Suleiman was born in Trabzon along the east coast of the Black Sea to Şehzade Selim (later Selim I), probably on 6 November 1494, although this date is not known with absolute certainty.
His mother was Hafsa Sultan, a convert to Islam of unknown origins, who died in 1534.
At the age of seven, Suleiman was sent to study science, history, literature, theology and military tactics in the schools of the imperial Topkapı Palace in Constantinople (modern Istanbul).
As a young man, he befriended Pargalı Ibrahim, a slave who later became one of his most trusted advisers (but who was later executed on Suleiman's orders).
At age seventeen, he was appointed as the governor of first Kaffa (Theodosia), then Manisa, with a brief tenure at Edirne.
Suleiman was born in Trabzon along the east coast of the Black Sea to Şehzade Selim (later Selim I), probably on 6 November 1494, although this date is not known with absolute certainty. His mother was Hafsa Sultan, a convert to Islam of unknown origins, who died in 1534. At the age of seven, Suleiman was sent to study science, history, literature, theology and military tactics in the schools of the imperial Topkapı Palace in Constantinople (modern Istanbul). As a young man, he befriended Pargalı Ibrahim, a slave who later became one of his most trusted advisers (but who was later executed on Suleiman's orders). At age seventeen, he was appointed as the governor of first Kaffa (Theodosia), then Manisa, with a brief tenure at Edirne.
Suleiman the Magnificent