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Osman Gazi died in either 1323 or 1324,[5] and Orhan succeeded him. According to Ottoman tradition, when Orhan succeeded his father, he proposed to his brother,Alaeddin, that they should share the emerging empire. The latter refused on the grounds that their father had designated Orhan as sole successor, and that the empire should not be divided. He only accepted as his share the revenues of a single village nearBursa.
According to some authorities, it was in Alaeddin's time, and by his advice, that the Ottomans ceased acting like vassals to theSeljuk ruler: they no longer stamped money with his image or used his name in public prayers. These changes are attributed by others to Osman himself, but the vast majority of the oriental writers concur in attributing to Alaeddin the introduction of laws respecting the costume of the various subjects of the empire, and the creation and funding of a standing army of regular troops. It was by his advice and that of a contemporary Turkish statesman that the celebrated corps ofJanissaries was formed, an institution which European writers erroneously[citation needed] fix at a later date, and ascribe toMurad I.[6]
Alaeddin, by his military legislation, may be truly said to have organized victory for the Ottoman dynasty. He organised for the Ottoman Beylik a standing army of regularly paid and disciplined infantry and horses, a full century beforeCharles VII of France established his fifteen permanent companies of men-at-arms, which are generally regarded as the first modern standing army.[7]
Orhan's predecessors,Ertuğrul andOsman I, had made war at the head of the armed vassals and volunteers. This army rode on horseback to their prince's banner when summoned for each expedition, and were disbanded as soon as the campaign was over. Alaeddin determined to ensure any future success by forming a corps of paid infantry, which was to be kept in constant readiness for service. These troops were calledYaya, or piyade.[8] They were divided into tens, hundreds, and thousands with their commanders. Their pay was high,[6] and their pride soon caused their sovereign some anxiety. Orhan wished to provide a check to them, and he took counsel for this purpose with his brother Alaeddin andKara Khalil Çandarlı (of House of Candar), who was connected with the royal house by marriage. Çandarlı laid before his master and the vizier a project. Out of this arose the renowned corps of Janissaries, which was considered the scourge of the Balkans and Central Europe for a long time, until it was abolished by SultanMahmud II in 1826.[9]
Çandarlı proposed to Orhan to create theJanissary corps, an army entirely composed of the children of conquered places. Çandarlı argued that:
The conquered are the responsibility of the conqueror, who is the lawful ruler of them, of their lands, of their goods, of their wives, and of their children. We have a right to do, same as what we do with our own; and the treatment which I propose is not only lawful, but benevolent. By enforcing the enrolling them in the ranks of the army, we consult both their temporal and eternal interests, as they will be educated and given better life conditions.[citation needed]
He also claimed that incorporating children of the conquered would induce other people to enlist: their friends and relations, who would come as volunteers to join the Ottoman ranks. Acting on this advice, Orhan selected a thousand of the finest boys from conquered Christian families. The recruits were trained according to their individual abilities, and employed in posts ranging from professional soldier toGrand Vizier. This practice continued for centuries, until the reign of SultanMehmed IV.[citation needed]
Orhan invadedByzantine territories in northwest Anatolia. First, in 1321, Orhan capturedMudanya, the port linking the city ofBursa to theSea of Marmara coast. He then sent a column underKonur Alp towards the west Black Sea coast; another column underAkça Koca to captureKocaeli, and finally a column underAbdurrahman Ghazi to capture the southeast coast of the Sea of Marmara. Then, hecaptured Bursa by persuading its Byzantine commander to defect. AsEvrenos Bey, he became a commander of light cavalry, and he and his sons and grandsons led Ottoman troops in the Balkans. Once Bursa was captured, Orhan sent cavalry towards the Bosphorus, capturing Byzantine towns on the Marmara coast. There were even sightings of Ottoman light cavalry along the Bosphorus coast, and Ottoman forceslaid siege to Nicaea (second only toConstantinople in the Byzantine Empire).
In 1329, Byzantine EmperorAndronikos III led a mercenary army to relieve Nicaea and regain Kocaeli. In the ensuingbattle of Pelekanon (near Nicomedia, Bithynia.Present day: Maltepe, Turkey), on 10 or 15 June, Orhan's disciplined troops routed the Byzantines. Thereafter Andronikos abandoned the idea of getting Kocaeli back and never again conducted a field battle against Ottoman forces.
