Selim II

About Selim II

Selim II, who reigned from 1566 to 1574, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire during a period that marked the height of its territorial expansion and influence. His historical importance, which places him at HPI Rank #345, stems largely from his military oversight, notably the decisive Ottoman naval victory at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and the continued stabilization of the empire's vast domains across the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Despite this significant historical stature, Selim II garners modest attention in the digital age, registering an annualized 421K Wikipedia views in 2025. This level of engagement is notably low for a figure of his importance, falling nearly four times short of the views seen by Justinian I, a contemporary politician ranked just one spot above him at #363. The attention gap for Selim II is calculated at approximately $1\times$, suggesting current online interest is only just proportional to his historical rank, though his lower absolute view count compared to modern politicians is stark.

Furthermore, the data indicates a slight erosion of current interest, with his viewership declining by $3.7\%$ year-over-year and showing a $7\%$ negative momentum when comparing Q1 to Q3 of 2025, suggesting his name is slowly fading from immediate modern discourse.