History of the Ottoman Empire (II).
The Ottoman Empire maintained continuity in its policy of conquest. The Ottoman Empire in the 14th century succeeded in unifying the political order of Anatolia, both in the status of marching emirs and in the status of guild leaders, and this policy was continued among later successors.
Ohan, after receiving confirmation from Ashi, continued his attacks on the infidels in order to guarantee the support of Ghazis. In the newly conquered regions, Ohan established endowments** to fund and support the activities of the Brotherhood and the Sufi Mystical Order, which helped the nomads to accept the leadership of the Ottoman Empire.
Aukhan institutionalized the policy of conquest begun by his father, emphasizing expansion against the infidels and avoiding hostility with powerful Muslim Turkmen neighbors, while limiting expansion in their territory, which could only be obtained by peaceful means.
Orhan's army and ** consisted mainly of leaders and members of the Anatolian Turkmen clans, who and their followers of Ghazi worked for the Ottomans, earning fame and loot by conquering pagan lands.
Although there were some converts and converts who served in the Ottoman Empire at this time, their numbers were not large enough to influence the development of the Ottoman Empire until much later, after the major conquests in Europe.
Soon after Orhan's accession to the throne, he migrated to the Sea of Marmara, which sparked expeditions to the Byzantine Empire, personally commanded by Emperor Andonicus III. However, at the Battle of Maltaibi in 1328, the Byzantine army was defeated.
After the emperor's return to Constantinople, Byzantium abandoned plans to organize further military resistance in Anatolia and even stopped supplying the remaining Byzantine cities in the region.
Orhan took the opportunity to capture a large area of the Nicaean Peninsula, as well as the coastline of the Gulf of Nicomedia, as far as Yalova in the south, including the towns of Gebze and Eskihisar.
He isolated and captured Nicaea on March 2, 1331, without any resistance. Over the next six years, Orhan easily captured most of the remaining Byzantine lands in northwestern Anatolia, and after six months of siege in 1337, he succeeded in capturing the center of Izmit (Nicometia) and Uskudar (Skutari) a year later.
These victories made the Ottoman Empire one of the most powerful Turkmen principalities in the region and further cemented its leadership in the fight against the infidels.
Located in northeastern Anatolia, Trabzon is still heavily influenced by Byzantine culture, although it has gained independence from Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire had direct control over the western coastal strip, including the Black Sea region from Sir to Uskidal, and Paphragonia in the city of Amastris.
However, these areas were too scattered to pose a strong threat to the Ottomans. Orhan consolidated his position, seized the territory around Goynik, and incorporated the entire Duchy of Karesi in the west.
He also took advantage of internal strife and succeeded in consolidating his power by forming alliances and granting land. The acquisition of the Duchy of Karesi had a particularly important impact on the Ottoman Empire.
Not only did it give the Ottomans control of the southern coast of the Sea of Marmara by allowing them to reach Canakkale from the Gallipoli peninsula, but it also provided them with the opportunity to cross the Dardanelles into Europe.
This was an important milestone in the history of the Ottoman Empire and an important step in their gradual expansion.
Orhan could participate in the conflict of the Byzantines, acquire their territory or carry out plunder. In addition, some of Orhan's men held leadership positions in the military and administrative spheres of the Ottoman Empire in the following years, including a number of Turkish commanders and Byzantine converts, Everynos Bey.
The Ottoman Empire now consisted of four provinces: the former principalities, including Sogit and Esquiehir; The province of Hiid**Endigar (monarchy), which included Bursa and Iznik, was considered a personal fiefdom by Orhan; Koca Eli, including Izmit; and the former principality of Karesi, including Bahkesir (ancient Castro) and Bergama (Pegama).
Only now is Orhan beginning to turn his attention to Europe. After the death of Antronicus III of the Byzantine Empire, John VI Cantakuzeni tried to completely seize the Byzantine throne and was aided by Serbian and Turkish mercenaries, mainly from Aydin.
In return, Serbian and Turkish mercenaries were allowed to plunder in Macedonia and receive large amounts of booty.
Umur Bey's death led to the rapid decline of Adin, and Cantacuzene had to turn to Orhan for help. Orhan puts himself in an advantageous position to deal with the situation at the cost of acquiring [gf]a3[gf]anakkale.
In 1346, Orhan led about 5,500 soldiers into Thrace, seized the Black Sea coast north of Istanbul from Anne of Savoy, the mother of John V, and put Cantacuzene on the throne.
In return, the new emperor gave his daughter Theodora in marriage to Orhan and allowed Orhan's men to plunder and attack in Gallipoli and Thrace without opposition.
These operations were mainly carried out by Orhan's son Sileyman between 1345 and 1348, so he was appointed the first ruler of the Ottoman march, just as the Ottomans had done for the Seljuks half a century earlier.
Orhan further expanded his territory, using Byzantine permission as a wedge for permanent conquest. In 1349, he sent 20,000 men led by Su-Manpa, in cooperation with the Byzantine fleet, to recapture Thessaloniki.
Kantakuzin was very grateful for his help and gifted the Cimpe fortress on the Dardanelles to the Ottomans as a base for the future. This gift gave further impetus to Orhan's conquest.
In 1353, Sileyman Pa marched north from Qimpe and not only attacked Thrace, but also, through an alliance with Genoa, captured and established Ottoman permanent rule in a number of cities, including Tekirdag (Rodosto).
Genoa hoped to break Venice's dominance within the Byzantine Empire with the Ottomans. However, Kantakuzin strongly opposed the Sileyman conquest, arguing that the Ottomans could only plunder, while admiration was already being used as a military base.
Orhan responded that he could not surrender the conquered lands of Gallipoli or Thrace, because according to Muslim law, pagan territories could not be easily surrendered after being conquered by Muslim troops.
In addition, there was a tradition in the Ottoman Empire that the Byzantine fortresses in Gallipoli, including Cimpe, were destroyed at that time (March 2, 1354), with which Siileyman responded to the emperor's **, that he could not leave, because ** was a sign of God's will, and the Turks should stay.
Gallipoli was chosen by the Ottomans as their first permanent base in Europe, and from here the Ottomans began a series of raids and conquests of the Balkans.
Sileiman launched a new series of raids, successfully entering Thrace and reaching Qorlu, Liileburgaz, Malkara and Tekirdag, which were badly damaged and then became forward bases for Turkish attacks that were more distant away.
Cantacuzene tried to seek the aid of the Serbs and Bulgarians against his rebellious Ottoman allies, but his actions instead led the latter into the feud in Europe, which forced his opponents in Constantinople to leave the throne (1355), giving full power to John V Paleologues.
In 1356, Orhan was forced to recognize all his conquests in Europe in exchange for a promise to allow food and other supplies to be shipped to Constantinople. In exchange, he began to send large numbers of Turkmen nomads to Thrace for "Turkification" and to block any ** attempts to drive the Turks out of Europe.
Only then did Europe begin to realize the seriousness of the Turkish threat. Although no immediate action was taken, claims began to emerge about the Turks of the Crusades.
Although Suleiman was killed in an accident in 1358 and Orhan died two years later, they were unable to take advantage of the situation further. However, Orhan did lay a solid foundation for future conquests in Europe.
He expanded his country, doubling its size, thus making it eligible to become an empire under the rule of his heirs.