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Selim then turned upon his father and, having won the janis saries to his side with promises of conquest, he forced him to abdicate. Bayezid died on his way to his retreat at Dimetoka. The political influence of the janissaries on the frequent change of sultans dates from this episode. While the Ottoman empire under Bayezid, the largest Muslim State in Europe, was reaching its zenith, another Muslim State, that of the Moors in Spain, was declining.
The severe disposition of Selim earned him the name of the "grim." True to his promise he kept the janissaries in action throughout his reign. After defeating his brother's claims, he attempted to exterminate Shi-ism not only in Anatolia but in Persia which was its centre. In 1515 he anni hilated Ismail Safevi's forces at Chaldran and conquered Azer baijan and Kurdistan. His most important conquest was Egypt, which he added to the empire, after overrunning Syria and defeat ing the Mamelukes in
According to most Turkish and West ern historians he obtained from the last of the Abbasid Caliphs, Mutuwakil, the title of Caliph. (After the fall of the Caliphs of Baghdad in 1258, the descendants of the Abbasids took refuge in Cairo and enjoyed a purely titular authority under the protection of the Egyptian rulers.) But the important authority of the Taj-ut-Tevarih implies that Selim did not base his Pan-Islamism on the prestige of the Caliphate, for the Fetih-Name (the declara tion of conquest) of Selim himself, as there quoted, has no refer ence to Caliph or Caliphate. Another contemporary historian, Hassan Touloun, a Mameluke and an admirer of Selim, in his History of Egypt (see the ms. in British Museum) also implies that Selim meant to realize Pan-Islamism through force rather than through the assumption of the title of Caliph. He assembled the ulema in Egypt and referring to the fact that the Mamelukes always had their sultan consecrated by the Caliph, asked whether this was necessary : the ulema declared that the sultanate de pended on force rather than on consecration. The sherif of Mecca, Ebul-Bereket, sent his son with the holy relics and the keys of holy places to Selim. But though these relics are the emblems of the Caliphate it is probable that Selim wished virtually to abolish the Caliphate. The later sultans, however, added the title of
Caliph to their names.
An important revolt, led by Jelal who pretended to be the Mandi, broke out at Yozgad in Anatolia, but was at once sup pressed and from this date all risings in Anatolia are known as Jelalli revolts.
Selim who died in 152o never fought against the Christian West. Possessed by the ideal of uniting the Moslem East he directed his campaigns accordingly. During his reign of eight years the empire nearly doubled its extent. Although he uprooted cor ruption and the people enjoyed a severe but just administration, his cruelty in executing eight grand viziers is alluded to in the popular saying: "May you be vizier to Sultan Selim." He was a distinguished Turkish poet and wrote both in Persian and Turkish. His love of culture and learning was shown by his preference for the company of the learned. Although among his subordinates he punished small offences with death, his Sheikh-u1-Islam, Ali Jemali Effendi, who was fearless and outspoken, was able to make him desist from his plan of converting the Greeks to Islam by the sword if necessary, by reminding him of the Conqueror's (Selim's grandfather's) Firman, which gave religious freedom to the Greeks. At one time Selim tried to make Arabic the official language, to further his Pan-Islamic policy.
Soliman I., known as the "Magnificent" in the West and the "Lawgiver" in Turkey, being an only son, was saved from the wars of succession which his predecessors had to fight. He began his reign with the mag nanimous act of freeing all the prisoners of war and restoring the goods confiscated from the merchants who traded with Persia in Selim's time. But this record is marred by the murder of his sons, although this was due to his wife's influence, the famous Hurrem Sultana, known as Roxelana (the daughter of a Russian priest). With her began the influence of women in affairs of state, Soliman having committed this crime in order to leave Hurrem's son without a rival. She also instigated the execution of the able Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha in order that his power might pass to Rustem Pasha, her son-in-law.