Nicaea surrendered to Orhan after athree-year siege that concluded in 1331. Orhancaptured Nicomedia in 1337. Orhan gave the command of Nicomedia to his eldest son, Suleyman Pasha, who had directed the operations of the siege.
In 1338, Orhan captured Scutari; most of northwest Anatolia was in Ottoman hands. The Byzantines still controlled the coastal strip fromŞile on the Black Sea to Scutari and the city of Amastris (nowAmasra) in Paphlagonia, but these were so scattered and isolated as to be no threat to the Ottomans.
In 1345, there was a change of strategy. Instead of aiming to gain land from non-Muslims, Orhan took over a Turkish principality, Karesi (presentBalıkesir and surroundings). According to Islamic philosophy of war, the areas under Islamic rule were to beabodes of peace and the other areasabodes of war. Conducting a war inabodes of war was considered a good deed. Karesi principality was a state governed by a Turkishemir and its main inhabitants were Turkish so it was anabode of peace. The Ottomans had to have special justification for conquering fellow Muslim Turkish principalities.
In the case of Karesi, the ruler had died and had left two sons whose claims to the post of emir were equally valid. So there was a fight between the armed supporters of the two claimant princes. Orhan's pretext for invasion was that he was acting as a bringer of peace. In the end of the invasion by Ottoman troops the two brothers were pushed to the castle of their capital city of Pergamum (nowBergama). One was killed and the other was captured. The territories around Pergamum and Palaeocastro (Balıkesir) were annexed to Orhan's domains. This conquest was particularly important since it brought Orhan's territories toÇanakkale, the Anatolian side of theDardanelles Straits.
With the conquest of Karesi, nearly the whole of northwestern Anatolia was included in the Ottoman Beylik, and the four cities of Bursa, Nicomedia, Nicaea, and Pergamum had become strongholds of its power. At this stage of his conquests, Orhan's Ottoman Principality had four provinces:[10]
Original land grant area of Söğüt and Eskişehir;
Hüdavendigar (Domain of the Sultan) area of Bursa and İznik;
Koca Eli peninsular area around İzmit;
former principality of Karesi around Balıkesir and Bergama.
A twenty-year period of peace followed the acquisition of Karesi. During this time, the Ottoman sovereign was actively occupied in perfecting the civil and military institutions which his brother had introduced, in securing internal order, in founding and endowing mosques and schools, and in the construction of vast public edifices, many of which still stand. Orhan did not continue with any other conquests in Anatolia except taking overAnkara from the commercial-religious fraternity guild of Ahis.
The general diffusion of Turkish populations over Anatolia, before Osman's time, was in main part a push from the Mongol conquest of Central Asia, Iran and then East Anatolia. Turkish peoples had founded a number of principalities after the demise of the AnatolianSultanate of Rum, after its defeat by theIlkhanate Mongols. Although they were all of Turkish stock, they were all rivals for dominant status in Anatolia.
After the Byzantine defeat of theBattle of Pelekanon, Orhan developed friendly relations withAndronicus III Palaeologus, and maintained them with some of his successors. Therefore, the Ottoman power experienced a twenty-year period of general repose.
However, as theByzantine civil war of 1341–1347 dissipated the last resources of the Byzantine Empire, the auxiliary armies of the Emirs of Turkish principalities were frequently called over and employed in Europe. In 1346, EmperorJohn VI Cantacuzene recognised Orhan as the most powerful sovereign of the Turks. He aspired to attach the Ottoman forces permanently to his interests, and hoped to achieve this by giving his second daughter,Theodora, in marriage to their ruler, despite differences of creed and the disparity of age. However, in Byzantine and in Western European history, dynastic marriages were quite usual and there are many examples which were much more strange.[11]
The splendour of the wedding between Orhan and Theodora at Selymbria (Silivri) is elaborately described by Byzantine writers. In the following year, Orhan and Theodora visited his imperial father-in-law atÜsküdar, (then Chrysopolis) the suburb of Constantinople on the Asiatic side of the Bosporus where there was a display of festive splendor. However, this close relationship soured when Byzantines suffered from marauding migrantTurcoman bands that had crossed the Marmara Sea and Dardanelles and pillaged several towns in Thrace. After a series of such raids, the Byzantines had to use superior forces to deal with them.
