The rise of the Ottomans is intertwined with several legends. One tells of a dream young Osman had: a massive tree grew from his chest, its branches spreading to cover the whole world, shading majestic mountains and rivers. Wise men interpreted this dream as a prophecy that his descendants would rule a vast empire, and for generations, the Ottoman people remembered this dream as the moment their great destiny was foretold.
Around 1299, Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) was in chaos as the Seljuk Sultanate collapsed following Mongol invasions, splitting into many small states known as beyliks. In this fractured landscape, a leader named Osman founded a small state in the northwest. His beylik was perfectly positioned right on the front lines bordering the weakening Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. At the time, this frontier at the edge of the Islamic world was filled with 'ghazis'—independent warriors eager to fight for new territories and spoils. Because Osman proved to be a highly successful commander, these warriors flocked to his banner, and he united them into a formidable conquering army.
Osman's son, Orhan, captured the major city of Bursa in 1326 and made it the capital. He did more than just conquer; he established an organized government, minted coins in his own name, and laid the foundations of a professional army. In 1354, the Ottomans seized the ruined fortress of Gallipoli following an earthquake, marking their historic crossing of the narrow sea into Europe. This foothold in the Balkans (southeastern Europe) opened up an entirely new world of conquest, allowing the Ottomans to push deep into a Christian world that was constantly divided and fighting among itself.
Under Sultan Murad I—'Sultan' meaning the supreme ruler—the Ottomans won a major victory at the Maritsa River in 1371, scattering an alliance of Serbian lords and throwing the Balkans wide open. The most famous clash came in 1389 at the Battle of Kosovo, where Murad faced a massive Serbian-led alliance under Prince Lazar. The battle was so fierce that both Murad and Lazar lost their lives. According to legend, a Serbian knight named Miloš Obilić pretended to surrender, slipped into the Sultan's tent, and stabbed him. Despite the bloody toll, the battle broke Serbian power and made the Ottomans the masters of the Balkans. A key to Murad's success was the Janissaries, an elite infantry corps formed by conscripting boys at a young age and strictly training them to be loyal only to the Sultan.
Murad's son, Bayezid I, moved so swiftly in battle that he earned the nickname 'Yıldırım', meaning 'the Thunderbolt'. Alarmed by the rapid Ottoman advance, the Pope and European kings raised a massive crusade to stop him. In 1396, a huge army of Christian knights, including Hungarians and French, advanced on Nicopolis along the Danube River. Overconfident and heavily armored, the French knights charged uphill alone without waiting for their allies, exhausting their horses. They were soon surrounded and captured by Bayezid's disciplined troops. This 'last great crusade' ended in utter disaster, and it seemed nothing could stop the Ottomans from taking Constantinople next.
However, the Ottomans then met a far more formidable opponent, not from Europe, but from the east: Timur (also known as Tamerlane), a conqueror from Central Asia who had built a vast empire. In 1402, the two massive armies clashed at the Battle of Ankara. Timur had superior numbers, and during the fight, many of Bayezid's Anatolian soldiers defected to their former local lords who were fighting for Timur. Bayezid's army collapsed, and the Sultan himself was captured—the only Ottoman ruler ever taken prisoner in battle—and he died while in captivity. During the ensuing 'Interregnum', a chaotic period where Bayezid's sons fought over the throne, the empire nearly shattered completely. Yet the Ottoman state survived, reuniting within decades to become stronger than ever, until Sultan Mehmed II finally conquered Constantinople in 1453, fulfilling the grand dream of his ancestors.
