TURKEY. 



TURKEY. 



lew tribe of the Kayi. lived in the environs of Mahan in Khonlion 

 in the becinaing of the IJth wntury. He fled before the approach of 

 iu 1231, ami eettUd with 60,000 of bis men iu Enenjdn 

 in Armenia. Seven year* Uu-r, after KhoriUau ud 

 had been conquered by 'Altal-diu, the Sultan of tho 

 Se(juk> in Kouiah. Soliman commenced hi* return to the steppe* of 

 hu native country. Creeling the Euphrates near Ja'ber, be was 

 drowned in that river, and hi* tribe erected a tomb to hi* memory, 

 which (till exiet*. One part of his tribe continued their march to 

 Khoraeaa ; another, commanded by Ertoghrul, one of the four sons 

 of BoBmen. received to remain in the western countries, and to settle 

 thai under the protection of 'Altai-din, the Sultan of Koniab. On 

 their inarch to the weat, they *aw in a plain two armies preparing for 

 battle; one of them wa* numerous, tbo other feeble, but of warlike 

 appearance. Ertoghrul resolved to asaUt the feeble. It was the army 

 of 'Altaidln going to fight with the Mongols; and with Ertoghrul's 

 aesutanoe the Seljok* gained the day. 'Altai-din rewarded Krto- 

 garal with a dree* of honour, and gave him and his tribe the fertile 



IM*| I* near Angora. Ertoghrul assisted the Sultan in all 



hu wan with the Greek* and the Mongols, and afterwards received 

 the district of Sultan-one*, on the frontiers of the dominions of 'Aht- 

 ed-din and the Byxaotine empire, as a fief, on condition of defending 

 the frontiers against the invasions of the Byzantines. Ertoghrul died 

 in 1288. His successor as chief of the tribe was his sou Osmau. 



[1888-13S&] Osman was the founder of the Turkish empire ; he is 

 the ancestor of the reigning dynasty ; and he has given his name to a 

 numerous and powerful nation. During the life of his father, Osman 

 had -ig<iMl Kimlf u an intrepid warrior. HU power grew 

 gradually by conquest* from the Greeks, and after the death of 'Ala- 

 eddin, who was killed by the Mongols iu 1307, from some petty 

 Seljukian prince* of Asia Minor. Ten years afterwards he made the 

 tirwunr** of Brusa. In 1321 the first Turks-Osinanlis crossed the 

 Bosporus and appeared in sight of Constantinople. At his death, 

 which took place in 1326, he left to bis successor, Urkhan, a state 

 which comprehended a considerable part of Bithynia in the north, 

 Galatia iu the east, aud Phrygia in the south, the western frontiers of 

 which were the river Sangarius and its southern tributary the 

 Thymbriu*. 



[1320-1359.] Urkhan was the successor and eldest son of Osman. 

 His reign was signalised by conquests, and by some political and 

 military institutions which have been the groundwork of the Turkish 

 constitution until our days. By advice of his brother, 'Alit-ed-diu 

 (the first grand viiir mentioned in the Turkish annals), Urkhan 

 coined money, and ordered the public prayer to be said in his name, 

 which had formerly been pronounced in the name of the Sultan of 

 Koniah ; and thus assumed two prerogatives which, according to the 

 lalam, constitute the privilege of majesty. His vassalage to Kouiah 

 wa* abolished, and the state of the Turks-Osmaulis became an inde- 

 pendent empire. To secure the rising power of his brother 'Ald-ed- 

 din, assisted by the high judge Kara Khalil Chendcrell, he established 

 a standing army long before any such thing was known iu Europe. 

