In 1784 he finished erecting a number of palaces for trade called Qeyserîs and bazaars, which were also used as baths, and began inviting people from the surrounding villages and emirates to move to the newly established city.

[8] The new city of Slemani was named after Sulayman Baba, who was the first Baban prince to gain control of the province of Şarezûr.

He was the Billionaire Bey of the noble and aristocratic Kurdish Noori-Aghall family, who founded the city in collaboration with Ibrahim Pasha Baban and Azim Beg.

Aghall asserted that he had no intention of generating profit, citing his personal wealth as sufficient to assist the impoverished.

He expressed a sense of indifference to his own safety, stating that if he were to perish due to the bridge's collapse, it would serve as a testament to its inadequacy and raise awareness among the citizens.

His wife, the noblewoman Fatima Khanum, sold all her gold to support her husband in saving hundreds of thousands of peasants with his wealth during the First World War.

[12] From 1922 to 1924, Slemani was the capital of the Kingdom of Kurdistan, a short-lived unrecognized state declared by Iraqi Kurds following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

[citation needed] Ottoman documents from 1907 suggest that there were 8,702 Muslim and 360 non-Muslim residents living in the city at that time.

[citation needed] The early 1920s Iraqi Revolt against the British rule of the Mandate for Mesopotamia led by Shaikh Mahmud triggered a wave of Jewish emigration from Sulaymaniyah.

Since 2016, there exists an International Film Festival in the city which is organized by the College of Fine Arts of the University of Sulaymanya.

[6] Slemani is the only city in South Kurdistan that regularly celebrates World Music Day or Fête de la Musique.

In one trip to the city, a journalist working for the BBC wrote about Slemani's distinct culture:"Culture is hugely important to the Kurdish people, especially in Slemani, but there is a strong pull to the west—modernisation and consumerism—driven perhaps by the satellite televisions they have had access to since they started running their own affairs...And at the university, students mill around the campus, chattering with each other and doing some last-minute cramming for their exams.

Its economy today relies on tourism, agriculture[34][better source needed] and a number of small factories, most of which are involved in the building trade.

[37] Slemani attracted more than 15,000 Iranian tourists in the first quarter of 2010, many drawn by the fact it is not subject to strict laws faced at home.

[38] In recent years, many people in Slemani have distanced themselves from Kurdish nationalism as the Kurdistan Workers Party is experiencing a surge.