92 | Living in the Ottoman Realm
was conducted by the imperial divan. During the reign of Süleyman, female
members of the imperial family moved into Topkapı Palace in the harem. There-
after, women of the imperial family exerted more power and influence over the
sultan. Women were also educated in the palace in the harem, and most of the
female slaves eventually became the wives of the palace-educated administrators.
The palace was also the center of artistic patronage. Süleyman’s reign is
viewed historically as a time of great cultural achievements in literature, art, and
especially architecture. The most famous Ottoman architect, Mimar Sinan, him-
self a devşirme recruit, constructed many mosques for the elite of the empire,
which transformed the appearance of Istanbul from a Byzantine to an Ottoman
city whose skyline is still dominated by domes and minarets. Other cities of the
empire also benefited from Ottoman wealth, and construction was one method
of transforming former Mamluk cities into Ottoman ones.
Trade boomed and new markets opened as a result of Ottoman rule over
large territories. European merchants also traveled to Ottoman territories to
pursue trade that passed through Ottoman territories. Not all subjects of the Ot-
toman sultans benefited equally from Ottoman rule, and because of religious
tension with Shiɇi populations, some Muslims experienced persecution.
Expansion slowed after Süleyman’s reign because the borders of the empire
became so distant that conquering new areas was logistically difficult. However,
the Ottomans conquered Cyprus in 1571 and Crete in 1669. Slower expansion
led to new definitions of what it meant to be Ottoman, with a tendency to focus
on Süleyman’s reign as a kind of golden age. While the Ottomans experienced
many challenges typical for their contemporaries in the late sixteenth century,
such as inflation, rapid population growth, and conflicting ambitions of new and
old elites, they evaluated solutions to these problems by reflecting on an ideal-
ized view of a so-called golden age. Thus, the achievements of the early and mid-
sixteenth century remain crucial to understanding the articulation of Ottoman
identity in light of later developments.
Süleyman died fighting in Hungary in 1566 and was succeeded by his sole
surviving son, Selim II (r. 1566–1574). During his reign, the Ottomans conquered
Cyprus but lost the naval Battle of Lepanto in 1571 because of incompetent naval
leadership. Murad III (r. 1574–1595) was Selim II’s only son to govern a province,
thus gaining administrative experience before he became sultan. Methods of suc-
cession evolved from civil wars between competing princes to palace confinement
by the senior member of the dynasty of all other male members of the dynasty
until the senior member’s death. This led to increased power for the mothers of
reigning sultans, the valide sultans. Thus, innovations during Süleyman’s reign
led to new policies that eventually became viewed as traditional. As the empire
struggled to adapt to new challenges, previous policies were often viewed as the
preferred solutions.