Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
İ
STANBUL
Two decades after Michael reclaimed Constantinople, a Turkish warlord named Ertuğrul
died in the village of Söğüt near Nicaea. He left his son Osman, who was known as Gazi
(Warrior for the Faith), a small territory. Osman's followers became known in the Empire
as Osmanlıs and in the West as the Ottomans.
Osman died in 1324 and was succeeded by his son Orhan. In 1326 Orhan captured
Bursa, made it his capital and took the title of sultan. A victory at Nicaea followed, after
which he sent his forces further afield, conquering Ankara to the east and Thrace to the
west. His son Murat I (r 1362-89) took Adrianople (Edirne) in 1371.
Murat's son Beyazıt (r 1389-1402) unsuccessfully laid siege to Constantinople in 1394,
then defeated a Crusader army 100,000 strong on the Danube in 1396. Though temporarily
checked by the armies of Tamerlane and a nasty war of succession between Beyazıt's four
sons that was eventually won by Mehmet I (r 1413-21), the Ottomans continued to grow in
power and size. By 1440 the Ottoman armies under Murat II (r 1421-51) had taken Thes-
salonica, unsuccessfully laid siege to Constantinople and Belgrade, and battled Christian
armies for Transylvania. It was at this point in history that Mehmet II 'The Conqueror' (r
1451-81) came to power and vowed to attain the ultimate prize - Constantinople.
In four short months, Mehmet oversaw the building of Rumeli Hisarı (the great fortress
on the European side of the Bosphorus) and also repaired Anadolu Hisarı, built on the Asi-
an shore half a century earlier by his great-grandfather Beyazıt I. Together these fortresses
controlled the strait's narrowest point.
The Byzantines had closed the mouth of the Golden Horn with a heavy chain to prevent
Ottoman boats from sailing in and attacking the city walls on the northern side. Not to be
thwarted, Mehmet marshalled his boats at a cove (where Dolmabahçe Palace now stands)
and had them transported overland by night on rollers, up the valley (present site of the
Hilton Hotel) and down the other side into the Golden Horn at Kasımpaşa. Catching the
Byzantine defenders by surprise, he soon had the Golden Horn under control.
The last great obstacle was provided by the city's mighty walls. No matter how heavily
Mehmet's cannons battered them, the Byzantines rebuilt the walls by night and, come day-
break, the impetuous young sultan would find himself back where he'd started. Finally, he
received a proposal from a Hungarian cannon founder called Urban who had come to help
the Byzantine emperor defend Christendom against the infidels. Finding that the Byzantine
emperor had no money, Urban was quick to discard his religious convictions and instead
offered to make Mehmet the most enormous cannon ever seen. Mehmet gladly accepted
and the mighty cannon breached the western walls, allowing the Ottomans into the city. On
