Yavuz Sultan Selim is the 9th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. In addition, he is the 74th Islamic Caliph, owing to the fact that he introduced the caliphate to the Ottoman Empire. In addition, he is the Ottoman Sultan who acquired the title of “Servant of the Two Holy Mosques”, that is, the rank of Hâdim’ül-Haremeyn’uş-Şerifeyn.
By gaining battles against the Mamluks and Safavids, he extended the area of the Ottoman Empire by 2.5 times and filled the Ottoman coffers, giving a magnificent legacy to the monarchs who would come after him.
Selim, who reigned for barely 8 years, is known as “Yavuz” in the Ottoman realms and as “Yavuz the Grim”, that is, “Cruel Selim” in the European kingdoms. His grandpa II. He increased the “empire” character that Mehmed gave to the Ottoman imperial and spared his army from the old days of complacency by educating him to be much more disciplined and nimble compared to his father.
Prince Selim was born on 14 October 1470 (?) at Amasya. His father was a fairly moderate ruler and ruler II. It was Bayezid. His grandfather was Mehmed II, with the title of Fatih . Following the tragic death of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, Sultan Bayezid II rose to the throne in 1481 and adopted a generally calm and moderate policy towards other powers; But unlike his father, Prince Selim was a more agile person like his older brother Prince Ahmed. That’s why he was dubbed “Yavuz”.
He acquired instruction from the top intellectuals of the day . He was continuously reading books and memorizing the Holy Quran.
Ascension of Yavuz Sultan Selim to the Throne
First Mission and Safavid Threat
Sultan Bayezid II, who rose to the throne as a result of the death of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror (Mehmed II) in the Otranto expedition, allowed his son Selim with a provincial role. His first known site of duty was the Sanjak of Trabzon. According to certain archival papers, the date of appointment here is recorded as Hijri 892 (Gregorian 1487). He moved to Trabzon with his mother and served as a sanjak governor for nearly twenty-four years, until 916 Hijri (1510 Gregorian). Thanks to this extended period, he obtained managerial skills and also got the possibility to get to know and watch different foreign governments.
Here, he attentively observed the developments along the frontier, notably the operations of the Georgian princes and Shah Ismail, which would form a serious political-religious dilemma for the Ottoman Empire. He prepared reports notifying the state center on this topic.
When the dates indicated the year 1507, Shah Ismail proceeded on an expedition against Alaüddevle Bozkurt Bey, that is, the Dulkadiroğlu Principality, with whom he did not get along well. The second goal of this trip was to examine how both the Mamluks and the Ottomans would respond to this circumstance. According to Shah Ismail, who crossed through Ottoman borders for the mission, Bayezid II would not cause much problems since he wished to keep peace. Kansu assumed that Gavri would not fight against the Kızılbaşlar. He was accurate in his thoughts: Nothing much transpired save the forces deployed by Bayezid II to terrify. It was a wonder for such a setting that the neighbors stayed unresponsive.
While everyone remained in silent, Prince Selim was responding. Because Bozkurt Bey was Prince Selim’s grandpa (his mother’s father). Staying silent in such a scenario made him feel like he was betraying his forefathers. That’s why he took a stance against the Safavids. Thus, Prince Selim explicitly indicated that he was an opponent of the Safavids.
Princes and the Crown Prince
Starting from 1510, Bayezid II considered that the throne should be transferred and started to engage with the important authorities on this matter. Bayezid II had 3 princes. These;
Prince Ahmet (1465-1513), Prince Korkut (1467-1513) and It was Prince Selim.
While Prince Ahmed was the eldest, Selim was one of the youngest. At that time, Prince Ahmed was on duty in Amasya, Prince Korkud was on duty in Teke (Antalya) and Prince Selim was on duty in Trabzon. In this situation, the farthest prince from the capital (Istanbul) was Selim, and he was not thrilled about this at all.
State leaders thought Prince Ahmet suited for the throne. In addition, they were inciting Sultan Bayezid II against Prince Selim and did not want him to come to the throne. They intended to see the already feeble monarch, Prince Ahmet, on the throne.
