Suleiman II

Suleiman II سليمان ثانى
Caliph of Islam Amir al-Mu'minin Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
12th Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate 20th Ottoman Sultan (Emperor)
Reign	November 8, 1687 – June 22, 1691
Predecessor	Mehmed IV
Successor	Ahmed II
Born	April 15, 1642
Died	June 22, 1691 or June 23, 1691 (aged 49)
Consorts	Hatice Kadınefendi Behzat Kadınefendi İvaz Kadınefendi Süylün Kadınefendi Şehsuvar Kadınefendi Zeyneb Kadınefendi
Dynasty	Osmanli (Ottoman)
Father	Ibrahim
Mother	Saliha Dilaşub Sultan
Religion	Sunni Islam
Tughra

Suleiman II (April 15, 1642 – June 22/23 1691) (Ottoman Turkish: سليمان ثانى Süleymān-i sānī) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1687 to 1691. Upon being brought to the throne by an armed mutiny, Suleiman was able to acquire minor land reconquests and internal state reforms to attempt to better and stabilize the Ottoman Empire. With one of the shorter rules of the empire (four years), Suleiman was unable to do much in that little bit of time. He was succeeded by Ahmed II.

Early life

The younger brother of Mehmed IV (1648–87), Suleiman II was born at Topkapı Palace in Constantinople and had spent 46 years of his life in the kafes (cage), a kind of luxurious prison for princes of the blood within the Topkapı Palace (it was designed to ensure that none could organize a rebellion).

His mother was a Serb woman originally named Katarina, known as Saliha Dilaşub Sultan.^[1][2][3]

Reign

Ottoman–Habsburg War

The Ottoman Army after suffering a devastating defeat during the Second Battle of Mohács.

Immediately after assuming the throne, the Ottomans suffered a devastating defeat at the second Battle of Mohács. Unable to rule effectively himself, Suleiman II shrewdly appointed Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha as his Grand Vizier. Even so, when Russia joined an alliance of European powers, the Ottomans suffered the devastating Crimean campaigns.

Under Köprülü's leadership the Ottomans halted an Austrian advance into Serbia and crushed an uprising in Macedonia and Bulgaria until Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha was killed in the Battle of Slankamen by Austrian forces. Suleiman II died at Edirne Palace in 1691.

Relations with the Mughal Empire

In 1688 the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman II urgently requested for assistance against the rapidly advancing Austrians, during the Ottoman–Habsburg War however the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and his forces were too heavily engaged in the Deccan Wars against the Marathas to commit any formal assistance to their desperate Ottoman allies.^[4]

Legacy

Suleiman's legacy was minimal at best for the empire. He had made minor reforms and took back lost land from previous wars, but none in particular had a large lasting effect on the empire. In truth, he acted as more of a buffer between reigns of his brother and Ahmed, and further adaptation for citizens to the new shift in power towards the Grand Vizier that Mehmed IV instituted.

Gallery

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  Tughra of Suleiman II

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  Suleiman II in Croatia

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  Coin of Suleiman II

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  Suleiman II

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  Suleiman II

See also

• Aurangzeb

Sources

1. "Sultan II. Süleyman Han". Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
2. Günseli İnal; Semiramis Arşivi (2005). Semiramis: Sultan'ın gözünden şenlik. YKY. p. 27. ISBN 978-975-08-0928-6. Siileyman'in annesi Sirp Katrin yani Dilasiip Hatun
3. Ali Kemal Meram (1977). Padişah anaları: resimli belgesel tarih romanı. Öz Yayınları. p. 325.
4. Mughal-Ottoman relations: a study of political & diplomatic relations ... - Naimur Rahman Farooqi - Google Boeken. Books.google.com. 1989. Retrieved 29 April 2012.

External links

Media related to Suleiman II at Wikimedia Commons