The making of Sultan Süleyman: a study of process/es of image-making and reputation management

Official URL: http://192.168.1.20/record=b1295907 (Table of Contents)

This dissertation is a study of the processes involved in the making of Sultan Süleyman's image and reputation within the two decades preceding and following his accession, delineating the various phases and aspects involved in the making of the multi-layered image of the Sultan. Handling these processes within the framework of Sultan Süleyman's deeds and choices, the main argument of this study is that the reputation of Sultan Süleyman in the 1520s was the result of the convergence of his actions and his projected image. In the course of this study, main events of the first ten years of Sultan Süleyman's reign are conceptualized in order to understand the elements employed first in making a Sultan out of a Prince, then in maintaining and enhancing the sultanic image and authority. As such, this dissertation examines the rhetorical, ceremonial, and symbolic devices which came together to build up a public image for the Sultan. Contextualized within a larger framework in terms of both time and space, not only the meaning and role of each device but the way they are combined to create an image becomes clearer. This dissertation argues that Süleyman started his sultanic career with the inherited elements of dynastic and divine legitimation. He took over an already established model, and put deliberate effort in the actualization of this model through pursuing an active and visible mode of sovereignty in the 1520s.