Selim II (Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى, romanized: Selīm-i sānī; Turkish: II. Selim; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond (Turkish: Sarı Selim) or Selim the Drunkard (Sarhoş Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death in 1574.
During his reign, his grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha played a prominent role in the administration of the empire. The conquest of Cyprus and Tunis were notable achievements, though the Ottoman navy was defeated at the battle of Lepanto.
Selim was born on 28 May 1524 in the Topkapı Palace, Constantinople. He was the second surviving son of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his concubine Hürrem Sultan. His mother was freed sometime between 1533 and 1534 and subsequently became Suleiman's legal wife.
Selim's siblings were predominantly the children of Hürrem Sultan. His full brothers were his older brother Şehzade Mehmed and his younger brothers Şehzade Bayezid, Şehzade Abdullah and Şehzade Cihangir, while his older full sister was Mihrimah Sultan. He also had an elder paternal half-brother, Şehzade Mustafa, the oldest surviving son of Suleiman and his concubine Mahidevran Hatun.
In June and July 1530, Constantinople hosted a three-week celebration for the circumcision of Selim, his elder half-brother Mustafa and his full brother Mehmed. The three princes were circumcised on 27 June 1530. The festivities featured military displays, simulated battles, performances by jugglers and strongmen and reenactments of recent Ottoman victories. Suleiman the Magnificent watched the celebrations from a loggia overlooking the Hippodrome, while his Grand Vizier, Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, played a prominent role in organizing the festivities and presented lavish gifts to the sultan and the princes.
In May 1537, Selim accompanied his father, together with his brother Mehmed, during Suleiman's campaign against Corfu. This was the first military campaign in which Suleiman's sons participated, symbolizing the continuation of the Ottoman dynasty. In 1540, Suleiman took Selim with his brother Mehmed with him to Edirne, where they spent the winter. In June 1541, the two princes again accompanied their father with their younger brother Bayezid, this time during his campaign to Buda.
In 1542, Selim was appointed governor of Karaman, with Konya as his seat. Following the unexpected death of his brother Mehmed in November 1543, Selim was appointed governor of Saruhan in the spring of 1544, taking up residence in Manisa. The appointment placed him in one of the most important provincial posts traditionally associated with Ottoman princes.
In the summer of 1544, Selim reunited with his family in Bursa, where he was joined by his parents, Suleiman and Hürrem Sultan, his sister Mihrimah Sultan and her husband, Rüstem Pasha. During Suleiman's 1548–1549 campaign against the Safavids, Selim was sent to Edirne to represent his father and oversee affairs in the sultan's absence.
In 1553, he accompanied Suleiman during his campaign against the Safavids. During the expedition, his elder half-brother Mustafa was executed on Suleiman's order in September 1553. Mustafa's execution dramatically altered the balance of succession among Suleiman's surviving sons and eventually left Selim and his younger brother Bayezid as the principal contenders for the throne since their younger brother Cihangir also died in October 1553.
In 1555 a rebellion erupted in northeastern Bulgaria, led by a man claiming to be Şehzade Mustafa. He organised his followers like the Ottoman administration, redistributing taxes and gaining support. Bayezid, aware of the situation, prepared militarily and initiated negotiations. Suleiman sent Sokullu Mehmed Pasha to suppress the uprising. Bayezid's envoy convinced the pretender's chief vizier to defect, leading to the leader's capture and execution in Constantinople on 31 July 1555. Rumors suggested Bayezid orchestrated the revolt, but Suleiman's desire to punish him was hindered by his wife Hürrem. Tensions over succession continued, with Bayezid and Selim in rivalry. Strategic maneuvers, including Bayezid's relocation to Germiyan, maintained equilibrium in their positions, both poised to return to the capital upon news of their father's fate.
