Buda fell to the Ottomans in 1541 during the Siege of Buda. The city was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary, located on the western bank of the Danube opposite Pest.
After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Hungary was divided among the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburgs, and the Hungarian kingdom associated with John Zápolya. When John I died in 1540, the Habsburgs tried to seize Buda from his young successor. Suleiman the Magnificent personally led an Ottoman relief army that defeated the besieging force in August 1541.
The Ottomans then took control of Buda through a carefully staged occupation while Hungarian nobles were visiting Suleiman's camp. Buda became the center of Ottoman administration in central Hungary and remained under Ottoman rule for about 150 years. Pest was also under Ottoman control, but it was not the city identified by the 1541 capture question; Székesfehérvár and Eger fell in different campaigns.