Historians have discovered the probable shrine and mosque where the internal remains of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent were buried in 1566. A joint effort from a Turkish and Hungarian teams has uncovered structures in southern Hungary where they believe Suleiman’s organs were buried after he died on a campaign. They have found hexagonal structures, which is considered to be ‘sultan-like’. The project was supported by the Turkish development agency TIKA and the Hungarian government. The structure is believed to have been destroyed in 1680’s.
Suleiman the Magnificent was the longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire, with a reign of 46 years. He was born on 6 November 1494 and became Sultan in 1520 upon the death of his father Selim I. His mother was Ay?e Hafsa Sultan, who was possibly the daughter of Meñli I Giray, a descendant of Genghis Khan. He instigated major military conquests in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. He also initiated legislative reforms and was a patron of the arts and technology.
Hürrem Sultan
Suleiman had children with three women from his harem. He had a short-lived son with Gülfem Hatun, who was executed on his orders. He also had a son with Mahidevran Sultan, named Mustafa. Mustafa was his heir apparent until he was executed upon the orders of his father in 1553. He also had six children with Hürrem Sultan, five sons and one daughter. Hürrem Sultan was formerly known as Roxelana and she was probably the daughter of a Ukrainian priest. She was taken as a slave during a raid by the Crimean Tatars on the region where she lived. She was most likely first sent to Kaffa and Constantinople before being selected for Suleiman’s harem. He later broke tradition by marrying her and making her his legal wife.
Suleiman died on 5 September 1566 before an Ottoman victory at the Battle of Szigetvár in Hungary. His body, minus his internal organs, was transported back to Constantinople (Istanbul) where it now rests in the Süleymaniye Mosque together with Hürrem Sultan and their daughter Mihrimah Sultan. The sultans Suleiman II, Ahmed II and also Saliha Dila?ub Sultan and Safiye Sultan, the daughter of Mustafa II, are also buried here.
Photo credit: Hürrem Sultan in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
