Selim I

Selim I (1465 – September 22, 1520; also known as "the Grim" or "the Brave", Yavuz in Turkish) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520.

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He dethroned his father Beyazid II in 1512. Beyazid's death followed immediately afterwards.

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He signalled his accession by putting his brothers and nephews to death. This was after the custom of his grandfather Fatih Mehmed II. There had been civil war between his father Beyazid and his uncle Cem, and between Selim himself and his brother Ahmed. Selim was determined not to have the same problems with his other brothers.

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He attacked and destroyed the Mamluk Sultanate at the Battles of Marj Dabiq and al-Raydaniyya, which led to the annexation of Syria, Palestine and Egypt. He also extended Ottoman power to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. When Egypt and her Arabian provinces were taken from the Mamluks, he announced himself to be the Khadim ul Haremeyn, "The Servant of The Two Holy Shrines", instead of Hakim ul Haremeyn, "The Ruler of The Two Holy Shrines". The Shrines refer to the Great Mosque in Mecca and the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina. These are the holiest places in Islam.

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Like his grandfather Fatih, he also claimed to be the Caliph (in Arabic meaning "successor" of Muhammad); the "guardian of Islam", considered to be the chief civil and religious ruler of all Islam, both Shi'ite and Sunni.

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Selim determined on war with Persia, whose ruler Shah Ismail I claimed to be caliph as well. The campaign which followed was a triumph for Selim, whose firmness and courage overcame the pusillanimity and insubordination of the Janissaries, the household troops of the Ottoman dynasty.

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After Selim became master of the holy cities of Islam and captured Egypt along with the person of Al-Mutawakkil III, the last Caliph of the Abbasid dynasty who resided there, Selim induced him to formally surrender the title of caliph as well as its outward emblems, the sword and the mantle of the prophet.

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After Selim's return from his Egyptian campaign, he was preparing an expedition against Rhodes when he was overtaken by sickness and died in the ninth year of his reign. He was about fifty-five years of age. He died from sirpence, a skin infection, which he developed during his eight year rule on horseback.

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He also was a poet and wrote with the nickname mahla Selimi In one of his poems, he wrote: "the whole world does not form a sovereignty vast enough for one monarch."

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Ottoman Empire: The Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Turkish: Devlet-i Aliye-i Osmaniye; Modern Turkish: Osmanl? ?mparatorlu?u; Arabic: ?????? ?????????, Al-Dawla Al-?Uthmaniyya) was an imperial power, centered around the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, that existed from 1299 to 1922. At the height of its power, it includ...

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