OTHMAN,
or Osman, surnamed "the Conqueror," the
founder of the Ottoman empire, and of the present
reigning dynasty of Turkey, born in Bithynia in 1259,
died in 1326. He
is said to have been the son of Ertoghrul, the leader
of a horde of Turkmen who had entered the service of
the sultan of Rom or of Iconium.
Othman succeeded
his father in the command, and on the fall of the
Seljuk dynasty received part of the province of
Bithynia as his share in the division of the
sultanate. Immediately afterward he attacked the
Byzantine empire, leading his forces in Jnly, 1299,
through the unguarded passes of Mt. Olympus, and
conquering the territory of Nicasa. The 27 years of
Othman's reign were taken up with wars. He reduced
the province of Marmora in 1307, and subdued the
whole of Bithynia and neighboring provinces. Several
times he had been repulsed in attacks upon Nicomedia
(Ismid) and Prusa (Brusa); but the capture of the
latter place by his son Orkhan, the news of which
reached him on his deathbed, laid the foundation of
the Turkish empire. From him it is called the Ottoman
Porte; yet it is doubtful whether he ever assumed the
title of sultan, although he held a court at
Kara-Hissar, and coined money.
Othman,
after the death
of the last Alaeddin in 1307, waged wars and
accumulated dominions as an independent potentate. He
had become chief of his race twelve years before, on
Ertoghrul's death, in 1288. Othman, at his
succession, was twenty-four years of age, and was
already of proved skill as a leader, and of tried
prowess as a combatant. His early fortunes and
exploits are favorite subjects with the oriental
writers, especially his love adventures in wooing and
winning the fair Malkhatoon. These legends have
probably been colored by the poetical pens, that have
recorded them in later years; but it is less
improbable that they should be founded on fact, than
that no similar traditions should have been handed
down by the children and followers of so renowned a
chief, as the founder of the Ottoman Empire." Ertoghrul
father of the Ottoman Turks
See The Ottoman
Sultans
1281, Osman I Founds
the Ottoman Empire Reigned 1281 to c. 1326. -
(W. 3) ... 1301, Ottoman Sultan Osman
I victorious at Baphaeon. - (W. 3) ...