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Five hundred years ago, Sultan Suleiman I (reigned 1520\u201366) ascended to the throne. Although he was the longest-reigning and arguably greatest of all Ottoman sultans, his time on the throne began under the long shadow cast by his father, Selim \u2018the Grim\u2019. On 30 September 1520, the 26-year-old Suleiman landed at \u00dcsk\u00fcdar on the Asian side of the Bosporus, having learned of the sudden death of his father just eight days earlier. Selim\u2019s death was kept secret as the Janissaries, his elite infantry and household troops, were notoriously volatile when it came to political succession.<\/p>\n
The next day Suleiman crossed the strait and headed to the Topkap\u0131 palace, where he met the political and religious leaders of the imperial divan (or council) who swore their allegiance to him. He then followed his father\u2019s funeral cortege through the streets of Istanbul, before returning to the Topkap\u0131 to complete his accession as the 10th Ottoman sultan.<\/p>\n
The Ottoman tradition of coronation was very different to its western counterparts. Its equivalent was c\u00fclus (from the Arabic \u2018to sit on the throne\u2019), which involved largely private ceremonies within the Topkap\u0131 palace followed by a public march through the city. For Suleiman, this involved measuring himself against the brief but devastating legacy of his father\u2019s rule. In defeating the Safavids and Mamluks and controlling the holy cities of Mecca, Cairo and Jerusalem, Selim left his son as \u2018Inheritor of the Great Caliphate\u2019.<\/p>\n