| Ottoman Interregnum | |||||||||
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 Late 16th-century depiction of Musa and Süleyman, facing each other | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Mehmed's forces Serbian Despotate Dulkadirids[1] | İsa's forces | Süleyman's forces | Musa's forces Wallachia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Mehmed Çelebi Stefan Lazarević Imamzade Halil Pasha | İsa Çelebi  Junayd of Aydın[a][2][3] | Süleyman Çelebi † Orhan Çelebi[c] | Musa Çelebi Mircea the Elder[7] Sheikh Bedreddin[8] | ||||||
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Rise(1299–1453) |
Classical Age(1453–1566)
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Transformation(1566–1703)
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Old Regime(1703–1789)
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Decline and Modernization(1789–1908)
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Dissolution(1908–1922)
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| Historiography (Ghaza,Decline) |
TheOttoman Interregnum, orOttoman Civil War,[9] (Turkish:Fetret devri,[1]lit. 'Interregnum period') was a civil war in theOttoman realm between the sons of theOttoman sultanBayezid I following their father's defeat and capture byTimur in theBattle of Ankara on 28 July 1402. AlthoughTimur confirmedMehmed Çelebi as sultan, Mehmed's brothers (İsa Çelebi,Musa Çelebi,Süleyman Çelebi, and laterMustafa Çelebi) refused to recognize his authority, each claiming the throne for himself,[10] which resulted in civil war. The Interregnum would last a little under 11 years and culminate in theBattle of Çamurlu on 5 July 1413, when Mehmed Çelebi emerged as victor, crowned himself Sultan Mehmed I, and restored the empire.
Civil war broke out among the sons of SultanBayezid I upon his death in 1403. His oldest son,Süleyman, with his capital atEdirne, ruled the recently conqueredSecond Bulgarian Empire, all ofThrace,Macedonia, and northernGreece. The second son,İsa Çelebi, established himself as an independent ruler atBursa,[11] and Mehmed formed a kingdom atAmasya.[12] War broke out between Mehmed and İsa, and following the Battles of Ermeni-beli[13] and ofUlubad (March–May 1403),[11] İsa fled to Constantinople, and Mehmed occupied Bursa.[14] The subsequent battle at Karasi between Mehmed and İsa resulted in Mehmed's victory and Isa fleeing toKaraman.[13] İsa was later killed in a bath by agents of Mehmed.[15]
Meanwhile, the other surviving son of Bayezid,Musa Çelebi, who was captured at theBattle of Ankara, was released byTimur into the custody of Yakub ofGermiyan.[16] Musa was freed after Mehmed made a request for his brother's release. Following İsa's death, Süleyman crossed the straits with a large army.[17] Initially, Süleyman was successful. He invaded Anatolia, capturing Bursa (March 1404)[18] and Ankara later that year.
During the stalemate in Anatolia, which lasted from 1405 to 1410, Mehmed sent Musa across theBlack Sea toThrace with a small force to attack Süleyman's territories in south-eastern Europe. The maneuver soon recalled Süleyman to Thrace, where a short but sanguinary contest between him and Musa ensued. At first, Süleyman had the advantage and won theBattle of Kosmidion in 1410, but in 1411 his army defected to Musa at Edirne. Süleyman was captured, given to Musa's bodyguard, Koyun Musasi, and strangled to death on 17 February 1411.[19][20] Musa was now the ruler of the Ottoman dominions in Thrace.
Manuel II Palaiologos, the Byzantine emperor, had allied with Süleyman. Mûsa, therefore,besieged Constantinople.[21] Manuel called on Mehmed to protect him, and Mehmed's Ottomans now garrisoned Constantinople against Musa's Ottomans of Thrace. Mehmed made several unsuccessful sallies against his brother's troops and was obliged to recross theBosporus to quell a revolt that had broken out in his own territories. Musa now pressed the siege of Constantinople. Mehmed returned to Thrace, and obtained the assistance ofStefan Lazarevic, theSerbian Despot.
The armies of the rival Ottoman brothers met on thePlain of Chamurli (nowSamokov,Bulgaria). Hassan, theAgha of theJanissaries of Mehmed, stepped out before the ranks and tried to get the troops to change sides. Musa rushed towards Hassan and killed him, but was himself wounded by an officer who had accompanied Hassan. Musa's Ottomans fought well, but the battle was won by Mehmed and his allies.[22] Musa fled but was later captured and strangled.[23] With Musa dead, Mehmed was the sole surviving son of the late Sultan Bayezid I and became Sultan Mehmed I.
The Interregnum was a striking example of thefratricide that would become common in Ottoman successions.
During the Interregnum, only Mehmed minted coins titling himselfSultan. His brother Süleyman had coins that call himEmir Suleyman b. Bayezid, and Musa's coins state,Musa b. Bayezid. No coins of İsa have survived.[24]
