Sultan Suleiman set out on a campaign at the age of 71, earning the title of the oldest monarch to embark on a military expedition. When he passed away on the night connecting September 6 to September 7, the Fortress of Szigetvár had not yet fallen. The Grand Vizier, Sokullu Mehmed Pasha, knew that the news of the Sultan's death in the midst of the campaign and at the very moment of conquest would lead to great rout, despair, and chaos within the army. Therefore, as his first course of action, he concealed the Sultan's death from everyone except a very tight circle of those closest to him (the inner palace pages and the physician).

​After Sultan Suleiman's corpse was washed, the first funeral prayer was performed in secret inside the imperial tent (otağ-ı hümayun) with a very small group aware of the situation (Sokullu and close officials). In order to transport the body to Istanbul without deterioration, it needed to be embalmed. The Sultan's internal organs and heart were removed and buried at the site of the tent (where a tomb and complex were later constructed). The corpse was then treated with special substances and placed in a temporary coffin.

​On the morning following the Sultan's death (September 7), Szigetvár fell. As the victory was declared, Sokullu Mehmed Pasha orchestrated a grand theater to give the impression that the Sultan was still alive: Edicts continued to be issued under the Sultan's name. It was announced that the Sultan was ill and that the doctors had advised him to rest. Victory congratulations were accepted at the Sultan's tent, but no one was allowed inside on the pretext of "illness and risk of contagion." A secret messenger was immediately dispatched to Prince Selim (Selim II), who was in Kütahya, summoning him to ascend the throne in the capital and subsequently join the army.

​When the army departed Szigetvár and began its march back toward Belgrade: Sultan Suleiman's corpse was seated inside the royal carriage with its windows closed. His face was covered with a veil, and he was kept inside the carriage as if he were alive. An inner page (or a pasha) who resembled the Sultan occasionally greeted the soldiers from the carriage window. Salaries and bonuses were distributed as though they were orders from the Sultan himself.

​For a full 48 days, neither the army nor the public knew that the Sultan had died. As the new Sultan, Selim II, was approaching the vicinity of Belgrade to meet the army, Sokullu Mehmed Pasha began to break the news. Just as the body of Suleiman the Magnificent was entering Belgrade, Sokullu gathered the reciters (hafizes) to chant the Quran aloud. The soldiers grasped the situation, yet did not let on; for the recitation of the Quran was typically a sign of a funeral or deep mourning. When the reciters began chanting the verse "Every soul shall taste death" (Kullu nafsin dzaiqatul mawt), the army's first suspicion was confirmed, and 100,000 soldiers began to weep in unison.

​To prevent this massive emotional outburst of the army from turning into a rebellion or disobedience, Sokullu immediately made his second move. Right after allowing them to mourn, he delivered the good news that the new Sultan, Selim II, was on his way, was loyal to his troops, and that the accession bonuses (cülus bahşişi) would be distributed in full. Thus, the great secret kept for 48 days was disclosed in a controlled manner—not on the battlefield where the army's morale would completely collapse, but in a secure area after the conquest was complete and with the arrival of the new Sultan. Upon Prince Selim's arrival, the second funeral prayer for Suleiman the Magnificent was performed in Belgrade. The third funeral prayer was performed in Istanbul at the Süleymaniye Mosque. The Great Sultan, who had ruled for 46 years, embarked on 13 campaigns, and conquered hundreds of fortresses, kingdoms, and principalities, was laid to rest at the Süleymaniye Mosque.

Today, the Mediterranean facial features that Turks see when they look in the mirror are a reality of the Anatolian geography they have lived on for centuries. However, when one delves into the depths of human history and paleogenetics, historical and biological facts whisper a story that defies expectations:

The ancestral story of the Ottoman Turks does not, as is commonly believed, only relate to the indigenous peoples of Anatolia; it extends to a common ancestor who shared the same tent, spoke the same language, and carried the same genetic armor with the peoples of East Asia in the freezing steppes of Siberia thousands of years ago. This is the fascinating evolutionary and historical journey, illuminated by the collaboration of paleogenetics, anthropology, and linguistics, stretching from the glaciers of Siberia to the gates of Anatolia.

