Sultans of Yesterday and Today Quiz

Answer: Saladin

Ṣalah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, to give his full title, was born in Tikrit, Iraq, around 1138. His name was Yusuf ibn Ayyub - the Salah ad-din part of his name is a descriptive title meaning 'Righteousness of the Faith', and was applied in recognition of his leadership.

He spent much of his life engaged in warfare against Europeans seeking to challenge Muslim control of the Middle East. At the height of his power, he controlled a sultanate that extended from Egypt to what is now Syria. He died and was buried in Damascus, in a mausoleum on the grounds of the Umayyad Mosque.

Answer: Impaled on his saddle while playing polo

In 1206 Qutb-ud-din Aibak gained control over a territory that covered Afghanistan and the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. He ruled initially from Lahore, in what is now Pakistan, but moved the capital to Delhi. His brief reign is known for the widespread building activities that took place during that time. The picture in the quiz shows the Qutub Minar, the tallest minaret in India, construction of which was started by Qutb-ud-din Aibak.

Polo, a game first played in Persia in about the fifth century BCE, was as much a training exercise for warriors as it was a game - there were often up to 100 members of each team. Aibak was engaged in a polo competition in Lahore when his horse fell, and he was impaled on the spike-like pommel of his saddle.

Answer: Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire is considered to have been established by Osman I in 1299, but he never took the title of sultan - that was first claimed by his son, who ruled from 1326 until 1359. Orhan Gazi spent much of his reign consolidating control of northern Anatolia, and building a base for attacking the Byzantine Empire (eastern branch of the Roman Empire). He appointed his brother Alaeddin as the first Vizier, a position that took responsibility for the day-to-day management of civil and military affairs, leaving the Sultan free of their burdensome details.

The Ottoman Empire, which started from its base in the Anatolian region of Turkey, eventually grew to stretch from Hungary east to Iran, and along the east coast of the Mediterranean and across the northern part of Africa, where it extended as far west as Algeria, and south through Somalia. It remained a powerful force until World War I, after which it was carved up and distributed to various members of the victorious nations.

Answer: Suleiman I, 'the Magnificent'

Suleiman I was the tenth, and longest-ruling, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning during the period when its territory expanded to its peak (hence his nickname, 'the Magnificent'). His expansion into Europe was halted at the Siege of Vienna in 1529, but the Ottoman navy ruled the waters of the eastern Mediterranean, along with the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

He is also nicknamed 'the Lawgiver', because he was responsible for establishing laws that totally reconstructed the Ottoman civil and canonical legal systems.

As well as being a famed poet and goldsmith, he was a patron of the arts, and Ottoman culture flourished under his rule.

Answer: Lodi

The Lodi Dynasty (also spelled Loudi, as in the photo, and Lohdi) controlled most of northern India from 1451 until 1526. This was the fifth dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate which started with the Mamluks in 1206, and included the three incorrect answer options. Ibrahim Lodi was actually from Afghanistan, a member of the Ghilzai tribe of the Pashtun ethnic group.

He took over control of the Delhi sultanate on the death of his father in 1517, and inherited much unrest within the sultanate. Some of the nobles eventually invited Zahir-ud-din-Muhammad Babur, a direct descendant of both Timur (on his father's side) and Genghis Khan (on his mother's side) to invade and take charge. Sultan Ibrahim Lodi was killed in the first Battle of Panipat, and Babur went on to establish the Mughal Empire which replaced the Delhi Sultanate.

This battle was one of the first in which firearms and artillery using gunpowder were used in warfare, and their impact was decisive.

Answer: Benevolent ruler

Abul Hasan Qutb Shah was also nicknamed 'Tana Shah', a name which means a child saint, and later usage has associated the epithet 'Tana Shahi' in Hindi with a tyrant, probably due to vilification of the deteated 'Tana Shah'. Abul Hasan ruled from 1672 until 1687, the year when the Mughals gained control.

After the forces of Emperor Aurangzeb captured Golconda, Abul Hasna surrendered a number of valuable diamonds, including the Hope Diamond. He was subsequently imprisoned until his death in 1699.

Answer: British East India Company

Tipu Sultan (1750 or so - 1799) was renowned for his resistance to the expansion of the British East India Company in India. At the age of 15 or 16, he led troops in the First Mysore War in 1766; in 1784 his victory in the Second Mysore War led to his being able to dictate terms for the Treaty of Mangalore, the last Indian leader to successfully do so against the British. The Third and Fourth Mysore Wars did not go so well, and Tipu died in 1799 during the unsuccessful defense of Seringapatam.

Because Tipu was a Muslim ruler of a largely Hindu populace, there were significant religious tensions during his rule. His reputation for persecuting the Hindus and Christians he encountered may well have been exaggerated by the British writers who recorded the events, as they could have been disposed to believe the worst rumors of the man they saw as an implacable foe.

Answer: Somalia

Kenadid originally tried to take over the Marjeeteen Sultanate on the Horn of Africa, which was under the control of his cousin. Defeated, he was exiled to Yemen, where he gathered followers and returned to Somalia to fight for control over the region which he called the Sultanate of Hobyo, to the south of his cousin's territory.

In 1888 the Sultanate became an Italian protectorate. Kenadid managed to anger the Italians, and again was sent into exile in Yemen (and later to Eritrea) because he refused to allow British troops to use his sultanate as the base for a war against the Dervishes.

Answer: World War I

Mehmed V was largely a figurehead ruler, as real political power had passed to the the Three Pashas in 1908. He did attempt to ally the Ottomans with the Central Powers in World War I by declaring a jihad against the Entente Powers (France, Britain and Russia) in 1914, but it had no significant effect. In fact, the Arabs joined the British in opposition to the Ottomans in the Arab Revolt in 1916. (Remember 'Lawrence of Arabia'?)

The poster in the picture (probably printed between 1914 and 1918) shows Mehmed's image immediately above three martial images, emphasizing his loyalty to the cause of the Central Powers. He died in July of 1918, four months before the end of World War I and the ultimate destruction of the Ottoman Empire.

Answer: Sultan of Brunei

According to 'Forbes: The World's Richest Royals 2010 and 2011', Hassanal Bolkiah was the world's second-richest royal, with assets valued at around 20 billion US dollars. The richest was the king of Thailand, worth almost 30 billion dollars. He was the 29th Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State) of Brunei Darussalam, as well as being its first Prime Minister. He gained the throne in 1967 when his father abdicated in his favour.

Istana Nurul Iman palace is his official residence, and the seat of government; it is open for public tours during the three-day celebration of Eid ul-Fitr (the end of the Ramadan fasting period), at which time you can check out the amenities: there are nearly 2000 rooms, which include a mosque that can hold 1500 worshipers, over 250 bathrooms, a ceremonial dining hall for 5,000 (!), five swimming pools, garage space for over 100 cars, and air-conditioned stables for several hundred pampered polo ponies.