. Granted, he didn’t rule as much as other sultans
here, however he had a very notable reign. It was during his time when a lot of the Empire
started to expand. Selim the Resolute had a conquest between
1516 and 1517 when he conquered Egypt, Tihamah, Hejaz and Levant. At the end of his rule, the Ottoman Empire was
covering more than 1.494 million square kilometers. He was the guarding of the Medina and Mecca
pilgrimage rules. Due to his conquest, the Empire managed to
grow immensely, and he was a fierce ruler, just like many other sultans. Selim the Grim actually had very high expectations
from those below him and a fiery temper. As you can imagine, many of his viziers ended
up being executed due to a variety of reasons. Despite having a fiery temper, Selim I was
widely respected and he worked very hard. He accomplished a lot of things and he expanded
the empire to countries that were never a part of it. But despite all of that, he was also a very
distinguished and widely known poet. What a lot of people don’t know is that
Selim I was persuaded by clerics to impose the death penalty to anyone that would use
a printing press. So even if he had a lot of great intentions,
he was also under the influence of a lot of bad people during that time. Selim I had a very successful campaign after
conquering Damascus in 1516, and he soon started to get overwhelmed by sickness. He eventually died at the age of 49. It’s hard to know what he died from, but
official documents are saying that he acquired a skin infection that developed due to long
horseback rides. Some historians believe that Selim I actually
died of cancer. Number 1: Mehmed the Conqueror
Mehmed the Conqueror ruled the Ottoman Empire not once, but twice. Mehmed II had the first reign between 1444
and 1446, the second one from 1451 to 1481. During his first reign, he actually ended
up defeating the John Hunyadi crusade. During his second rule however, his main focus
was to make the Ottoman Empire a lot stronger and more powerful. One of his main ideas was to make the navy
more powerful and he was focused on conquering Constantinople. He managed to do that at the age of 21. It was at that time when he brought the Byzantine
Empire to an end. After doing that, Mehmed the Conqueror claimed
the title of Caesar of the Roman Empire. Only the Patriarchate of Constantinople was
the one to recognize that claim. Yet Mehmed II continued to see his empire
as the continuation of the Roman Empire, since he was the one that actually conquered Constantinople. He had numerous battles and conquests, such
as Serbia, Morea, Trebizond, Wallachia, Bosnia, Anatolian Conquests, Moldavia, Albania and
many others. He also consolidated his power in a unique
way. He built the imperial court with certain officials
that were only loyal to him. This provided more authority and control,
something that was very much needed during that day and age. With that being said, Mehmed II did focus
a lot on control and constantly pushing the boundaries. Mehmed the Conqueror was one of those rulers
that had a lot of interest in history, the medieval Byzantine civilization and the ancient
Greek civilization. He was known for being fluent in a multitude
of languages like Latin, Greek, Persian, Arabic, Serbian and Turkish, among others. In addition, Mehmed II was also known for
liking a variety of topics like theology, astronomy and math. These fields managed to grow quite a lot under
his rule. Mehmed the Conqueror was also a poet, he wrote
under the name avni and he created a pretty impressive Diwan poetry package. Conclusion
Each one of these sultans managed to help the Ottoman Empire grow and expand beyond
its wildest dreams. The interesting thing about them is that aside
from being great rulers, all of them also had a lot of knowledge in different fields. Many sultans were poets, and they also tried
to learn a lot either about history, science or a variety of fields that were expanding
during that time. They were always focused on national success,
and they managed to expand the empire quite a bit. With that in mind, there are a lot of things
to learn from these rulers. Most of them were very focused on the idea
of learning new things, expanding the empire and continually pushing the boundaries from
a cultural standpoint. There’s a reason why all these rulers managed
to become a part of history and why people from all over the world are still talking
about them today!