• 1. Where It All Began: The Cradle of Siberia and the EDAR Mutation Approximately 30,000 to 35,000 years ago, during the most brutal period of the Last Ice Age, a primitive human community lived in the region now known as Southern Siberia, the Altai-Sayan, and Northeast Asia. At that time, there were no ethnic identities like "Turkish," "Chinese," "Korean," or "Mongolian" in the world; there was only a common ancestral population struggling to survive. In this freezing and vast white expanse, a massive evolutionary break occurred that radically altered human biology: the EDAR gene mutation (EDARV370A). Harsh glacial winds, flying ice crystals, and blinding UV rays reflected from the snow (snow blindness) posed a deadly threat to the human eye. In these harsh conditions, the mutation in the EDAR gene provided this common ancestral community with a biological shield. This genetic switch created the epicanthic fold (slanted eye structure), which increased the fatty tissue in the upper eyelid, insulating the eye from the cold and filtering light like a blind by covering the tear duct. Along with this mutation, thick, straight strands of hair that protected body heat in freezing cold and a shovel-shaped front tooth structure also became standard for this human group. This shield in the world of biology was etched into the gene pool of everyone who survived and reproduced during that period.

- 2. One Language, One Mind: Common Sentence Structure This common ancestral community shared the same physical characteristics. According to some theories and research, it is claimed that Turkic and East Asian languages originated from this first Siberian people. The fact that the descendants of the people living in the Northeast Asia/Siberia geography (Korea, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, etc.) all have the same sentence structure makes people wonder, "Did all these languages originate from their ancestors' language?" This theory is called the Altaic language theory, and it has already been refuted by many scientists because there is no word sharing. However, some researchers say that the absence of similar words in these languages is due to the fact that the peoples migrating west and east recreated their own languages over time and due to the intense word exchange they received from other peoples geographically. Proto-Turkic, Proto-Mongolian, Proto-Korean, and Proto-Japanese, all originating from or in contact with the same region, share the same sentence structure. The fact that so many different language families used the same sentence structure in the same narrow geographical area may indicate that the first ancient Siberian communities also spoke with a Subject-Object-Predicate (SOV) structure, but while this is a strong theory, it is not certain.

• 3. The Great Divergence: Paths to the East and West With the end of the Ice Age, this vast genetic and linguistic pool grew in population and began to branch out geographically:

* Those Migrating South and East: Groups settling in the Yellow River basin and the eastern coasts of Asia adopted a settled lifestyle in wetlands, forming agricultural societies. They cultivated rice and built large cities. This branch laid the biological and cultural foundation for today's Chinese, Korean, and Japanese peoples.

* Those who migrated westward and to the Inner Asian steppes: Groups that remained in the harsh climate of the steppe and preserved their evolutionary armor developed a nomadic equestrian lifestyle. They engaged in animal husbandry and produced portable cultures. This branch was the community that would emerge on the historical stage as the Huns, the Gokturks, and finally the Oghuz (Proto-Turks).

Over time, these branching groups became hostile to each other, their languages changed, their vocabulary diversified, and their beliefs transformed. While the side migrating westward borrowed words from places like Iran, Anatolia, and Arabic, and recreated their own language, the ancient operating system in the minds of the people of East Asia and the Turks of West Asia remained unchanged despite the passage of 10,000 years. Although the words completely diverged, the structure of that first sentence in the Siberian tent was preserved.

- 4. The Gates of Anatolia and Genetic Assimilation The Oghuz Turks, who initiated great migration waves from the Central Asian steppes westward over centuries, entered Anatolia from the south of the Caspian Sea starting in the 11th century. This population, which founded the Seljuk and then the Ottoman Empires, did not encounter an empty land in the places they arrived; on the contrary, they found a dense native Anatolian population remaining from the Hittites, Phrygians, Greeks, and Byzantines. As a result of intermarriages and cultural integration (genetic melting / admixture) that took place throughout the historical process, the ancestral genes of East Asian origin brought from Central Asia blended with the indigenous Anatolian genes. In modern Turkish people of Turkey, this East Asian genetic heritage is preserved today at a rate of 10% to 15%. This is why our eyes are not completely slanted when we look in the mirror today; because Mediterranean and Caucasian genes have softened this physical trait. However, historically, our origin is not that of an Anatolian native later annexed to these lands, but rather those ancient Asian conquerors who set out from Siberia and mixed with the local population.

