Ottoman Civil War (1559)

Ottoman Civil War (1559)

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Son of Süleyman I the
Magnificent, Selim vs. his brother, Bayazid

PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Ottoman Empire

DECLARATION: None

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: Succession to the
Ottoman sultanate

OUTCOME: Selim prevailed against Bayazid, who was
executed.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:
Unknown

CASUALTIES: Unknown

TREATIES: None

Süleyman I (the Magnificent; 1496–1566), was warned by
his favorite wife, Roxelana (d. 1559), that his eldest son,
Mustafa (d. 1553), was plotting against him. This was
untrue, but the sultan did not pause to investigate;
instead, he had Mustafa arrested and beheaded in 1553.
This left the sons Süleyman had had by Roxelana in position
to inherit the throne; however, upon Roxelana’s
death, the two young men, Selim (c. 1524–74), and Bayazid
(d. 1561), fell to disputing their inheritance. Bayazid
raised an army to oppose Selim, Süleyman’s favorite. Selim
defeated Bayazid at the Battle of Konya in 1559, whereupon
Bayazid fled to Persia. Süleyman subsequently
authorized Selim to dispatch executioners to Persia and
paid Shahtahmasp I (r. 1524–76) to deliver Bayazid into
their hands. Bayazid was killed in 1561.

Further reading: Andre Clot: Suleiman the Magnificent:
The Man, His Life, His Epoch (London: Saqi Books,
1992); Jason Goodwin, Lords of the Horizon: A History of
the Ottoman Empire (New York: Picador, 2003); Colin
Imber, Ottoman Empire: 1300–1650 (London: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2003); Halil Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire: the
Classical Age, 1300–1600 (London: Phoenix Press, 2001).