SOL'YMAN (or SULEIMAN) II, (c.1.195 1566). Sultan of the Turkish Empire, surnamed `The Magnificent.' In September, 1520. he suc ceeded his father, Selim 1. (q.v.). lie overthrew the rebellious governor of Syria, repressed the Egyptian Mamelukes, and concluded a treaty with Persia. In 1521 he took Belgrade, the key to Hungary. He next drove the Knights of Saint John from Rhodes (1522) after a five months' siege. In the succeeding years he devoted himself to improvements in the administration and to military preparations for a great onslaught upon Hungary. On August 29. 1526, he overwhelmed the army of King Louis 11. at Mohacs. (See IItiNcAny.) In 1529 he was summoned to Hun gary in aid of his protiV, John ZApolya, Way wode of Transylvania, who was contesting the crone with Ferdinand, brother of the Emperor Charles V. Ile invaded that country with a great army, and laid siege to Vienna. but after a num ber of unsuccessful assaults he was compelled to retreat. In 1532 he laid Styria waste and again advanced to the neighbofhood of Vienna, but hie arms were battled by the resistance of the little Hungarian fortress of Guns, and the advance of the Imperial army under Charles V. forced him to retreat. Soon after this the Sultan waged a successful war against Persia. In 1535 Solyman concluded with Francis 1. the famous treaty which opened the commerce of the Levant to the French flag alone. By 1541 the Turks were in permanent possession of the heart of Hungary. In 1542 the combined French and Turkish fleets ravaged the 'Italian coasts and pillaged Nice. The Turks were now supreme in the Mediter ranean; in 1551 Tripoli fell into their hands. A second and third war with Persia, which was now in a state of semi-subjugation, a brilliant naval victory (1561) over the Knights of Malta and their allies, the Spaniards, an unsuccessful siege of Malta (1565). and a fresh expedition to Hungary (1566), were the chief events of the remainder of Solyman's reign. He died during this last expedition, while besieging the little town of Sziget (whose had stayed the advance of the Turkish host) September 5. 1566. Solyman encouraged literature, and did much for the improvement of the laws as well as for the military organization of the State. He was a ruler of many great qualities, and under him the Ottoman Empire reached the height of its power.
Consult the works referred to older TURKEY.
SOMA (Skt., from sit, to press). An Oriental plant identified, but not certainly, with the Sarrostenima acidilm. It was at first deified iu India on account of the intoxicating nature of its juice. and was then identified as a divine being with the moon. which it resembled in color and in its swelling. as well as in its magical maddening, effect. The plant is plucked up by the roots by moonlight in the moun tains and is crushed between two stones, after being carried on a goat-ear to the place of sacrifice. It is then strained throngh a sieve into a tub. where it is allowed to ferment; and being thickened with meal and sweetened, it is drunk by the priests after being offered to the gods. Only the priests at the present day may drink of it. The Vedic hymns (sec VEDA) are chiefly concerned with the Soma cult. In the later Vedic hymns the identification with the moon is already complete, and Soma and the war god India are regarded as two allied divinities. The deification of the plant had already begun before the separation of the Indo-lranians. In the Persian cult, haoma, the Iranian equivalent of the :Indian soma, is a god, but also the tree of life. It is probable that the name has been ap plied to different plants even in India. Consult: Windischmann, Cebcr den Soma-eultus der Aric.:: (1846) ; Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, vol. ii. (London, 1871) ; Hillebrandt, VcdiseheMytholo gie, vol. i. (Breslau, 1891).
SolVIADEVA, so'nl-da.'va (eleventh century A.D.). A Sanskrit author. Of his life nothing is known. He composed but one work, the KathO saritsagara, or 'Ocean of the Streams of Story,' which he began about 1070. This is the longest and most important collection of stories which has been preserved in Sanskrit. It contains a series of tales which are of considerable impor tance to students of comparative literature. They are told in the main for their intrinsic interest. not to point a moral. Although in the main Brahmanistic in spirit, Buddhistic influence is frequently apparent. The Kathiisaritsagara was edited and translated into German by Brockhans (Leipzig, 1839-66), edited by Durgaprasad and Parab (Bombay, IS89), and translated into English by Tawney (Calcutta, 1880-87).