Neil MacGregor's world history as told through things. This week he is exploring the great empires of the world around 1500 - from the Inca in South America to the Ming in China and the Timurids in the Middle East. Today he is with the great Islamic Ottoman Empire that, by 1500, had conquered Constantinople as its new capital. The object Neil has chosen to represent this empire is the personal signature of the great Ottoman ruler Suleyman the magnificent, a contemporary of Henry V111 and Charles V. This monogram is the ultimate expression of Suleyman's authority at this time - a stamp of state and delicate artwork rolled into one. The Turkish novelist Elif Shafak and the historian Caroline Finkel help explore the power and meaning of this object.

Producer: Anthony Denselow