History of Osman ghazi

 SULTAN OSMAN GAZI

Ordered 1299-1324 or 1326

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Osman Gazi

Sultan Osman Gazi The founder and first Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Osman, was born in 1258 AD in Sogut, near Bursa. He was one of the three sons of Ertugrul Gazi, and his mother was Halime Hatun. Osman Gazi was only 23 when he took control of the Kayi clan in Sogut and ascended to the throne after his father's death, reigning for 27 years until his death in 1326.

After his ascension to the throne, he gathered several Turkoman groups around him and fought against the Byzantines, collaborating with Alaeddin Keykubad I of the Seljuks. When the Seljuk Empire remained without rule after Alaaddin's exile, Osman Gazi reunited them under his rule in 1299 marking history as the founding of the Ottoman Empire.

Osman Gazi continued his campaigns against the rest of the Byzantine Empire in the region along with his brothers, sons and close supporters. He cut off Byzantine trade routes, forcing local rulers to surrender. After 1320 he fell ill and his sons continued to fight, capturing many cities from the Byzantines. He died of gout at the age of 68 in Sogut and buried in the city of Bursa.

 

During his reign, he first married Mal Hatun, by whom he had a son, Orhan Gazi who later became the next sultan. After Mal Hatun, he married Bala Hatun from whom another son, Alaaddin was born who became his Grand Vizier once an adult. He had a total of 8 sons and 1 daughter.

Osman Gazi was nicknamed Black (Kara in Turkish), which according to an ancient Turkoman tradition means courageous and heroic person. He was a tall man with a broad and high chest and long arms, dark tanned, round face with a thin beard and a long thick mustache, ram's nose, hazel eyes, thick eyebrows, had a deep and fine voice, expert in horsemanship, use of the sword and combat strategies. He was righteous, helped the poor a lot, even giving them his own clothes if he saw someone in need.

Besides the military actions, Osman Gazi also established all the new measures to form a new empire, such as the adoption of new laws based on the Seljuk laws, the adoption of taxes, the minting of the first Ottoman coins (Akçe), etc.