 This wa* the famous body of tho Janissaries, a word mutilated by 

 European* from the Turkish Yehi-chcri, or 'the new troop.' The 

 new troop* decided the victory in the battle of Philocrene, where the 

 emperor Andronlcus the younger was entirely defeated by Urkhan 

 and 'Altai-din (1330). The conquest of Niewa was the friiit of this 

 victory; and six years afterwards the rest of Bithynia and the greater 

 pert of Mysia fell into the bauds of the Turks. Nicrca became the 

 residence of Urkhan. By the first peace concluded between the 

 Oemanlis and the Greek* (1333), the emperor Audrouicus surrendered 

 his province* in Asia which had been conquered by Urkhan. But in 

 1337 a strong body of Otmanlia again crossed the Bosporus, com- 

 manded by Urkhan, who was the first Turkish sultan that ever put 

 hi* foot on the soil of Europe. He repeated his predatory expeditious 

 in the following year*, till at last the emperor John Cantacuzcnus 

 tried to reconcile Urkhan by giving him his daughter iu marriage 

 13). Hostilities were continued however, and Urkhan's son 

 Solimau, in 1354, crowed the Dardanelles and surprised the castle of 

 Tayo>|, now Chini, near Oallipoli, which from that time remained iu 

 the hand* of the Turks, who were thus settled in Europe. During 

 the civil trouble* between the emperor John Cantacuzenus and his 

 on-in-Uw John PaUcologus, Urkhau seized the castle of Qallipoli, the 

 ky of the Dardanelles. Urkban died in 1359, at the ago of 75 years. 

 Hi* empire wa* divided into several provinces, which were governed 

 by pashas, a title derived from the Persian ' pai-shah,' which means 

 the foot or chief nupporter of the shah. (Xen., Cyrop.,' viii. c. 2, 1 0.) 

 [1U9.1W9.1 Urkhan was succeeded by bis youiig.r son Murad, 

 the elder, Solunan, having lost bis life by o fall from his horse. No 

 MOBer wa* Murad on the throne than lie formed tho plan of cummer- 

 ing the remaining part of the Bysantine empire in Europe, and of 

 s-bduing the HMtlM prince* in Asia Minor. In 1361 he took 

 Adrianople, which be afterward* choae for hi* residence. In the 

 following year he conquered Philippoli. The kings of Hungary, 

 Boenia, Herri., and the prince of Wallachia, formed a league against 

 Murad ; but they were totally defeated by the Turks iu 1363. After 

 this victory, the great r part of Thrace, Bulgaria, and part* of Mace- 

 lonJa, TheMly, and Kpirus Ml into the bauds of the victor*. In 

 Wurad carried hi* arm* into AsU, and defeated 'Ala-ed-dln, the 



Seljukian prince of Karnuuuiin, who was compelled to take the oath 

 of vassalage. Meanwhile Lazarus, the kral or king of Servia, who 

 had recovered from his defeat, prepared an attack on the T ui-ki-li 

 dominions, assisted by strong bodies of Bosuiak, Bulgarian, Hungarian, 

 Polish, and Wallachian auxiliaries. Although his army was twice on 

 numerous as that of the Turks, he wax attacked by Murad near 

 Koesova, in the southern corner of Servia, in 1389. The allies were 

 routed with dreadful slaughter, and Lazarus was mode a prisoner. 

 Uiirad received the principal captives in his tent. Milosh llobilowicu, 

 a noble Servian, prostrated himself before the throne, and kissed the 

 'cot of the victor; but suddenly he siezed a dagger, which was hidden 

 under hu clothes, and stabbed Murad to the heart. Miirad or.l r. >i 

 King Lazarus to be beheaded in his presence, and then expired on his 

 throne. Servia was now added to the empire of the Turks. 



[1389-1403.] Bayozid I., the eldest sou of Murad I., was the first 

 chief of the Usmaulis who assumed the title of Sultan. His first act 

 was an order by which his youngest brother Yokub was put to death. 

