SELIM I

'Selim I' (Ottoman: ''سليم الأول'', Turkish:''I.Selim'') (also known as "the Grim" or "the Brave", ''Yavuz'' in Turkish, the long name is ''Yavuz Sultan Selim'')(October 10 1465 – September 22, 1520) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520.^[1]

Contents

Rise to Power

War with the East

Success of Selim's Campaigns

Death and Legacy

Poetry

Titles

Personality

References

Rise to Power

He dethroned his father Bayezid II (1481–1512) in 1512. Bayezid's death followed immediately thereafter.^[2] Like his grandfather Mehmed II, Selim put his brothers and nephews to death upon his accession in order to eliminate potential pretenders to the throne (1451–81). This fratricidal policy was motivated by bouts of civil strife that had been sparked by the antagonism between Selim's father Beyazid and his uncle Cem, and between Selim himself and his brother Ahmed.

War with the East

Selim attacked and destroyed the Mamluk Sultanate at the Battles of Marj Dabiq and al-Raydaniyya, which led to the annexation of Syria, Palestine and Egypt. He also extended Ottoman power to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The holiest sites of the Islamic world - the Great Mosque in Mecca and the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina - fell under his dominion when the Turks took Egypt and her Arabian provinces from the Mamluks. Rather than style himself the ''Hakim ul Haremeyn'', or ''The Ruler of The Two Holy Shrines'', he accepted the more pious title ''Khadim ul Haremeyn'', or ''The Servant of The Two Holy Shrines''.^{[3] [2]}
After the conquest of Egypt and the Holy Cities, Selim induced the vanquished Al-Mutawakkil III (1509–17), the last ruler of the Abbasid dynasty, to formally surrender the title of Caliph and its emblems, the sword and the mantle of Muhammad.^[5] Having thus cemented his claim to the position of the "Guardian of the Faithful", Selim waged war against Persia, whose ruler Shah Ismail I claimed to be Caliph as well. The successful campaign which followed was a triumph for Selim, whose firmness and courage overcame the pusillanimity and insubordination of the Janissaries, the household troops of the Ottoman dynasty.^{[3] [7]}

Success of Selim's Campaigns

During his rule, Selim expanded the 2,500,000 km² of Ottoman land to 6,500,000 km². After completely filling the royal treasury, he reportedly locked it with his own seal and decreed that "he who will fill the treasury more than this, may use his seal to lock it." The treasury remained locked with Selim's seal until the collapse of the Empire 400 years later.

Death and Legacy

After his return from his Egyptian campaign, Selim began to prepare an expedition against Rhodes. This campaign was cut short when he was overtaken by sickness and died in the ninth year of his reign. He was about fifty-five years of age. It is said that Selim succumbed to sirpence, a skin infection which he developed during his long campaigns on horseback. (Sirpence was an anthrax infection sometimes seen among leatherworkers and others who worked with livestock) Some historians claim that he was poisoned by the doctor tending to his infection.^[1]

Poetry

Selim was a distinguished poet who wrote both Turkish and Persian verse under the nickname ''mahlas Selimi''; collections of his Persian poetry are extant today.^[9] In one of his poems, he wrote;

Titles

After claiming the Caliphate, Selim assumed the title ''Malik ul-Barayn, wa KhaKhan ul-Bahrayn, was Kasir ul-Jayshayn, wa Khadim ul-Haramayn'' - that is, ''King of the Two Lands (continents Europe and Asia), KhaKhan of the Two Seas ( Mediterranian and Indian Seas), Conqueror of the Two Armies ( European and Safavid armies), and Servant of the Two Holy Shrines''. This title alludes to his dominions in Africa and Asia (namely, Egypt, Anatolia, and much of the Fertile Crescent), his control over the Mediterranean and Black seas, his defeat of both the Mamluk and Safavid armies, and his guardianship of the shrines of Mecca and Medina.

Personality

By most accounts, Selim had a fiery temper and full-blooded personality. He seems to have had high expectations of his subordinates, and executed many of his own viziers (one vizier playfully asked for advance notice of his own execution, so that he could put his affairs in order, to which Selim replied that he had indeed been thinking for a while of having him executed but hadn't found a suitable replacement, but that as soon as he did, he would be happy to oblige). Equally, his court was undoubtedly dynamic, and the rewards as great as the risks. He was possibly very energetic and effective, though sometimes cruel, ruler. His reign was short, but may have prepared the Ottoman empire for its zenith under the achievements of his son.^[9]

References

1. http://www.sevgi.k12.tr/~ottomanempire/ingosmanli/Sultans/yavuz_sultan_selim_biography.htm
2. http://www.turizm.net/turkey/history/ottoman2.html
3. http://www.sevgi.k12.tr/~ottomanempire/ingosmanli/Sultans/yavuz_sultan_selim_government.htm
4. http://www.turizm.net/turkey/history/ottoman2.html
5. http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Turkey2.html
6. http://www.sevgi.k12.tr/~ottomanempire/ingosmanli/Sultans/yavuz_sultan_selim_government.htm
7. http://www.secure.britannica.com/eb/topic-533559/Selim-I
8. http://www.sevgi.k12.tr/~ottomanempire/ingosmanli/Sultans/yavuz_sultan_selim_biography.htm
9. ''Necdet Sakaoğlu'', ''Bu Mülkün Sultanları'', ''pg.127''
10. ''Necdet Sakaoğlu'', ''Bu Mülkün Sultanları'', ''pg.127''