Sultan Murad I (1326-1389) was the third Ottoman Sultan. In Ottoman sources, his full name is mentioned as Murad-ı Hüdavendigar, where "Hüdavendigar" means lord or ruler. His father was Orhan Gazi, and his mother was Nilüfer Hatun. Born in Bursa in 1326, Sultan Murad's first act upon ascending the throne in 1362 after his father's death was to launch a campaign in the Balkans.
Actually, Sultan Murad had effectively ruled for three years before formally taking the throne. This was because his father Orhan Gazi had been ill for about three years, during which Murad took over the governance. During Sultan Murad's reign, Edirne was captured in 1361, and Southern Bulgaria and Thrace were conquered. Following these conquests, there was an uprising in the Christian world, and the Pope declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
He achieved victory against the Serbians in the Battle of Çirmen in 1371. In the same year, Karabiga was captured. After these successes in the Balkans, the ancient states of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Byzantium entered into agreements recognizing the Ottoman state as a legitimate entity and accepting its suzerainty.
In 1373, while Sultan Murad was on a campaign against the Çandaroğlu principality, he left his 14-year-old son Savcı Bey as his heir. With the help of Byzantium, Prince Savcı declared his empire in Rumelia and had Friday prayers performed in his name while his father was away on a campaign.
Upon hearing this news, Sultan Murad was furious. He immediately crossed into Rumelia with his army and defeated the mixed army of Savcı and Byzantine soldiers at the Apikridium location. Although Savcı Bey fled to Dimetoka, he was captured, and Sultan Murad had his son's eyes gouged out. However, his anger did not subside, and he later had him drowned in Bursa.
In 1386, when his son-in-law Karamanoğlu Alâeddin Bey attacked Beyşehir, Sultan Murad embarked on a major campaign to Konya. He captured the region but, at his daughter's request, he pardoned his son-in-law.
During the reign of Murad I, the Germiyan and Hamideli principalities were annexed. The important cities in Northern Greece, such as Serres, were conquered during his time. In 1385, Sofia and Niš were captured, and then the Serbs became vassals of the Ottoman Empire, paying a certain tax in return for protection. In 1387, Sultan Murad captured Thessaloniki, and later turned his attention to Northern Bulgaria. However, the destruction of Ottoman raiders in Bosnia led to renewed hopes among Balkan states of freeing themselves from Ottoman rule.
Sultan Murad I's Death
Sultan Murad I was martyred at the age of 62 during the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, where the Ottoman army defeated the enemy. He was assassinated by a Serbian noble named Miloš Obilić, who launched a dagger attack on the battlefield. According to most sources, Treacherous Miloš Obilić approached Sultan Murad on the battlefield, expressing his desire to convert to Islam and kiss the Sultan's hand. Sultan Murad accepted, and suddenly, Miloš approached him and, with a hidden dagger, martyred Sultan Murad. He was immediately executed by the Sultan's close guards.
The mosque he commissioned in Bursa before setting out on the campaign is known as the "Martyrdom Mosque" among the people. Sultan Murad has two tombs: one is located in Kosovo (where his internal organs were buried), and the other is next to the mosque he built in the Çekirge district of Bursa.
One of the significant events of Murad I's reign was the establishment of the Janissary Corps and the implementation of the devshirme system. It can be said that during the time of Sultan Murad I, the Ottoman Beylik acquired the characteristics of a state.
In Western sources, his name is mentioned as Amourad, and Sultan Murad I expanded the Ottoman territory from the initial 95,000 square kilometers he inherited to a vast 500,000 square kilometers.
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