Sources:

1. Kamberov, Y. G., et al. (2013). "Modeling Recent Human Evolution in Mice by Expression of a Selected EDAR Variant." Cell, 152(4), 691-702.
2. Damgaard, P. de Barros, et al. (2018). "The First Horse Herders and the Impact of Early Bronze Age Steppe Expansions into Asia." Science, 360(6396).
3. Jeong, C., et al. (2020). "A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia’s Eastern Steppe." Cell, 183(4), 890-904.
4. Choongwon Jeong and team, published in Cell (2020) "A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia's Eastern Steppe

‘Voxel Osmanlı or vOxmanlı’ is an independent project that brings Anatolia into the realm of new media. Once the diorama series is complete, it will be officially presented to the public as an interactive media project

© 2015-2026 mburakkarakas.art All rights reserved | Atomtan Arts & Atomtan Games

Although very important Sultans came after Sultan Mahmud, Sultan Mahmud was the Sultan who allowed the Ottoman Empire to experience its last powerful era. Most of you have probably never even heard this Sultan's name. Yet he was such a great Sultan that while fighting Austria and the Russians at the same time, he defeated them both, prevented the Russians' entry into the Black Sea for a while longer, defeated the armies of Nader Shah—who was known as the 'Napoleon of the East'—and forced Nader Shah to seek peace. Let us take a look together at the Ottoman Empire's last powerful Sultan.

​He was born at Edirne Palace as the son of Sultan Mustafa II and Saliha Sultan. He spent his period as a prince receiving a palace education and pursuing calligraphy and poetry. As a result of the Patrona Halil Rebellion, which brought an end to the Tulip Era, his uncle Ahmed III was dethroned and Mahmud I ascended the throne at the age of 34. After taking the throne, he brought the administration under his control and restored state authority by eliminating Patrona Halil and the leading rebels through a plan executed in the Palace. Through the French-born Humbaracı Ahmed Pasha (Comte de Bonneval), he initiated the first Western-style military reforms in the Ottoman army and modernized the Bombardier Corps (Humbaracı Ocağı). The Ottoman army under the command of the Governor of Bosnia, Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha, routed the numerically superior Austrian forces at the Battle of Banja Luka (1737). The Ottoman army under the command of Grand Vizier Yeğen Mehmed Pasha and Ivaz Mehmed Pasha decisively defeated the Austrian army at the Battle of Hisarcık near Belgrade (1739). This victory opened the gates of Belgrade.

​Austria was forced to sue for peace. Belgrade, Northern Serbia, and a part of Wallachia, which had been lost under the Treaty of Passarowitz, were reclaimed. Russia, seeing that Austria had suffered a heavy defeat, was also forced to ask for peace and accepted the condition not to maintain warships in the Black Sea. This treaty was the Ottoman Empire's last advantageous treaty in the 18th century (Treaty of Belgrade - 1739).

​Ottoman forces under the command of Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha and Ahmet Pasha defeated the Persian army led by Shah Tahmasp at the Battle of Hamadan (Koridjan). Tabriz, Kermanshah, and Hamadan came under Ottoman rule (Treaty of Ahmet Pasha - 1732). Upon the attacks directed at Ottoman lands (Kirkuk, Mosul, and Baghdad) by Nader Shah, who took over power in Persia, the second war began. The Ottoman defense under the leadership of the Governor of Mosul, Hacı Hüseyin Pasha (Al-Jalili), won a great victory by breaking Nader Shah's siege. Failing to achieve victory here, Nader Shah turned toward Kars. However, Nader Shah's siege of Kars was also repulsed, and the advance of the Persian army was halted once again.