Ibn Battuta gave the following account of Orhan during his reign:
The greatest of the kings of the Turcomans and the richest in wealth, lands and military forces. Of fortresses he possesses nearly a hundred, and for most of his time he is continually engaged in making a round of them, staying in each fortress for some days to put it in good order and examine its condition. It is said that he has never stayed for a whole month in any one town. He also fights with the infidels continually and keeps them under siege.[12]
During Orhan's reign as the Ottoman emir, the Byzantine Empire declined – partly due to the ambitions of Italian maritime states and to the aggression of the Turcomans and otherTurcoman states, but also due to civil wars within the empire.
During these years the Byzantine Empire became so weak that commercial supremacy in the surrounding seas around it became a bone of contention for the Italian maritime commercial city states. TheRepublic of Genoa possessedGalata, a separate Genoese city across theGolden Horn from Constantinople itself. The Genoese hadfought the Byzantines earlier in 1348 when the Byzantines had decreased their customs tariffs in order to attract trade to the Byzantine side of the Golden Horn. In 1352 the rivalry for trade led to a war between Genoa andVenice. The Genoese, in resisting a Venetian fleet attacking their ships in the Golden Horn, bombarded the sea walls of Constantinople and pushed the Byzantines to ally with the Venetians. The Venetians assembled a large naval force, including hired fleets fromPeter IV of Aragon and from the Byzantine Empire ofJohn VI Cantacuzene. The sea battle between the Venetian fleet under the command ofNiccolo Pisani and the Genoese fleet underPaganino Doria led to defeat of Venetians and their Byzantine allies.[13] Orhan opposed the Venetians, whose fleets and piratical raids were disrupting his seaward provinces, and who had met his diplomatic overtures with contempt. The Venetians were allies of John VI, so Orhan sent an auxiliary force across the straits to Galata, which there co-operated with the Genoese.
In the midst of the distress and confusion that the Byzantine Empire now suffered, Orhan's eldest son, Suleyman Pasha, captured the Castle ofTzympe (Cinbi) in a bold move which gave the Turks a permanent foothold on the European side of the Dardanelles Straits. He also started to settle migrant Turcomans and town-dwelling Turks in the strategic city and castle ofGelibolu (Gallipoli), which had been devastated by a severe earthquake and was therefore evacuated by its inhabitants. Suleyman refused various financial inducements offered by John VI to empty the castle and the city. The emperor pleaded with his son-in-law Orhan to meet personally and discuss the matter, but the request was either rejected or could not be carried out due to Orhan's age and ill-health.[14]
This military situation remained unresolved, in part because of the eruption of hostilities between John VI and his co-emperor and son-in-law John V Palaeologus. John V was dismissed from his imperial post and exiled toTenedos; Cantacuzene's sonMatthew was crowned as the co-emperor. But very soon John V returned from exile with Venetian help and conducted a coup, taking over the government of Constantinople. Although the two men came to an agreement to share power, John VI resigned from his imperial post and became a monk. Each of these two contestants for power was continually soliciting Orhan's aid against the other, and Orhan supported whichever side would benefit the Ottomans.[15]
Thetürbe of Orhan Gazi in BursaThe exterior view of histürbe inBursa.
Orhan was the longest living and one of the longest reigning of the future Ottoman Sultans. In his last years he had left most of the powers of state in the hands of his second sonMurad and lived a secluded life inBursa.
In 1356 Orhan andTheodora's son,Halil, was abducted somewhere on the Bay ofIzmit. A Genoese commercial boat captain, which was conducting acts of piracy alongside commercial activity, was able to capture the young prince and take him over toPhocaea on the Aegean Sea, which was under Genoese rule. Orhan was very much upset by this kidnapping and conducted talks with his brother-in-law and now sole Byzantine Emperor John V Palaeologos. As to the agreement, John V with a Byzantine naval fleet went to Phocaea, paid the ransom demanded of 100,000hyperpyra, and brought Halil back to Ottoman territory.
