suleiman i or suleiman al-kanuni (6 november 1494 – 5/6 september 1566), was the tenth sultan of the ottoman empire. he became sultan when he was 26 years old. he reigned for 46 years, from 1520 to 1566, which was longer than any other ottoman sultan. he is known in the west as suleiman the magnificent and in the islamic world, as the lawgiver (in turkish kanuni; arabic: القانونى, al‐qānūnī), because he changed the organization of the ottoman legal system. this nickname shows how important he was in the ottoman empire. some people even considered suleiman as the “world emperor and messiah of the last age”.