The
founder and the first sultan of the Ottoman Empire (B. 1258, Söğüt – D.
February 1324, Bursa) He was also known as Osman Gazi and called Kara Osman,
Fahruddin and Mu’înüddin as well. He was
the son to Ertuğrul Ghazi and Halime Hatun. Throughout his life, he was called
Emir, meaning “Beg”, and after his death he was named Han and Sultan for he
became a margrave in his last years. He succeeded his father at the age of
twenty-four. Osman Ghazi was first a vassal of Chobanids (Çobanoğulları) in
Kastamonu and then of Germiyanids (Germiyanoğullari) in Kütahya who were also
vassals of Sultanate of Seljuk. Osman Bey’s first marriage was with Mal Hatun
who was the daughter of the
Seljuk Grand Vizier, Ömer Abdülaziz Bey, and who was the mother of Sultan
Orhan, in 1280. Around 1289, Osman Bey married Rabia Balâ Hatun, the daughter
of Sheikh Edebali, thus he increased his power and prestige. Rabia Bala Hatun was the mother of Prince
Alâaddin
Osman became the chief of its clan, (T.N.
Beg), upon his father’s death in 1281.
According to some, he became a margrave by the mandate of Mesud II, the
Seljuk Sultan, which entrusted Söğüt region to him and the ak sancak (T.N.
white banner), tuğ (T.N. another kind of banner) and mehter(T.N.military band)
that were gifted to him. That he captured Karacahisar in 1288 or 1291 and the
khutbah given by Dursun Fakih in the name of Osman Bey, meant he gained his
semi independence. Upon the fall of frontier towns to the Ottomans, the
Byzantines prepared a plan to annihilate him in a wedding. Osman Bey answered
the Byzantines with a surprised attack and conquered Yarhisar and Bilecik in
1299. He moved the center of the principality to Bilecik. He married his son
Orhan to Nilüfer (Holofura), the daughter of the Tekfur (governor) of Yarhisar,
who had provocative acts. That date is regarded as the foundation year of
Ottoman Empire.
When Alâaddin Keykubad III of the Sultanate
of Seljuk sent tuğ, tabl (T.N. drum), and alem (T.N. standard) with a mandate
on January 27th, 1300 Osman Bey became an independent margrave. In
1301, he founded the town of Yenişehir around Bursa and moved the center of his
dynasty to there. Meanwhile he gave Eskişehir to his brother Gündüz Bey,
Sultanönü to his son Orhan Bey, Yarhisar to Hasan Alp, Bilecik to Sheikh
Edebalı, İnegöl to Turgut Alp in return for their assistance in conquests. He
took Alâaddin, the grandson of Edebali, along. In 1308, he became fully
independent when the reign of Seljuk was ended by Ahmed Gazan, the Khan of
İlhanlı (T.N. Ilkhanids). After Köse Mihal Bey, the Byzantine governor of
Harmankaya (T.N. Chirmenkia), was converted to Islam, Mekece (T.N. Sakarya),
Akhisar and Gölpazarı fell into the Ottomans. After 1320, Osman Bey didn’t
appear in history much and handed the principality to Orhan I in 1324. Osman
Ghazi died at the age of sixty-seven before the conquest of Bursa and was his
tomb was moved from Söğüt to Bursa, Gümüş Kümbet by his will in 1326.
Osman Ghazi expanded the borders of the
kingdom from 4800 km2 to 16000 km2. According to today’s divisions, the Ottoman
borders reached to Bilecik, central Eskişehir, Geyve, Akyazı and Hendek of
Sakarya, Kütahya-Domaniç and Mudanya,Yenişehir and İnegöl of Bursa. Osman Bey
was a happy ancestor who was the first ruler of the dynasty, which empowered
the kingdom named after him and turned it into an empire, and had ruled it for
centuries. Great emperors and genius statesmen descended from Osman Ghazi.
All of the western and
eastern historians agree on that Osman Ghazi had all the features and
personality required to be held by any founders. Osman Bey was a person with a
nice conversation, he got on well with his neighbors and he was chivalrous as
much as respectful, thus he
was a friend of Sheikh Edebali and Tekfur of Bilecik both of whom were his
neighbors.
One
night, when he was a guest in Sheikh Edebali’s lodge, he had a dream: A new
moon, rising from the Sheik’s chest descended into his chest and a tree
flourished from his chest to cover the whole world with its branches. The next
morning he told Sheik Edebali about his dream and Sheikh felt excited: “My son,
you will be a Padishah. Your kingdom will cover the world and my daughter Mal
Hatun will give birth to your generation. My
daughter be the wife to you” and he married his daughter Mal Hatun to
Osman Bey.
Some of the sheiks and
scholars who were valued during the reign of Osman Bey should be remembered.
The most important scholars are: Mevlâna, Sheikh Edebali, Dursun Fakih and
Hattab Ebî bin Kasım Karahisarî. Religious leaders: Sheikh Muhlis Baba, Sheikh
Âşık Pasha, Sheikh Ulvan Çelebi, Sheikh Hasan Çelebi and Baba İlyas should be
mentioned... Other children of Osman Bey along with Orhan and Alâaddin: Fatma
Hatun, Savcı Bey, Melik Bey, Hamit Bey, Pazarlı Bey and Çoban Bey.
