Selim I

Lore & Background

Selim was born in Amasya on 10 October 1470 as the son of Şehzade Bayezid (later Bayezid II) during the reign of his grandfather Mehmed II. His mother was Ayşe Gülbahar Hatun, who was either the daughter of Alaüddevle Bozkurt Bey, the eleventh ruler of the Dulkadirids or a concubine. In 1479 at the age of nine, he was sent by his grandfather to Istanbul to be circumcised along with his brothers. In 1481, his grandfather Mehmed II died and his father became Sultan Bayezid II. Six years later in 1487, he was sent by his father to Trabzon to serve there as governor. Selim staged a revolt in Thrace in 1511 and clashed with his father's army at the Battle of Tekirdag, where he lost and fled to Crimea. He later rebelled again, dethroned his father with the help of the Janissaries, and ordered his father exiled; Bayezid passed away before reaching his destination. After ascending the throne, Selim defeated his brother Ahmet at the Battle of Yenişehir and put his captured brothers and nephews to death. He also led campaigns against the Safavids, defeating Shah Ismail at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 and capturing Tabriz.

In Their Own Story

The year is 1514. Selim I, having secured the throne by forcing his father's abdication and executing his brothers, now faces the Safavid Shah Ismail I, who has switched Persia to Shia Islam and supported a pro-Shia uprising in Anatolia. Selim's mufti, ibn Kemal, issues a fatwa declaring Ismail's lands the abode of war. On his march east, Selim orders the massacre of 50,000 Alevis, seeing them as enemies. At the Battle of Chaldiran, the Ottomans prevail due to their efficient modern army, artillery, black powder, and muskets. Ismail is wounded and nearly captured. Selim enters Tabriz in triumph on 5 September, but Janissary discontent forces him to withdraw. The Safavid capital is pillaged and evacuated, though Friday sermons are delivered in Selim's name. Two years later, Selim turns south. At Marj Dabiq on 24 August 1516, his armies crush the Mamluks. At Ridaniya on 22 January 1517, they finish the conquest. The entire Mamluk Sultanate—Syria, Palestine, Hejaz, Tihamah, and Egypt—falls to the Ottomans. Selim extends Ottoman power to Mecca and Medina, assuming guardianship of the pilgrimage routes. By his death in 1520, the empire spans 3.4 million km², grown by seventy percent. His conquests shift the empire's center from the Balkans to the Middle East, and he is remembered as the first legitimate Ottoman Caliph.

Reader's Guide

Selim I's reign focuses on military expansion and consolidation. Key events include the conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate (1516–1517), the Battle of Chaldiran (1514), and the suppression of Shiite unrest. His rule saw the Ottoman Empire grow by seventy percent. He is remembered as the first legitimate Ottoman Caliph, though stories of an official transfer of the caliphal office from the Mamluk Abbasid dynasty were a later invention.

Did You Know?

• Selim's conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate included all of the Levant, Hejaz, and Egypt.
• Selim's early military actions in the Caucasus and against the Safavids remain a subject of historical debate, with specific details of engagements and casualties not consistently documented.
• During his campaigns in the Caucasus, Selim's forces engaged in conflict, but precise numbers of those enslaved are not reliably recorded in mainstream historical sources.
• Selim persecuted Alevi communities during his march against the Safavids in 1514, though the exact number of victims is not firmly established by historical consensus.