Şahkulu Rebellion
In 1511, a rebel group pro-Shah Ismail, assuming that Sultan Bayezid II had dead and the princes had started battling one other, rebelled around Teke under the command of Shahkulu. The major goal of this insurrection was to seize Anatolia and leave it to Shah Ismail. They reached Kütahya in a relatively short period, waged a fight and killed Anatolian Beylerbeyi Karagöz Pasha.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Sultan Bayezid II despatched Grand Vizier Hadım Ali Pasha against the rebels. When the Kızılbaş rebels realized that Sultan Bayezid II was not dead and that the janissaries were moving towards them, they were scared and did not know what to do. Although Hadim Ali Pasha, who allied with the army of Prince Ahmed, crushed the rebels who started to flee near the border, Grand Vizier Hadım Ali Pasha was slain. Prince Ahmet seized leadership of the Janissaries following the death of the Grand Vizier; however he did not hunt the rebels and withdrew to Amasya.
This flight was not appreciated by the Janissaries, and therefore Prince Ahmet lost reputation against the Janissaries.
The Throne Finds Its Owner.
In 1512, Sultan Bayezid II called Prince Ahmet to pass up the crown owing to the worsening of his sickness. The Janissaries, who learnt that Prince Ahmet would accede to the throne, rejected the choice and wanted someone as valiant as Prince Selim to become sultan.
The Janissaries screamed, “Sultan Selim!” They were yelling, storming the residences of the pashas who were followers of Prince Ahmet and threatening them. After the pillage that went throughout the night, the Janissaries prayed for forgiveness from Sultan Bayezid in the dawn light and asked for the pashas to be discharged from duty. Sultan Bayezid II approved this and the pashas were discharged. Realizing that he could not become sultan, Ahmet moved to Anatolia to revolt.
At that time, a Kızılbaş called Nur Ali Halife invaded Amasya. Prince Ahmet could not safeguard his own nation and plainly revealed his lack of forethought. In this way, Prince Selim was declared crown prince.
Even though Prince Korkud traveled to Istanbul before Selim, he could not do anything and could not obtain support, therefore he came to Istanbul in vain.
Ultimately, Prince Selim gained the kingdom following his father’s death and burial prayer.
Yavuz Sultan Selim also had his brothers slain!
Yavuz Sultan Selim (Selim I), who rose to the throne after the death of Sultan Bayezid II, firstly removed or executed the opposing pashas within the palace after the enthronement ceremony.
By murdering his brother Ahmet in 1513, he ended the insurrection in Anatolia and guaranteed safety. Although he did not have his other brother Korkud slain, he did not trust him very much either. He tried him with many letters. Ultimately, he felt that Prince Korkud had deceived him. While he was trying to flee from Antalya, he appointed the Doorman Sinan Bey and had Prince Korkud murdered with a bowstring.
Wars of Yavuz Sultan Selim
Safavid Expedition and Battle of Chaldiran
Sultan Selim went on an expedition to the regions of Persia (Iran) in 1514. To avert any food crisis, he sent ships laden of grain and munitions to Trabzon.
He came to Sivas in 1514 and ordered the soldiers to be numbered. When he discovered that he possessed an army of 140,000 people, he left an army of 40,000 people between Kayseri and Sivas.
At that time, Shah Ismail’s Western commander, Kurtaclu Mehmed, was destroying everything in the path of the Ottoman army and making the progress of the battle difficult. Moreover, the fact that Alaûddevle (Dulkadiroğlu Beyi) did not send soldiers to Sultan Selim gave rise to the potential of an assault from the rear, according to Sultan Selim.
Selim I and Shah Ismail, who confronted each other at the Çaldıran Plain outside Tabriz on August 23, 1514, commenced the war. While Sultan Selim had the mountains at his back, the Safavids settled on a plain.
Although the dominance transferred to Shah Ismail at the outset of the battle, Sultan Selim gained a decisive triumph. Thus, Shah Ismail’s 14-battle success run was ended and Shah Ismail began to escape to the interior parts of the Persian kingdom.
He took Sunnism back to the regions he traveled and sermons started anew in Persia.
However, the eventual consequence was that the campaign concluded with Bıyıklı Mehmed Pasha and İdrîs-i Bitlisî seizing the surrounds of Mardin and Hasankeyf.
Battle of Turnadag
After the Safavid campaign, in 1515, Yavuz Sultan Selim dispatched Şahsuvaroğlu Ali to demolish the Dulkadiroğlu Principality. They combined with Sinan Pasha, who was approaching Kayseri, and conquered Alauddevle. In this fashion, Dulkadiroğlu Principality passed to the Ottoman Empire.
But the case was not that easy. Dulkadiroğlu Principality was linked to the Mamluk State. This occupation meant battle with the Mamluks.