In 1357 Orhan's eldest and most experienced son and likely heir, Suleyman Pasha, died after injuries sustained from a fall from a horse near Bolayir on the coast of the sea of Marmara. The horse that Suleyman fell from was buried alongside him and their tombs can still be seen today. Orhan was said to have been greatly affected by the death of his son.
Orhan died soon after, likely from natural causes. Orhan died in 1362, inBursa, at the age of eighty, after a reign of thirty-six years. He is buried in thetürbe (tomb) with his wife and children, calledGümüşlü Kumbet in Bursa.
Bayalun Hatun. She is also called, among the different variants, Baylun, Bilun, Suilun, Biliven and Niliven. Maybe she was the daughter of thetekfur ofBilecik who was kidnapped by the Ottomans during the attack on her father's fortress and given to Orhan as his concubine in 1299. In 1331, she was the consort of Orhan who welcomedIbn Battuta to Bursa.[20][21][18][16]
Efendize Hatun. Also called Efendi, Eftendize or Efendire Hatun, was the daughter ofAkbaşlı Günduz Bey, Osman I's brother, and so Orhan's cousin. She was the mother of Süleyman Pasha, the eldest and favorite Orhan's son.[16][22][20][23][24]
Asporça Hatun. Noblewoman of Byzantine-Greek origins, born Holofira, Olivera or Glafira. She was Orhan's first legal wife and mother of two sons and two daughters.
Melek Hatun. She was the daughter of Melik Bey, son of Osman I, and thus the niece of Orhan. She was mother of Sultan Hatun.[22]
Nilüfer Hatun. Christian slave of Greek descent, mother of Orhan's successor Murad I.
Theodora Kantakouzene. Daughter ofJohn VI Kantakouzenos and Orhan's second legal wife, she married Orhan in 1346. Remained a Christian after her marriage. Mother of Halil Bey.
Theodora Uroš (died in 1352/1354).Stefan IV Dušan andHelena of Bulgaria's daughter. She married Orhan around 1351, when he was seventy, while she was twelve.[18]
Süleyman Pasha (c.1306[16]–1357) - with Efendize Hatun.[20][26][23] Orhan's favorite son, he was at the head of the expansion campaigns in Thrace andRumelia. He died of wounds sustained after a fall from his horse.
Ibrahim Bey (1310–1362, buried in Osman I's türbe) - with Asporça Hatun. Governor ofEskişehir, was executed by the order of his half-brother Murad I.
Şerefullah Bey - with Asporça Hatun.
Kasım Bey (d. 1346).
Murad I (1326–1389) - with Nilüfer Hatun. Sultan of the Ottoman Empire after his father.
Halil Bey (1347–1362) - with Theodora Kantakouzene. As a child, he was kidnapped by Genoese pirates and ransomed with the help ofJohn V Palaeologus, his mother's brother-in-law. Subsequently, Halil married John's daughter, Irene, and had two sons. At his father's death, he was executed by his half-brother, the new Sultan Murad I.
Hatice Hatun. She married Süleyman Bey, son ofSaru Batu Savci Bey and cousin of Orhan. They had two sons, Hamza Bey (who had a son, Mehmed Bey) and Mustafa Bey (who had a son, Osman Bey), and two daughters, Ilaldi Hatun and Fatma Hatun.
Selçuk Hatun - with Asporça Hatun. She married Süleyman Bey, son of Mehmed ofAydin.
Fatma Hatun - with Asporça Hatun. Buried in her father tomb (Bursa).
Fülane Sultan Hatun (1324-1347) - with Melek Hatun.
^abcdefPeirce, Leslie P. (1993).The imperial harem : women and sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. New York. pp. 34–35.ISBN0-19-507673-7.OCLC27811454.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^abcdeAlderson, A. D. (1982). "Orhan I, Tav.XXII".The structure of the Ottoman dynasty. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.ISBN0-313-22522-2.OCLC8115229.
^abUluçay, M. Çağatay (2011). "Orhan I".Padişahların kadınları ve kızları ([5.basım] ed.). Ankara: Ötüken. pp. 4–5.ISBN978-975-437-840-5.OCLC854893416.
^Peirce, Leslie Penn (1993).The imperial harem: women and sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Studies in Middle Eastern history. New York Oxford: Oxford university press. pp. 34–35.ISBN978-0-19-508677-5.
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