Süleyman had been a prisoner in the Cage for thirty-nine years when he ascended to the throne.  He had learned calligraphy and spent his time copying Korans and praying.  He had not been allowed concubines whilst in the Cage and showed no interest in women on his release, thus he became the first Ottoman sultan with no harem.

His short reign was marked by unrest amongst the troops and populace, which he seems to have done little to quell.  One of his few assertive acts being to sell the palace gold, silver and jewels to raise enough money to buy/hire horses and carts to take him and his court to Edirne.  He reasoned that if he removed himself from Istanbul, the centre of sedition, things would quieten down – and he was right.  He died of natural causes in Edirne in June 1691, his body was packed in ice and interred in the tomb of his namesake Süleyman the Magnificent in the Sulemaniye mosque complex.  His successor was his younger brother Ahmet, the third son of mad Ibrahim to become sultan.