50 free Suleiman the Magnificent trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Suleiman the Magnificent trivia quiz covers the longest reign in Ottoman history from every side. It starts with the essentials: the dates, the father he succeeded, the name his own subjects gave him and the cities that fell to him one after another. Belgrade in 1521, Rhodes in 1522, the destruction of the Hungarian army at Mohács in 1526 and the siege of Vienna that finally stopped him. Then it follows the other fronts: three wars against the Safavid shah, the taking of Baghdad, the fleet under Barbarossa, Aden and the Indian Ocean, Tripoli, and the Great Siege of Malta. The second half is court and culture. The concubine known in the West as Roxelana who became his legal wife, the Grand Vizier and boyhood friend he had strangled in his sleep, the son murdered in his tent, the pen name he wrote poetry under, the crown built to outdo the Pope, the tulips he sent across Europe, and the architect who gave him the Süleymaniye. It ends with the last campaign, a death hidden from the army for 48 days, a heart buried in Hungary, and a Shakespeare name-check. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's article on Suleiman, and each question links to the page that establishes it. Fifty questions, free, with an explanation after every answer.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which years did Suleiman the Magnificent reign as Ottoman sultan?
1520-1566
It was the longest reign of any Ottoman sultan and raised the empire's population to at least 25 million.
Q 02Whom did Suleiman succeed as sultan in 1520?
Selim I
His father had made war with Persia a priority; Suleiman turned first to Europe.
Q 03What did Suleiman's own subjects call him, rather than 'the Magnificent'?
The Lawgiver
The epithet referred to his reform of the legal system, though it may only date from the 18th century.
Q 04Suleiman was which number Ottoman sultan?
Tenth
The Venetian envoy who described him weeks after his accession noted he was tall, slender and barely bearded.
Q 05In which Black Sea city was Suleiman born in 1494?
Trabzon
His father was governor there; his mother Hafsa was a convert concubine of unknown origin.
Q 06Which city did Suleiman capture in 1521, succeeding where his great-grandfather had failed?
Belgrade
John Hunyadi's defence had stopped the Conqueror; the city became the second-largest Ottoman town in Europe.
Q 07The 1522 conquest of Rhodes drove out which military order?
Knights Hospitaller
Suleiman let them depart after a five-month siege; they re-established themselves on Malta in 1530.
Q 08Which fortress did Suleiman build as a naval base for the Rhodes campaign?
Marmaris Castle
The island cost the Ottomans 50,000 to 60,000 dead from battle and sickness.
Q 09Which Hungarian king was killed at the Battle of Mohács in 1526?
Louis II
His death ended the Jagiellonian dynasty in Hungary and Bohemia; Suleiman lamented that he had barely tasted royalty.
Q 10Which Hungarian nobleman did Suleiman back for the throne after Mohács?
John Zápolya
Other nobles preferred Ferdinand of Austria, and Hungary ended up split three ways.
Q 11In which year did Suleiman's siege of Vienna fail?
1529
A reinforced garrison of 16,000 held out; a second attempt in 1532 never reached the city.
Q 12The siege of which town delayed Suleiman's second march on Vienna in 1532?
Güns
In both Vienna campaigns bad weather forced the army to abandon its heavy siege equipment.
Q 13By the 1533 Treaty of Constantinople, Ferdinand I recognised Suleiman as what?
His 'father and suzerain'
Ferdinand also agreed to pay an annual tribute.
Q 14The treaty ending the 1543 campaign pointedly called Charles V not 'Emperor' but what?
Q 21Which port in Yemen did the Ottomans take in 1538 as a base against the Portuguese?
Aden
They then failed at Diu, but fortified Aden with 100 guns and took the whole of Yemen.
Q 22Which Sumatran sultanate asked Suleiman for help against the Portuguese in 1564?
Aceh
The Ottomans launched an expedition that gave the Acehnese extensive military support.
Q 23Which corsair captured Tripoli from the Knights of Malta in 1551?
Turgut Reis
He was made commander of the city in 1553 and it became the capital of Ottoman Tripolitania.
Q 24The Great Siege of Malta in 1565 ended how?
King of Spain
The wording let Suleiman identify himself as the true Caesar.
Q 15Which Hungarian castle repelled Suleiman's forces in 1552 under István Dobó?
Eger
Esztergom, Siklós, Székesfehérvár and Szeged had all fallen in the 1543 campaign.
Q 16Which Persian dynasty was Suleiman's main enemy in the east?
Safavids
Shah Tahmasp avoided pitched battle and used scorched earth, exposing Ottoman armies to the Caucasus winter.
Q 17Which city did Suleiman enter in triumph in 1535?
Baghdad
He won local support by restoring the tomb of Abu Hanifa, founder of the Hanafi legal school.
Q 18Which 1555 treaty fixed the border between the Ottoman and Safavid empires?
Peace of Amasya
Armenia and Georgia were split down the middle; the Ottomans kept most of Iraq and the Persians kept Tabriz.
Q 19Which admiral, called Barbarossa by Europeans, did Suleiman appoint to rebuild the fleet?
Khair ad-Din
Andrea Doria's capture of Koroni had alarmed the sultan about Spanish ambitions in the eastern Mediterranean.
Q 20Which French king allied with Suleiman against the Habsburgs?
Francis I
The 1542 renewal promised 60,000 Ottoman troops and 150 galleys against Charles V and Ferdinand.
A Spanish relief force saved the island
Half the Knights were killed and 10,000 Ottoman troops lost; the siege ran from 18 May to 8 September.
Q 25Suleiman's legal code brought together sharia and which other body of Ottoman law?
Kanun
The sultanic laws covered criminal law, land tenure and taxation, and his code lasted more than 300 years.
Q 26Which Grand Mufti helped Suleiman reform Ottoman law?
Ebussuud Efendi
The finished code became known simply as the Ottoman laws, and outlasted its author by three centuries.
Q 27On whose advice did Suleiman issue a decree denouncing blood libels against Jews?
His doctor Moses Hamon
The Spanish Jew was the sultan's favourite physician and dentist.
Q 28Under what pen name did Suleiman write poetry?
Muhibbi
It means 'Lover'; he wrote in Persian and Turkish, and some verses became Turkish proverbs.
Q 29Besides poetry, in which craft was Suleiman personally skilled?
Goldsmithing
He was also a great patron of the arts, overseeing the empire's golden age.
Q 30Suleiman is credited with spreading which flower through Europe?
Tulip
Diplomats visiting his court are thought to have been given the flowers as gifts.