Selim I

About Selim I

Selim I (1470–1520), known as Selim the Grim, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520, a period marked by significant expansion and consolidation of power. As a politician and military leader, his major historical contribution was conquering the Safavid Empire at the Battle of Chaldiran and decisively defeating the Mamluk Sultanate, bringing Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina under Ottoman rule. This massive territorial gain and the transfer of the Caliphate to the Ottoman dynasty solidify his high ranking at #412 in MIT's Historical Popularity Index.

Despite this immense historical importance, Selim I experiences a near-perfect match between his influence and modern digital interest, showing an "Attention Gap" of approximately 1x. He garnered 485K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025, which, while substantial, pales in comparison to contemporaries with comparable historical weight. For instance, the far less historically important politician Bashar al-Assad drew 3.0M views in the same year. This suggests that while he is remembered, his digital footprint is relatively small when benchmarked against his global cultural impact.

Encouragingly, his digital presence is not stagnant; his 2025 Wikipedia pageviews saw a year-over-year increase of +3.1%, with a slight Q1 to Q3 momentum of +1%, indicating a minor, steady trend of increasing modern attention.