In Turkey, we consider the greatest padisahs as 3.
Sultan Mehmed II(as we call it “the Conqueror”)
Sultan Selim I(Selim the Grim)
Sultan Suleiman(Suleiman the Magnificent)
These must be the most important ones. Also, the mightiest.
Generally, Suleiman the Magnificent was considered as the greatest but that is because the empire is the biggest and the richest at his rule. He ruled 46 years and he was magnificent. He is known for his justice. In Turkey, we call him Suleiman the Lawmaker. He was a good commander, leader, ruler, and warrior. In 1532, he marched through to Hungary with the intention of war but there was no army against him because of 1526 Mohaç. So, you could imagine how strong he is and the Ottomans at his rule.
But, I believe that the greatest padishah was Sultan Mehmed aka the Conqueror.
In Turkey, our people don’t know about him. They think he is a normal leader with extraordinary war skills but actually, the situation is the opposite. He is a great leader and a great warrior but he is the commander of the armed forces. He is not commanding the whole troops which are usually padishahs do. And the reason is he is so into technology. For the conquer of Constantinople, he built great cannons but he made the ballistic calculations on his own. So, he is a mechanical engineer and a padishah.
Among these amazing things about him, my favorite is he is the most colorful person in the renaissance. Sultan’s education is a very serious business in Ottoman Empire and the best example is Sultan Mehmed. He learned 5 languages apart from Turkish until he became 19. Greek, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, and Latin.
He can write poems in Arabic and Persian and Turkish. He read the Ilyada, Alexandre Magni Historia in Latin. He is really into Homeros and a fan of Alexander the Great.
He tried to improve his arts, draw pictures and write poems. I read somewhere that he is a good poet but never see anything about him drawing, I assume that he is not good at drawing:) But he also supports it, there is a picture of him drawn by Bellini. It is quite a famous picture. It was in London Museum, I guess.
It is known that sometimes he had conversations with philosophers, historians, and scientists like 2 hours. This is written by Kritovulos, a Byzantian historian. He kept the Kritovulos in the city after the conquer and Kritovulos became the most important historian of that time. Sultan Mehmed asked Kritovulos to translate some of the Latin and Greek books to Turkish and he did it.
I find him fascinating. It is easy to find other leaders like him of that time. For example; Matyas Corvin of Hungary. He was a great commander also and woe to Europe if he had not been fighting against Sultan Mehmed. Belgrad would’ve fall 60 years earlier. But what I find fascinating about Sultan Mehmed is how great an intellectual he is. It is the early time of the renaissance and it is not easy to see that kind of intellectuals. I believe he was the closest person who might become “the Philosopher-King” which Platon talks about, in the history I know. I am not so much informed about European history, so this assumption is just for the Turk and Islamic leaders.
Unfortunately, he died early at the age of 49 and Matyas Corvin died at the age of 47. There was a big competition even in death:)
He became the Padishah at 19 and conquered Constantinople at 21. After that time, he completed the conquer of Anatolia and the Balkans. He was preparing for another war but the angel of death interrupted his plans.
I am a big fan of Sultan Mehmed and I believe that he is the greatest ruler among all Turkic or Islamic Empires.
To remind you, the Ottomans had lots of good leaders and commanders. There was 9 Marshal among the Ottoman Padishahs. So, you can see how good they are at commanding an army and the art of war
