How did the Ottomans conquer the Balkans and Asia Minor History of the Ottoman Empire 1299 1400

The Ottoman Empire was one of the world's longest-lasting and most dominant empires throughout history. Known also as the Turkish Empire, the Ottoman power was a state that controlled territory spanning across Europe, Asia, and Africa for over 600 years. In their first 100 years, due to their impressive abilities to take advantage of their weaker neighbors, and due to the massive mistakes made by kingdoms of the Balkans and other Christian powers including the Byzantine Empire, the Ottomans will rise from a small Beylik to a regional power, and they will use this position as a stepping stone to expand even more. This is our first part of the Ottoman History series, in which we will present an episode for every 100 years of this impressive empire. We would like to give a special thanks to CuriosityStream for sponsoring this video. CuriosityStream is our favorite streaming service for educational content. 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The conquering force began around the year 1299, when Osman I, a Muslim leader from the town of Sogut, Anatolia, styled himself as Supreme Leader or Sultan, following a string of raids led by Osman and his Ghazi troops against their Byzantine opposition. The name of the empire, Ottoman, is derived from the name of its first leader and founder. Osman, whose name was actually Uthman in Arabic, left behind a scarce amount of information about his life, but gave the world an empire in his name. Consequently, due to the lack of reliable contemporary sources about the Muslim leader, current historians struggle to determine what tales have been fabricated over the years and which ones are in fact true. According to Ottoman lore, Osman I was the son of Ertugrul and grandson of Suleyman Shah, both of whom were from the Kay tribe of Oghuz Turks, although the latter connection has been debated by Ottoman genealogists. Nonetheless, Osman I was the man responsible for creating the first foundations of the 600-year running empire. Taking advantage of the disintegration, Seljuk dynasty in Iran and Mesopotamia, which was vanquished in 1293, Osman began expanding his territory through Anatolia as the chief rival to the Byzantine Christians. By the start of the 14th century, the newly founded Ottoman Empire began to spread bidirectionally, approaching the Sea of Marmara and along the Sakarya River. Unfortunately for the eager conquerors, their siege equipment was insufficient, making it momentarily impossible for them to capture some of the bigger Byzantine cities and territories, such as Constantinople. It wasn't until 1326 that the Ottomans were able to capture the city of Bursa, which would later be styled their new capital in 1335. Around the time of this victory, the first sultan Osman I passed away, leaving his son Orhan as the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Under Orhan's reign, the Turks were now able to start strengthening their power and authority after seizing Bursa, where the tome of Osman I still remains. As part of his military bolstering, Orhan went to his brother Aladin for advice. Aladin suggested that Orhan create an army of men who were paid and trained infantrymen. This is opposed to the method of the predecessor's armies, which were made up of contingents and volunteers who only came together for the campaign or battle at hand. Orhan enacted this new strategy but quickly became dissatisfied and decided to look to a relative through marriage, Kandari Kara Halil, for new guidance. Kandari came up with the idea for what later would be known as the Janissaries. The body of troops was to be made up of children from Christian families in territories that had been conquered by the Ottomans, which would be converted to Islam and trained as elite infantrymen and slaves to the sultan. Making up the first modern standing army in Europe, the Janissaries were known for their extreme loyalty to the sultan, ensured by strict policies and rules applied to them throughout their service, such as the outlaw of marriage. While the Janissary troops weren't considered to have truly been established until the rule of Murad I, the introductory steps were made during Orhan's time of consolidation. Also on the mind of the second sultan was expansion. This became a heavier focus in 1331 with the capture of Iznik, following a few years later by the seizure of Izmit in 1337, and then the taking of Uskudar in 1338. Only seven years after the latest of those successes, Orhan was then able to occupy the Principality of Karasi, around which time he also became an ally to John VI Cantacuzenes, the later Byzantine emperor. Through this new union, Orhan was additionally able to gain permission to raid the region of Thrace, a goal of the Ottomans, of course, being to capture this area and marry the daughter