Suleyman I was born on 27^th April 1495, Monday in Trabzon. His father was Sultan Selim I and his mother was Hafsa Sultan. Suleyman I was a tall man with a round face, hazel eyes broad forehead and a thin beard.

Suleyman the Magnificent had reigned for forty six years (1520-1566) and this is the most memorable epoch of the empire, when it reached a pitch of grandeur and prosperity which was never afterwards surpassed, and from which it soon began to decline.

Suleyman is commonly designated by European writers the “great” or the “magnificent”. But the native historians style him the “lawgiver”(Kanuni), “the lord of his century” and “completor of the perfect ten”.

His father Sultan Selim I put great emphasis on Suleyman's education, he took his first education from his grandmother Gulbahar Hatun. When he reached the age of seven, he was sent to Istanbul to his grandfather Sultan Bayezid II where he was educated by famous scholar Karakızoglu Hayreddin Hızır Efendi. He studied history, science, literature, and theology besides the lessons of war tactics and techniques. Afterwards, he went to his father in Trabzon again and stayed there until he reached 15. At the age of 15, he wanted to be a governor, and he was sent to Sarki province and then to Karahisar and to Bolu, after a short while he was sent to Kefe.

After Sultan Selim I ascended to the throne in 1512, Shehzade Suleyman was invited to Istanbul as the regent of his father Selim whom was dealing with throne struggles with his brothers. At the same time he was the governor of Saruhan province. After Selim I had passed away, Suleyman succeeded him without any rejection as everbody knew he was a very serious and confident man. He never hesitated and never broken the commands he gave. He obliged people according to their capacities and abilities. He died on 7^th September 1566, in his 71, while he was commanding the siege of Sziget.

Because he made written laws and applied them strictly he was called as ‘Kanuni’ (Law giver). He was a very gracious ruler, very fair and he never tyrannised his people. For example; he found the tax coming from Egypt so much and he had made a research there and found that the people were overcharged, and discovered the governor was tyrannising them, so he immediately changed the governor.

His sons: Selim II, Bayezid, Abdullah, Murad, Mehmed, Mahmud, Cihangir, Mustafa
His daughters: Mihriman Sultan, Raziye Sultan.