Selim Osmanlı (1524 - 1574)

Descendants

Biography

The son of Süleyman the Magnificent and his beloved wife Hürrem (known by europeans as Roxelana), Selim was an unlikely sultan. His elder brother Mehmed died in 1544 from smallpox. His half-brother Mustafa was strangled on orders of their father in 1553, and another brother, Cihangir, starved himself to death from grief over Mustafa's death a month later. The last brother, Beyazıd, fearing their father's wrath, fled to the court of the Persian shah Tahmasp. After Sultan Süleyman and Selim offered immense amounts of money, Tahmasp handed over Beyazıd and all of Beyazıd's sons in 1561, whereupon they were all executed.

When his father Süleyman died in 1566, his death was at first kept a secret to allow Selim time to take control of the army. The dominant force during Selim's reign was the Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha. Although he had battled his brother Beyazıd, once he was sultan, Selim did not take part in military engagements. He preferred Edirne to Istanbul, and became a patron of the arts, supporting many poets and historians. Selim wrote poetry himself.

Sources

• "Empress of the East: How European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire" Author: Leslie Peirce

• "The Imperial Harem" Author: Leslie Peirce

• Britannica

• TheOttomans.org

See Also:

• Wikipedia