 Already known as a general, and surnamed from tho rapidity of his 

 manoeuvres and tho impetuosity of his charges Ilderim (lightning), 

 Bayazid successfully pursued the career of conquests opened by his 

 ancestors. He laid siege to Constantinople, the first siege of this city 

 by the Turks, in 1391; but a fleet with a body of French knights, 

 commanded by Boucicault, reached Constantinople, and saved the 

 capital. The siege however was changed into a blockade, which lasted 

 for seven years. In Asia Minor, Bayazid conquered Karamaiiia and 

 several of the Seljukian principalities. Meanwhile Sigismund, king of 

 Hungary, levied a strong army, with the view of driving the Turks 

 back to Asia, and he was reinforced by a body of French troops, com- 

 manded by John of Burgundy, count of Nevers, and the flower of the 

 French chivalry. But this powerful host was annihilated by Bayazid 

 in the battle of Nikipoli in 1396, in which however 00,000 Turks 

 were slain. King Sigismund was pursued by the victorious Turks, 

 and Bayazid, leaving the prosecution of the Hungarian war to his 

 generals, turned his arms against Greece, which be overran in one 

 campaign in 1397. Ho was preparing an invasion of Hungary, when 

 he was compelled to defend Asia against Timur, or Tamerlane, by 

 whom he was defeated and taken prisoner in the battle of Angora iu 

 1402. Bayazid died the following year in the Tartar camp at Ak- 

 Shehr, in Pisidia. 



[1403-1413.] After the battle of Angora, Timur reinstated the 

 Seljukian princes of Karamania, Aidin, Menteshe, Tekke, and Kermiau, 

 who soon after Timur's death, in 1405, began to quarrel with one 

 another. The succession to the throne of Osman also was disputed 

 among three of his sons, Soliumn, Isa, and Mohammed. Solimau, 

 from the moment of the death of his father, was independent iu 

 Europe ; and Isa and Mohammed found adherents enough to defeat 

 the Seljukian princes, aud to recover each a part of the vast dominions 

 of their father. Thus Isa became independent at Brusa, aud Moham- 

 med at Amasia. Thrice defeated by his brother Mohammed, Isa fled 

 to Karamania, and was beard of no more. Another son of Bayazid, 

 Musa, who until then had not aimed at independence, was appointed 

 by Mohammed to attack Soliinau, who was acknowledged by the 

 Byzantine court as the only legitimate sultan. Musa crossed the 

 Dardanelles in 1406, and surprised Solimau iu 1410. Soliinau, for- 

 saken by his officers, fled to Constantinople, but was killed on his way 

 in the village of Dugunjl, and Musa became master of the Turks in 

 Europe. War uow broke out between Musa and Mohammed, who, 

 having allied himself with Stephen, the vassal king of Servia, crossed 

 the Dardanelles. On the plain of < 'hamurli, near the sources of tho 

 Kara-Su, towards the southern frontiers of Servia, Musa, forsaken by 

 his best troops and generals, was entirely defeated in 1413. In conse- 

 quence of this victory, Mohammed became sole sultan. 



[1413-1421.] Mohammed I., gifted by nature with beauty, strength, 

 courage, aud talents, commenced his reign by ordering the murder of 

 his nephew, the son of his late brother Soliman. From the field of 

 Chamurlt he hastened to Asia, and in two years expelled tlie Seljukian 

 princes from their possessions. The Venetian admiral Loredano 

 destroyed a Turkish fleet off Gallipoli in 1416 ; but peace was soon 

 concluded, and a Turkish ambassador appeared at Venice. In 1418 

 a Turkish army, which had made an expedition into Germany, was 

 destroyed at Hadkersburg, in Syria, by the Austriaus under the arch- 

 duke Kruest. In 1421 the Sultan paid a visit to the emperor Manuel 

 in Constantinople, where he was received with extraordinary splen- 

 dour. He died iu the same year, and left tho empire to his sou. 

 Murad II. 



[1421-1451.] Murad II., the third son of Mohammed I., was a youth 

 of eighteen when he ascended the throne. Immediately after tho 

 death of Mohammed he was called upon to defend his throne against 

 Mustapha, supposed to be a son of Bayazid, who had disappeared after 

 the battle of Angora. Murad defeated and killed bis rival with tho 

 assistance of Adorno, doge of Venice, and commander of the Venetian 

 licet then assembled iu the Sea of Marmara. In 1442 Murad was 

 involved in a war with Ladislaus, king of Hungary, whose general, 

 John Hunyad, defeated the Turks at Nissa iu the following year, and 

 penetrated as far as Philippopoli, whence, laden with booty, he led 

 his army back to Hungary. A peace with Hungary having been sworn 

 with solemn oaths, the Sultan was persuaded that there was no danger 

 ou the side of Hungary; and the state of Asia being satisfactory, 



