Early Modern
Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp: A Safavid Masterpiece Manuscript
A royal manuscript with 258 paintings was completed, later given to the Ottoman sultan and, in the 20th century, broken up among collections worldwide.
Region
Middle East
Early Modern
Siege of Rhodes (1522): Suleiman Expels the Knights
Ottoman victory; the Knights Hospitaller surrendered Rhodes on negotiated terms and left the island on 1 January 1523.
Early Modern
Franco-Ottoman Alliance (1536): Francis I and Suleiman
France and the Ottoman Empire cooperated against Charles V, and the capitulations became the basis of French trade and influence in the Levant for centuries.
Early Modern
Ardabil Carpet (1539-40): The Famous Safavid Carpet Pair
The two carpets left Iran in the 1880s; the larger one has been in the Victoria and Albert Museum since 1893 and the other in LACMA since 1953.
Early Modern
Mimar Sinan: Chief Architect of the Ottoman Golden Age
Sinan designed hundreds of buildings and created the classical style of Ottoman architecture, culminating in the Selimiye Mosque.
Early Modern
Suleymaniye Mosque: Sinan's Imperial Masterpiece in Istanbul
Completed in 1557, the mosque and its complex became the largest Ottoman foundation in Istanbul and the burial place of Suleiman, Hurrem Sultan and Sinan.
Early Modern
Peace of Amasya (1555): Ottomans and Safavids Divide the Region
The first formal Ottoman-Safavid peace recognised Ottoman rule over Iraq and divided Armenia and Georgia, keeping the frontier quiet until 1578.
Early Modern
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha: Grand Vizier of Three Ottoman Sultans
He guided Ottoman policy for 14 years, keeping the empire stable through two successions, until his assassination in 1579.
Early Modern
Siege of Famagusta (1570–71): Ottoman Conquest of Cyprus
Famagusta surrendered on 1 August 1571, completing the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus; Venice formally ceded the island in 1573.
Early Modern
Battle of Lepanto (1571): The Holy League Defeats the Ottomans
Decisive tactical victory for the Holy League; most of the Ottoman fleet was captured or destroyed, but Venice still lost Cyprus.
Early Modern
Shah Abbas the Great: Reviving the Safavid Empire (1588-1629)
Abbas restored Safavid power, recovered lost provinces and made Isfahan one of the great cities of the world.
Early Modern
Naqsh-e Jahan Square: Shah Abbas's Royal Square in Isfahan
Isfahan gained one of the largest and most celebrated urban squares in the world, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.