Murad I

Murad I (1326-1389), Ottoman Turkish Sultan (1359-1389), known as Hudavendigar or “master”, who first established the Ottoman Empire as a major power in the Balkans and Anatolia. Born in Bursa, he succeeded his father, Orhan. Murad took advantage of disunity among the Christian Balkan states to extend his rule from Asia into Europe. In 1361 Ottoman forces captured the Byzantine city of Adrianople (now Edirne). Murad consequently made the city his capital. In 1366 a crusade aimed at recapturing these lands led by Amadeus VI of Savoy led to the loss of Gallipoli, but Murad’s forces recaptured it the following year. In 1371 he won control of parts of Bulgaria and Serbia, making the Byzantine emperor John V Palaeologus his vassal. He made further conquests in the Balkans in the 1380s, conquering Sofia in 1385 and Niš in 1386. He also expanded Ottoman power in Anatolia, where he used Christian troops against rival Turkish princes. Murad is also credited with founding the elite Janissary corps and its recruitment system through a levy of Balkan Christian boys (the devshirme). Furthermore, during Murad’s reign many of the administrative offices gained their pre-eminence, including that of the grand vizier. Murad was killed at the Battle of Kosovo in which his army won another victory, stabbed by a Serbian noble who pretended to be a deserter. Murad was succeeded by his son Bayazid I.