Sultan Murad I

Ottoman sultan (B. June 29^th, 1326, Bursa - D.  June 28^th, 1389, Kosovo). He was the first of five sultan Murads in Ottoman history. He was known as “Murad Hüdavendigâr” and “Gazi Hünkâr”. His father Orhan Bey, his mother Nilüfer (Holofira) Hatun, the daughter of Yarhisar Tekfu­r (Feudal Landlord), who was married off to Or­han Bey during the reign of Osman Bey. He was the father of Yıldırım Bayezid. He was the youngest son of Orhan Bey. He spoke nicely but rarely and was polite, pious, and courteous to the ulama, dervish and non-Muslims.

He was raised by Lala Şahin, who was a tough soldier. He was declared as a sovereign upon his father Orhan Ghazi’s death in 1362. When he began to reign, he eliminated his brothers İbrahim and Halil to secure his throne. At the time he was ascending to the throne, there was a lack of authority and he had to deal with Byzantines and Karamanids, who attempted to take advantage of these conditions. Also, the Karamanids and sovereign of Sivas Mehmet, who were worried regarding the expansion of Ottomans, had Ottoman forces evacuate Ankara provoking the ahis (T.N. Turkish-Islamic guild). Upon these developments, Sultan Murad I, who gave priority to the actions in Anatolia, went to Ankara, and brought the city into the Ottoman domination (1362). Then he captured Sultanönü (Eskişehir).

After having restored the order in Anatolia, Sultan Murad went after the Byzantines to Rumelia for taking back the lost lands. He managed to take Çorlu back and after tearing down the city walls in order to prevent the attack from Istanbul, conquered Lüleburgaz. While he transferred the Muslim population in Anatolia to the conquered lands, he drove the potentially threatening population to Anatolia. In that period he seized Malkara, Keşan, İpsala, Dedeağaç and Dimetoka. Edirne surrendered to Ottomans in 1361 seeing the impossibility of resisting.

 Conquer of Edirne, which was an important gate for letting Turks inhabit Balkans, meant to have a significant military base for the Ottoman. Edirne, which was more secure than the east on the occasion of the crisis in Byzantine, was rendered as a Turkish city swiftly by constantly transferring population on Genoese ships from Anatolia.

Magyar King Layos mobilized to Edirne with the forces formed from crusade alliances which was incited by Pope Urban V who thought Ottomans had become permanent in Rumelia by the raids and conquests. Hacı Ilbeyi launched an attack over the enemy camped on the left bank of the Maritza river incautiously. The enemy, who was caught unprepared, put to rout. Ottoman chronicles recorded this triumph as “Sırp Sındığı Victory”.

After that Sultan Murad achieved to expand his domination area by a peaceful politics even though he increased the activities in Anatolia. After 1378 when he returned to Bosnia, wedded his son Bayezid to the daughter of Germiyanoğlu Süleyman Shah, and took Kütahya, Tavşanlı, Simav and Eğriboz (Emet) as dowry. Then he acquired the towns of Yalvaç, Yenişehir, Seydişehir, Karaağaç and Eğridir by coming to terms with his rival Hamidoğlu Hüseyin, in order to provide the unity of Anatolia (1382).     

When the Karamaninds, who claimed the Seljuks inheritance, harassed Ottoman forces, Murad I went to Konya against them with a huge force. Later, Ottoman forces captured Kastamonu for helping Candaroğlu Süleyman Paşa who had escaped from his father İskender Bey to take in Sultan Murad (1383). By the way Murad found out that his brother Savcı started a rebellion cooperating with son of Byzantine Emperor and went against his brother and he defeated him in a battle near a bank of Nilüfer River.

Then Ottoman army, which was sure of Anatolia, conquered Ma­nastır, Filibe, İstip and Ohri under command of Kara Timurtaş Pasha by starting Rumelian conquests from two flanks in 1386. İnce Balaban Bey, who commanded the other flank, captured Sofya after a long siege. Then Yahşi Bey, son of Kara Timurtaş Pasha, conquered the city of Niş.

Aftermath these conquests, Ottoman raiders started activities on a vast area reaching Adriatic. The significant losses of Ottomans in the battle in Plocnik happening with the cooperation of Bosnian King Tvartko, Croatian and Albanian princes, encouraged the Crusaders. He joined the alliance by encouraging Magyar, Wallachian, Polish, Bulgarians and prince of Varna.

Sultan Murad, who found out about the alliance, moved swiftly and defeated the forces of Bulgaria and Varna before they combined their forces. Ali Pasha, who directed their forces to Niğbolu upon the peace demand of Varna through Venetia, blockaded the city. At the same time, Sultan Murad entered Bulgaria. The King of Bulgaria surrendered and agreed with Ottomans by paying their accumulated debts but then when they violated the agreement, Ottomans increased their suppression on Niğbolu and obliged the King Şişman to surrender. This success weakened Serbians. Serbian Governor Dragon and sons of Vuakin, who killed when he was the Governor of Southern Serbia, joined the Ottoman army to provide protection

Ali Pasha and his forces, who had executed significant conquests in Bulgaria, headed for Kosovo. Ottoman army defeated the forces of Serbian and their alliances in the battle which started on June 20^th, 1389. After a week lasted combat, Sultan Murad began to tour the battlefield after the battle which lasted for 8 hours. He was martyred being perfidiously stabbed with a dagger by wounded son-in-law of the Serbian King Lazar Miloş Obilic among the dead. The guards killed both the attacker and other nobles for this attack. Thus, Ottomans proved to Europeans that they were perpetual in the Balkans, by winning this second great war after Sırp Sındığı. At first Sultan Murad was buried in Kosovo in a place called “Meşhed-i Hüdavendigâr” then his body was brought to Bursa. So he had two tombs in Kosovo and Çekirge, Bursa. Historian Hayrullah Efendi, mentioned that the night before the Battle of Kosovo, Sultan Murad was praying without sleeping.

In the era of Sultan Murad, the organizations of kazaskerlik and beylerbeyilik, Janissary Corps and Voynuks were founded and Edirne was made capital. He had hermitage in Yenişehir, mosques in Yenişehir and Bilecik, Hisar Mosque near Bursa citadel, a mosque, madrasah, imaret, a guest house and a thermal spring in Çekirge built by establishing a charity foundation. He also had an imaret dedicated to his mother built in İznik.