The Rise of an Empire: From Mehmed II to Bayezid II

The 16th century marked the zenith of the Ottoman Empire under its greatest sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent. But the path to his reign was fraught with intrigue, civil war, and shifting power dynamics. The empire’s foundations had been laid by Mehmed II, known as “the Conqueror” for his capture of Constantinople in 1453. Yet after his death, the Ottoman tradition of fratricidal succession plunged the empire into chaos.

Mehmed’s sons, Bayezid II and Prince Jem, embodied starkly different visions for the empire. Bayezid, a contemplative scholar, rejected his father’s militarism in favor of piety and administrative reform. His reign saw the reversal of Mehmed’s unpopular policies, including currency devaluation and land seizures. In contrast, Jem was a charismatic warrior-poet, beloved by artists and rebels alike. Their rivalry would shape the empire’s future.

The War of Brothers: Jem’s Exile and Bayezid’s Dilemma

Upon Mehmed’s death, Jem immediately declared himself sultan, capitalizing on his father’s rumored preference for him. But the Janissaries—the empire’s elite military corps—backed Bayezid, seeing him as a guardian of the ghazi (warrior) tradition. Bayezid reached Istanbul first, bribing the Janissaries with lavish gifts. Meanwhile, Jem rallied support in Anatolia, seizing Bursa and minting coins in his name.

Bayezid’s general, Gedik Ahmed Pasha, crushed Jem’s rebellion twice, but the prince escaped to Mamluk Egypt. There, he became a pawn in European diplomacy. The Knights Hospitaller on Rhodes “hosted” him as a bargaining chip against Ottoman expansion. After years in captivity—first in France, then in Rome—Jem died mysteriously in Naples, likely poisoned in a plot involving Pope Alexander VI and Bayezid himself.

Bayezid’s Reign: Peace, Trade, and Unrest

Bayezid avoided major wars but expanded Ottoman naval power, seizing key Venetian ports like Lepanto and Modon. His economic policies attracted Jewish refugees expelled from Spain, enriching Ottoman trade. Yet his pacifism alienated the Janissaries, who craved the spoils of conquest.

In Anatolia, the Kizil Bash (“Red Heads”)—Shia Turkmen tribes—rebelled with Persian backing. Their leader, Shah Ismail of Safavid Persia, claimed descent from Ali and sought to overthrow Sunni Ottoman rule. Bayezid’s reluctance to confront Ismail weakened his standing, setting the stage for his son Selim’s brutal rise.

Selim the Grim: The Sword of Orthodoxy

Selim I, Bayezid’s youngest son, was everything his father was not: ruthless, expansionist, and fiercely Sunni. After forcing Bayezid’s abdication (and likely poisoning him), Selim executed his brothers and nephews, declaring, “The empire is a bride that cannot be shared.”

He then turned east, massacring 40,000 Shia Muslims in Anatolia—a purge likened to Europe’s St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. At the Battle of Chaldiran (1514), his cannons crushed Ismail’s cavalry, annexing eastern Anatolia. Selim banned Persian silk trade, deporting merchants to the Balkans to cripple Iran’s economy.

Conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate: Master of the Holy Cities

In 1516, Selim invaded Mamluk Syria, killing Sultan Al-Ghawri at Aleppo. By 1517, he entered Cairo, executing the last Mamluk ruler, Tuman Bey. The Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil surrendered, granting Selim legitimacy as Islam’s protector. The sacred relics of Mecca and Medina—the Prophet’s banner and cloak—were sent to Istanbul, symbolizing Ottoman supremacy over the Muslim world.

Legacy: The Stage for Suleiman’s Golden Age

Selim died in 1520, having doubled the empire’s size. His conquests secured Anatolia, the Levant, and Egypt, while his centralization strengthened the state. Though infamous for his cruelty, he patronized poets and historians, leaving a cultural legacy.

His son, Suleiman, inherited an empire stretching from Hungary to Yemen. Under Suleiman—”the Lawgiver” to Ottomans and “the Magnificent” to Europeans—the empire reached its cultural and military peak. Yet it was Selim’s bloodstained reforms and conquests that made this golden age possible.

The Ottomans’ blend of military might, religious authority, and bureaucratic efficiency—forged in the fires of civil war and sectarian strife—would define their rule for centuries. Even today, Suleiman’s Istanbul stands as a testament to an empire that once bridged continents and civilizations.