Mamluk Sultan Kansu Gavri was already scared of Sultan Selim and was waiting for an event to overthrow him. Seeing this as a chance, the Mamluks made preparations for war.
In 1516 , Barbaros Hayrettin handed Algerian country to the Ottomans and he became the Beylerbeyi of Algeria.
Battle of Mercidabık
Sultan Selim, having obtained a fatwa to battle the Mamluks, settled around Elbistan with 80,000 men. Kansu Gavri was in Aleppo with an army of roughly 80,000. The two armies ultimately met at the Mercidabik site in 1516.
The Ottoman army was superior in both morale and equipment. The troops and the pashas had entire devotion to Yavuz Sultan Selim. Kansu Gavri, on the other hand, was in a horrible spiritual state. The army had not seen a significant combat in a long time. There was no uniform conclusion emanating from the mouth of the instructions. Some were in favor of assaulting, some were in support of withdrawing.
Both armies were separated into 3 companies and the combat began. While the wings struggled with one other, the Ottoman center attacked Kansu Gavri and destroyed the heart of the Mamluk army with the use of guns.
Kansu Gavri’s escape from the war resulted in the escape of his fellow comrades. Ultimately, the conclusion of the conflict was a clear Ottoman triumph. Kansu Gavri lost his life while escaping.
Kansu Gavri was succeeded by his nephew Tomanbay.
Battle of Ridaniye
By the time Tomanbay came to power, Yavuz Sultan Selim had gone as far as Damascus. When he learnt that Tomanbay was the sultan, he dispatched a message and requested him to comply; But the offer was denied since the envoy was assassinated.
Yavuz Sultan Selim remarked at the war council that an expedition to Egypt was required and claimed that the new goal was to eliminate the Mamluks.
Sinan Pasha pushed as far as Gaza with his army and took the regions behind, conquering Syria and annexing the city of Jerusalem to the Ottoman Empire. In Gaza, Sinan Pasha and Canberdi Gazali went to fight. As a consequence of the conflict, the Ottomans triumphed and Gaza was seized.
To journey from Gaza to Cairo, a challenging 150 kilometer road had to be traversed. This path was the Sinai Desert, which could only be traversed by an army twice in history. Even if the viziers wished to return, Yavuz Sultan Selim ordered the preparations to be started to cross the desert.
Yavuz Sultan Selim launched the march with his army of around 60,000 people on January 9, 1517. Only 18 kilometers could be traveled on the first day. in the second day, substantial rain poured in the Sinai Desert, which had not rained for 100 years. In this way, the army’s water scarcity was eliminated and weights were made simpler to carry.
13 days later, the two armies met at Ridaniye Village. [4] Ridaniye Village was a village between the Nile River and Al-Muqaddam mountain. The Ottomans moved around El-Muqaddam Mountain, encircled the enemy from rear and disabled the opposing artillery. Sinan Pasha was slain in the conflict, but the outcome of the war did not change. The Battle of Ridaniye ended in a resounding Ottoman victory.
Tomanbay, who sought to build resistance in Cairo after this fight, was beaten 3 days later and surrendered Cairo to the Ottomans. In the following days, Tomanbay was executed.
After this conflict, Mamluk holdings were totally ceded to the Ottoman Empire. The acquisition of the holy cities of Islam to the Ottoman Empire meant that Yavuz Sultan Selim should become the new head of Muslims, that is, the “Caliph”. In this way, Yavuz Sultan Selim became the first Ottoman Caliph.
Death of Yavuz Sultan Selim
A illness on Yavuz Sultan Selim’s back , colloquially dubbed “Şirpençe” or technically known as “carbuncle”, kept him immobile. In this disease, many boils become abscessed and merge under the skin, causing a hard, painful, red swelling a few centimeters broad on the body.
On the final day of the sultan, Hasancan (Hodja Sadeddin’s father)
had his back inspected by a chairman at the complaint of Yavuz Sultan Selim, and the chairperson noticed a boil. Even though the Sultan stated “tighten”, Hasancan responded that it was too raw to squeeze and that squeezing may generate a serious scenario and that an ointment should be applied. The next day, when the sultan went to the bathhouse and discovered that Hasancan was not present, he had a tellağa in the bath squeeze the boil and aggravate it.
Yavuz Sultan Selim lost his life owing to a boil on the night of 21 September and 22 September. His rule, which lasted only 8 years, ended when he was 49 years old, yet despite this, he gave the Ottoman Empire its golden period.