Suleiman the Magnificent

About Suleiman the Magnificent

Suleiman I, known as the Magnificent (or the Lawgiver by his own people), was the tenth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1520 to 1566. His tenure marked the zenith of Ottoman power, presiding over vast territories across Southeast Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Historically crucial due to his extensive legal reforms, monumental architectural projects—such as the construction of the Süleymaniye Mosque—and successful military campaigns that challenged European powers, he is ranked #66 in historical importance by the Pantheon project.

Despite this high historical ranking, Suleiman's modern digital footprint suggests a significant attention gap. In 2025, his annualized Wikipedia pageviews reached 1.3 million, resulting in an attention parity of approximately 1x relative to his importance. To put this in perspective, a contemporary politician like Hirohito (#401 importance) commanded 2.0 million views, while Benjamin Franklin (#339 importance) received 2.7 million. The low-end comparison is even starker when considering figures like Louis XIV (#42 importance), who garners only 221K views, indicating that while some high-impact figures draw far less attention, Suleiman’s 1.3M views position him near the expected baseline, suggesting a modest, though perhaps underappreciated, online presence for a ruler of his stature. The year-over-year data shows a modest decline of 3.9% in interest, further compounded by a 7% drop in momentum from Q1 to Q3 in 2025, indicating his narrative may be slowly receding from the forefront of general internet interest.