Suleiman the Magnificent

Suleiman the Magnificent was the tenth and longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest rulers in history, presiding over the apex of the Ottoman Empire's economic, military and political power. He personally led Ottoman armies in conquering the Christian strongholds of Belgrade and Rhodes, as well as most of Hungary, before his conquests were checked at the siege of Vienna in 1529. He annexed much of the Middle East in his conflict with the Safavids and large areas of North Africa as far west as Algeria. Under his rule, the Ottoman fleet dominated the seas from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and through the Persian Gulf. He also instituted major judicial changes relating to society, education, taxation and criminal law, harmonizing the relationship between the two forms of Ottoman law: sultanic and religious. He was a distinguished poet and goldsmith, and a great patron of culture, overseeing the "Golden" age of the Ottoman Empire in its artistic, literary and architectural development. He broke with Ottoman tradition by marrying Hürrem Sultan, a woman from his harem, an Orthodox Christian of Ruthenian origin who converted to Islam, and who became famous in the West by the name Roxelana, due to her red hair. Their son, Selim II, succeeded Suleiman following his death in 1566 after 46 years of rule. Suleiman is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" (in Turkish Kanuni; Arabic: القانونى‎, al‐Qānūnī), for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system.