8. Ottoman Sultan
Bayezid II
Sofu / Veli, the Pious
- Reign
- 1481 – 1512
- Born
- 1448
- Died
- 1512
The period in which order was settled after the conquest. His reign ended when he stepped down in favour of his son Selim.
Sultan Bayezid II was born at Dimetoka on 3 December 1448. His father was Mehmed the Conqueror; his mother was a Turkish girl named Mükrime Hatun. He was tall and broad-chested with a strong body, a round face and hazel eyes. He was brave and enterprising.
He was at the same time a very even-tempered, devout and tolerant sultan. Because his father Mehmed the Conqueror cared for learning, he gave his son Prince Bayezid a good education, had him taught by the most renowned scholars of the age and saw to it that he learned all the Islamic sciences thoroughly.
At the age of seven Bayezid was appointed governor of Amasya under the supervision of Hadim Ali Pasha. Amasya had been an important centre of learning and culture since Seljuk times, and the province offered every opportunity for the education of princes who would become sultans.
Because he was a devout man he was called Bayezid-i Velî, Bayezid the Saint. He gathered poets at the palace and conversed with them. A merciful sultan, he often distributed alms to the poor.
He knew Arabic and Persian very well. He also learned the Chagatai dialect and the Uyghur alphabet. Besides the Islamic sciences he studied mathematics and philosophy. Obliged to give up the sultanate on 24 April 1512, Bayezid II lived about a month longer and died on 26 May 1512.
- Sons: Mahmud, Ahmed, Şehinşah, Selim the Grim, Mehmed, Korkud, Abdullah, Âlimşah
- Daughters: Aynişah, Gevher, Mülük Sultan, Hatice Sultan, Selçuk and Hüma Hatun
Source: Osmanlı Tarihi Interaktif CD-ROM (Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları XXXI. Dizi-Sa.2)