Orhan Ghazi: Otomon Sultan

 

 Orhan 1281 Sogut-1361 Bursa was the
Second  Bey, or Chief, of the nascent Ottomon Empire from 1324 to 1361. He was the son of Osman 1 and his mother was Mal Hatun, daughter of Abdulaziz Bey.

Orhan Establishment of Ottomon Empire:

In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering most of nnorthwestren Anatolia. The majority of these areas were under Byzantine rule and he won the first battle, the battle of Pelekanon, against the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. Orhan also occupied the lands of Karesi Principally ruled by a Turkish Emir and of Ankara which was controlled by religious fraternity-guilds called Ahis.

During the last years of the civil war in the Byzantine Empire, John VI Cantacuzene induced Orhan to marry Theodora, daughter of Cantacuzene, in order to support him in his aim to become the ruling Emperor, usurping Emperor John V Palaeologus.

Passage of Power:

When Orhan succeeded his Father, he proposed to his brother, Alaedin, 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 thr revenues of a single village near Bursa.

Orhan then told him, “Since , my brother, thou will not take the flocks and the herds that i offer thee, be thou the shepherd of my people be my Vizier.” The word Vizier, vezir in the Ottoman language, from Persian wazir, meant the bearer of a burden. Alaedin, in accepting the office, accepted his brother’s burden of power, according to oreintal historians. Alaeddin, like many of his successors in that office did not often the command the armies in person, but he occupied himself with the foundation and managemnet of the civil and military institutions of the state.

Government:

Orhan I was the first Sultan to use a Lughra. According to some authorities, it was in Alaeddin’s time and by his advice, that the Ottomans ceased acting like vassals to the Seljuk ruler, they no longer stamped money with his image or used his name in public prayers. These changes are more correctly attributed by others to Osman himsel, but the vast majority of the oreintal historiansconcur 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 regular troops. It was by his advice and that of a contemporary Turkish statesman that the celebrated corps of Janissarieswasformed an institution which Europeans writers erroneously fix at a later date, and ascribe to MuradI.

 

Jannissaries:

Alaeddin by his military legislation, may be truly said to have organised victory for the Ottoman dynasty. He organised for the Ottoman Empire a standing army of regularly paid and disciplined infantry and horses, a full century before Charles VII of France established his fifteen permanent companies of men-at-arms, which are generally regarded as the first modern standing army.

Orhan’s predecessors, Ertugrul and Osman, 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 disbanned as soon as the compaign was over. Alaeddin determined to ensure and future success by forming a corps paid infantry, which was to be kept in constant readiness for service. These troops were called Yaya, or Piyade. They were dividedinto tens, hundreds, and thousands with their commanders. Their pay was high 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 and Kara Khalil Candarli, who was connectef to royal house by marriage. Candarli laid before his master and the vizer a project. Out of this arose renowed corps of Janissaries, which was considered scourage of the Balkans and Central Europe for a long time, until it was abolished by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826.

 

Politics

Initial Expansions:

Orhan, with the help of Ghazicommanders at the head of his forcesof light cavalry, started a series of his conquests of Byzantine territories in northwest Anatolia . First, in 1321,Mudanya was captured on the Sea of Marmara, which wasthr port of Bursa. He then sent a column under Konur Alp towards West Sea Black Sea coast; another column under Akcakoca to capture Kocaeli, and finally a column to capture the southeast coast of the Sea of Marmara. Then, he captured the city of Bursa fort, called Evronos Bey, became a commander of a light cavalry force and his sons and grandsons served Ottomon Empire in this capacity to conquer and hold many areas in Balkans. Once the city of Bursa was captured, Orhan sent cavalry troops towards Bosphorus, capturing Byzantine coastal towns of Marmara. There were even sightings of Ottoman light cavalry along the Bosphorus coast.

The Byzantine Emperor Andronicus III gathered a mercenary army towards Anatolia on the peninsular lands of Kocaeli. But at the present towns of Darica, at a site then called Pelekanon, not too far from Uskudar, he met with Orhan’s troops. The Byzantine forces were routed by Orhan’s disciplined troops. Thus, in 1329 after this Battle of Pelekanon the Byzantine gave up idea of getting the Kocaeli lands back and never tried conducting a field batlle against the Ottoman forces.

The city of Nicaea surrendered to him after a three year siege in 1331. The city of Izmit or Nicomedia was also captured in 1337. Orhan gave the command of to his eldest son, Suleyman Pasha, who had directed the operations of the siege. In 1338 by capturing Uskudar most of Northwest Anatolia was in Otooman hands. The Byzantines still controlled the coastal strip from Sile on the back sea to Uskudar and the city of Amarsa in Paphlagoina, but these were so scattered and isolated as to be no threat to the Ottomans.

Then, there was a change of strategy in 1345. Instead of aimming to gain land from non-Muslims. Orhan took over a Turkish principality, Karesi. According  to Islamic philosphy of war, the areas under the Islamic rule were to be abodes of peace and the other areas abodes of war. In abodes of war conducting a war was considered a good deed. Karesi principality was a state governed by a Turkish Emir and its main ihabitants were Turkish, so it was abode of peace. 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 claim to the post of Emir were equally valid. So there was a fight between the armed supporters of two claimnat 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 thw two brothers were pushed to the castle of their capital city of Bergama. One was killed and the other was captured. The territories around Bergama Balikesir were annexed to Orhan’s domains. This conquest particularly important since it brought Orhan’s territories to Canakkale. The Anatolian side of the Dardanelles Straits.

With the conquest of Karesi, nearly the whole northwestern Anatolia was included in the Ottoman Empire, and the four cities of Bursa, Izmit, Iznit and Bergama had become strongholds of its power. At this stage of his conquests Orhan’s Ottoman Principality had four provinces.

Consolidation Period:

A twenty-year period of peace followed the acquistion of Karesi. During this time, the :ttoman 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.

Last Years:

Orhan was the longest living and the one of the longest reigning of the future Ottoman Sultan. In his last years he had left most of the powers of state in the hands of his second son Murad and lived a secluded life in Bursa. In 1356 a very unusual event has occured. Khalil, the son of Orhan Theodora, was being taken round the Bay Izmit on a boat. A Geneose Commercial boat captain, which was conducting piratical acts alongside commerce, was able to capture the young prince and take him over to Phocea 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 single Byzantine Emperor JohnV Palaeologos. As to the agreement, JohnV with a Byzantine naval fleet went to Phocea, paid the ransom demanded of 100000 Byzantine gold pieces, and brought Khalil back to Ottoman territory.

In the 1357 Orhan’s eldest and most experienced son and likely heir, Suleyman Pasha, died after injuries sustained from a fall from a fall from a horse near Bolayir on the coast of the sea of Marmara. The horse that Suleyman fell from was buried along side him and their tombs can still be seen today. Orhan was said to have been greatly affected by the deaths of his sons.

Death:

   Orhan died soon after, at the age of seventy nine, after a reign of thirty seven years. He is buried in the turbe with his wife children, called Gumuslu Kumbet in Bursa.

During his reign, some of the most important civil military institutions of his state were founded in the westren provinces of Anatolia, but were also plaanted on the European continent.