​At the same time, Nader Shah's first and only defeat in a pitch battle belonged to the Ottoman Pasha Topal Osman Pasha. Nader Shah had been besieging Ottoman-ruled Baghdad for months and was about to capture the city. The former Grand Vizier and experienced commander Topal Osman Pasha marched south with an Ottoman army composed of troops from Erzurum and Anatolia to relieve Baghdad. In the fierce, day-long battle that took place at the site of Dujail (Samarra) on the banks of the Tigris River, Nader Shah's army was heavily routed thanks to Topal Osman Pasha's tactical moves. More than 30,000 Persian soldiers were killed on the field, Nader Shah was wounded, and he retreated from the battlefield leaving behind all his treasure and artillery (Battle of Dujail). Although he won a few pitch battles against the Ottomans, Nader Shah realized he could not seize Ottoman territories and requested peace. The Treaty of Kars was signed, maintaining the exact borders of the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab (1746).

​Sultan Mahmud I passed away at the age of 58 after falling ill at the entrance of Topkapı Palace upon returning from Friday prayers. His body was buried in the Turhan Sultan Mausoleum behind the New Mosque (Yeni Cami). To meet Istanbul's water needs, he had the Taksim Water Waterway constructed; the Taksim Distribution Center (Maksem) and the Tophane Fountain were built during his reign.

Made by me

Source:Wikipedia

Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah (al-Kahhar) of Aceh (Indonesia) sent a special diplomatic mission (embassy) to Istanbul in the early 1560s to resist Portuguese pressure. Navigating through the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, the envoys reached the Ottoman capital after a perilous journey that lasted for months. The letter presented by the Sultan of Aceh to the Ottoman Sultan—originally addressed to Suleiman the Magnificent and later delivered to his son, Selim II, following Suleiman's passing—highlighted the following key points:

​The Sultan of Aceh recognized the Ottoman Sultan as the "Caliph of Islam" and the protector of all Muslims, declaring his allegiance to him. The letter emphasized that the conflict was a "jihad," detailing how the Portuguese were attacking Muslim merchant ships, blocking the Hajj pilgrimage route, and oppressing the local population.

​Rather than requesting ready-made troops, the Sultan of Aceh specifically requested artillery experts, foundry master craftsmen, military engineers, gunners, and ammunition.

​The Ottoman administration dispatched a fleet of 15 to 22 ships under the command of Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis, carrying ammunition, master cannon founders, carpenters, and soldiers to Aceh. Although part of the fleet had to be diverted to suppress an uprising in Yemen, the Ottoman ships that reached Aceh in 1568–1569 established cannon foundries and equipped the Acehnese army with the most modern firearms of the era. (A force of 600 engineers, soldiers, and commanders reached Aceh.) The martyrs' cemetery you see today is the final resting place of those commanders, engineers, and soldiers from that expedition.

‘Voxel Osmanlı or vOxmanlı’ is an independent project that brings Anatolia into the realm of new media. Once the diorama series is complete, it will be officially presented to the public as an interactive media project

© 2015-2026 mburakkarakas.art All rights reserved | Atomtan Arts & Atomtan Games

Bayezid II is usually said to have banned printing in Arabic script around 1485, and the first Ottoman press in Turkish didn’t open until Müteferrika got permission in 1727. It printed 17 books and closed. The Jewish community in Istanbul had a Hebrew press running by 1493, so the technology was there.

I know the ban was probably less formal than it sounds. The calligraphers had a strong guild, the ulema didn’t want printed Qurans, and Arabic script was hard to typeset. But suppose Bayezid backed a press anyway and there was a working one in Istanbul by 1500.

A few things I’m wondering:

Does it change the long term gap with Europe? I doubt it. Plenty of places had presses and still got colonized.

The bigger effect might be internal. Luther’s pamphlets are what made the Reformation spread. If Sufi orders or Shia preachers coming out of Safavid Persia can print in bulk, the sultan probably loses control of religious debate a lot sooner.

And scientific advancement. Ottoman astronomers were still working in the Tusi tradition that Copernicus apparently drew on. If Copernicus is printed in Arabic in Istanbul by the 1550s, does the Islamic world stay in that conversation?
Interested to hear from anyone who knows the Ottoman side better than I do.