of Cantacuzenes, Theodora. Furthermore, under the command of Suleiman Pasha, one of Orhan's sons, the Ottomans spread their control to Gallipoli in 1354, despite Cantacuzenes' attempts to peacefully remove them in response to Byzantine fears. The raids throughout Gallipoli had also brought in remarkable rewards and treasures to the Ottomans, which attracted the attention of thousands of Turks around Anatolia, who wished to join the empire's forces. Orhan refused to give up this new territory that he claimed was gifted to him by Allah, causing considerable backlash for the now emperor Cantacuzenes, which unintentionally helped lead to his downfall and turmoil within Byzantium. Things within the Ottoman world also began to shift in 1362, following the death of Sultan Orhan, who was roughly 80 years old at the time. His son Suleiman had died a few years prior in a hunting accident, and it is believed that the toll of this loss may have led to Orhan's sudden demise. Regardless, Murad I, another son of Orhan, was next in line to become the empire's third sultan, which he did with a dramatic entrance. Wasting no time after taking the reins, Murad continued the work of conquering Thrace by seizing Adrianople and making it the new capital of the Ottoman Empire. Even with the confidence shown by this swift action taken at the command of the new ruler, the Ottomans continued to avoid an attempt at capturing Constantinople due to their sustained lack of proper siege equipment and the sturdiness of the city's thick outer walls. Opting to stay with a better path for success, Murad kept his focus on easier expansion with more promising results. Over the next decade, the Ottomans captured more and more territories throughout the Balkans, even gaining some of their new control with little resistance after the Battle of Maritsa, in which they defeated their Christian rivals near Chernomen on the Maritsa River. Even going as far as capturing Macedonia, Murad I was now readily broadening and strengthening the Ottoman power across the Balkan region. By 1382, the eager sultan began to put pressure on Bulgaria, first convincing Emperor Ivan Shishman to surrender his country as a vassal, becoming part of a new policy enacted by Murad in Europe, where the native rulers of existing principalities would remain in their place if they accepted the suzerainty of the sultan, accompanied by the provision of contingents for the Ottoman army. Seemingly not giving importance to this agreement, Murad and his troops then continued pushing on to seize Sofia, Perut, and Nis. These decisive actions led to the next major victory for the empire, allowing them to conquer Serbia after the famed Battle of Kosovo in 1389. While both armies were severely deteriorated and the leaders on either side were killed during the conflict, the Ottomans still had more troops elsewhere who could be called upon and were granted overall victory as the domino effect of acquiring Serbian principality, ensuing the death of Sultan Murad I, now under the reigns of Bayezid I, one of his sons, the Ottomans were forced to return to Anatolia and deal with the repercussions of their calamitous victory efforts. On top of restoration duties, Bayezid was also suddenly faced with an increasing threat from the Principality of Karaman. Murad had previously taken some minor steps to avoid the new power, which was built atop the remains of the fallen Seljuk dynasty, from attempting to take his newly seized territories, but that was about all the attention he'd given it. Bayezid was unable to ignore the rising concern by this point, with Karaman moving to the forefront of Ottoman focus after the capture of territory and Germion, Tek, and Hamid. In an attempt to keep his Turkish followers from siding with the potential rivals, Bayezid chose to make peace with Karaman before moving on to capture Bulgaria and finally venture the daunting task of laying siege to Constantinople. In response to the latter act, the Christians undertook a crusade with the goal of defeating the invading Ottoman forces. This resulted in the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, which was won by Bayezid and his troops, massacring the Crusader army that was made up of Hungarians, Germans, French, and other Christian allies. Presumably feeling confident after the success at Nicopolis, Bayezid and his men returned to annex Karaman in 1397, despite the previously agreed-on peace treaty. The Sultan's reach now spanned across the Balkans and into Asia, making him one of the most powerful Muslim leaders at the time. His goals seemed to be that of his predecessors and future successors, expand. While there is relatively very little information dating back to the first 100 years of Ottoman power, we do know that the period of time from 1300 through 1400 served as a springboard for the empire's growth and prosperity that was to come.