Suleiman's persistent health concerns prompted efforts to dispel rumors of imminent death. In June 1557, the French ambassador noted Suleiman's strategic display of vitality upon returning to Constantinople, countering speculations about succession plans. The dynamics shifted decisively after Hürrem's death in April 1558, known for mediating between her sons. Suleiman aimed to secure the cooperation of his sons, Selim and Bayezid, in a plan to reassign them to new, distant governorates. The proposal involved moving Selim from Manisa to Konya and relocating Bayezid from Kütahya to the remote town of Amasya. Both brothers' sons were also granted governorships in smaller counties adjacent to their fathers' assignments. In September, Suleiman reassigned his sons, sending Selim to Konya and Bayezid to Amasya.
In mid-April 1559, Bayezid and his army departed Amasya and advanced toward Ankara. Despite conveying to his father his desire to return to Kütahya, it became evident that his true intention was to attack and eliminate Selim, aiming to be the sole heir to the throne before Suleiman sided with Selim. Upon learning of Bayezid's expedition, Suleiman deemed military action necessary, instructing the third vizier Sokullu Mehmed to join Selim with janissaries, accompanied by Rumeli troops. Before Constantinople's forces reached Konya, Bayezid altered course southward from Ankara, arriving near Konya by late May 1559. Selim, anticipating the attack, assumed a defensive stance with augmented forces, ultimately prevailing in the engagement on May 30 and 31.
In July 1559, Bayezid embarked on an eastern march from Amasya, accompanied by ten thousand men and four of his sons. By the autumn of the same year, he reached Yerevan, a Safavid town, receiving great respect from its governor. Subsequently, in October, he arrived in Qazvin, where Shah Tahmasp I welcomed him initially with enthusiasm, hosting elaborate parties in his honor. However, in April 1560, on Sultan Suleiman's request, Tahmasp imprisoned Bayezid. Both Suleiman and Selim dispatched envoys to Persia to persuade Shah Tahmasp to execute Bayezid. Over the next one and a half years, embassies shuttled between Istanbul and Qazvin. The last Ottoman embassy, arriving on 16 July 1561, had the formal task of attempting to return Bayezid to Istanbul. This delegation included figures like Hüsrev Pasha, Sinan Pasha, Ali Aqa Chavush Bashi, and two hundred officials.
Suleiman's letter accompanying the embassy expressed his willingness to reconfirm the Treaty of Amasya (1555) and foster a new era of Ottoman–Safavid relations. Throughout these diplomatic efforts, Suleiman bestowed numerous gifts on Tahmasp and agreed to pay him for handing over Bayezid—400,000 gold coins were given to Tahmasp. Finally, on 25 September 1561, Tahmasp handed over Bayezid and his four sons, who were subsequently executed near Qazvin by the Ottoman executioner, Ali Aqa Chavush Bashi, using the garroting method. In early 1562, Selim had been appointed as the governor of Kütahya, and following Bayezid's death, his last years as a prince were spent peacefully in his court in Kütahya.
Selim ascended the throne on 29 September 1566, following the death of his father on 6 September. Initially, his enthronement ceremony occurred in Istanbul, despite the presence of viziers and the military in Szigetvár, Hungary. The ceremony went unrecognised, leading to a request for a new ceremony in Belgrade. On 2 October, three days later, the sultan left Istanbul. In order to safeguard the process of enthronement and accession, the astute grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha maintained the secrecy of Suleiman's death until Selim arrived at the army in Belgrade. In Belgrade, a throne was positioned between two tuğs (horsehair battle standards) in front of the imperial tent. The allegiance ceremony was then conducted at that location. The new sultan went to Belgrade without offering the accession bonus, the standing army sought assurances of gratuity and promotion, but the sultan dismissed their request. Consequently, upon entering Istanbul, the army revolted, citing the absence of a proper enthronement ceremony. The crisis was resolved only when Selim’s sister, Mihrimah Sultan, intervened by using her personal fortune to pay the Janissaries, defusing the mutiny and stabilizing Selim's early reign.