Selim
the name of three emperors of the Turks. SELIM I., son of Bajazet II.; born 1467; dethroned his father and killed his two brothers, 1512; defeated the Shah of Persia 1514; conquered Syria and Egypt 1516-1517; died 1520. SELIM II., succeeded his father, Soliman II., in 1566; took Cyprus from the Venetians 1570, and Tunis from the Spaniards in 1571. In the same year he lost the great naval battle of Lepanto; died 1574. SE- LIM III., son of Mustapha III.; born 1761, succeeded his uncle, Abdul-hamed , 1789.
He was ambitious to become a reformer, but the ill fortune of the Turks in the wars with Russia and Austria, and the numerous rebellions and insurrections in the empire, long prevented his attempting the task. War with France followed, and Egypt was conquered, but it was recovered by the English and restored to Selim. In 1800 he became protector to the Ionian Islands. The organization and discipline of the army, the constitution of the divan, and the system of taxation were the matters which he sought to regulate. War with Russia again broke out in 1806, the new army organization, Nizam Jedid, excited immense dissatisfaction, and in May, 1807, the Janizaries revolted, and Selim was deposed, imprisoned, and in the following year strangled in Constantinople, July 28, 1808.