Originally published on April 20, 2023 (Episode 314)
Introduction
In the early sixteenth century, a remarkable cast of monarchs dominated the global stage: Francis I of France, Henry VIII of England, Charles V of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, Ivan IV of Russia, Babur and Akbar of the Moghul dynasty in India, and Shah Ismail and Shah Tahmasb of Persia. Each expanded empires, sought to control their aristocracies, asserted authority over religion, and carefully crafted their reputations as rulers and patrons.
At the center of this constellation stood Süleyman, ruler of the Ottoman Empire. Known as “the Grand Turk” to contemporaries and “the Magnificent” to posterity, he matched or outshone his peers in nearly every measure of kingship. Süleyman’s reign embodied the blend of power, culture, and religious authority that made the Ottomans central to early modern history.
My guest Kaya Şahín explores this towering figure in his new book Peerless Among Princes: The Life and Times of Sultan Süleyman (Oxford, 2023). It is both a biography of the ruler and a study of the world he helped shape.
About the Guest
Kaya Şahín is Associate Professor of History at Indiana University, where he also serves in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies and Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. His work focuses on Ottoman political, cultural, and intellectual history.
For Further Investigation
Kaya Şahín, Peerless Among Princes: The Life and Times of Sultan Süleyman (Oxford, 2023)
Cornell H. Fleischer, Bureaucrat and Intellectual in the Ottoman Empire: The Historian Mustafa Ali (1541–1600)
Leslie Peirce, Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire (Basic Books, 2017)
John Julius Norwich, Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe (Atlantic Monthly, 2017)
Suleymanname: The Illustrated History of Suleyman the Magnificent, ed. Esin Atil
Erdem Çipa, The Making of Selim: Succession, Legitimacy, and Memory in the Early Modern Ottoman World (Indiana, 2017)
Emine Fetvaci, Picturing History at the Ottoman Court (Indiana, 2013)
Nikolay Antov, The Ottoman “Wild West”: The Balkan Frontier in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (Cambridge, 2018)
Christopher Markiewicz, The Crisis of Kingship in Late Medieval Islam: Persian Émigrés and the Making of Ottoman Sovereignty (Cambridge, 2019)
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💬 Listen & Discuss
Was Süleyman truly “peerless among princes,” or just another monarch navigating a shared early modern world of war, religion, and reputation? Share it with someone fascinated with Tudor England to show them there’s even more going on in that age.
