The Dying Ottoman Sultan of Damnation: Who was Yildirim Bayezid?

Yildirim Bayezid is an Ottoman ruler who took his place in our history as "the Sultan who died in captivity, in a cage, while he was the Sultan of the Land of Rûm and its Emperor". 

His life

He was born in 1354 as the grandson of Osman Gazi, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, and the son of Murad I. His mother was Gülçiçek Hatun. The name Bayezid means "Abu or Ebâ Yazid", meaning the father of Yazid. It is thought that the name was inspired by Bayezid-i Bistami, the piri of Mevlâna and Ibn al Arabi. The title Yıldırım was given to him because of the great courage he showed in the Battle of Frenk Yazısı against Karamanoğlu Alaeddin Bey in 1386 with his father Sultan Murad I. and his success in reaching everywhere. He used the title "Celâl-ed Dîn" during his sultanate.

In 1381, he married Sultan Hatun, the daughter of Süleyman Çelebi of Germiyanoğlu. Kütahya, Emet, Simav and Tavşanlı, which were given as dowry, became Ottoman property.

Administration Period

In June 1389, in Kosovo, under the command of his father Sultan Murad and as his right-hand man, he participated in the battle against the Serbs and their allies. This battle was crucial for the future of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. Led by the Serbian despot Lazar, the Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, Hungarian, Albanian, Polish and Czech forces suffered a decisive and heavy defeat at the end of the eight-hour battle. At the end of the battle, Sultan Murad was stabbed by a Serb who approached him saying that he was a Muslim. Sultan Murad willed Bayezid to succeed him. When he passed away, the state officials put Bayezid on the throne. Lazar was executed immediately. Bayezid's brother Yakup Çelebi was summoned by writing a letter from his father's mouth and was again strangled by the decision of the state authorities.

Bayezid, first of all. He made a treaty of allegiance with Stefan Lazarevic, the son of the Serbian despot Lazar, and married Lazarevic's sister Olivera (Maria Despina). Stefan would remain loyal to Bayezid until his death. Other allies were also forced to sign a dependency treaty with Bayezid.

Bayezid then moved to Anatolia and annexed Aydın, Saruhan, Menteşe, Hamid and Germiyan, together with the Emperor's son Manuel and Süleyman Bey, son of Çandar. By making an agreement with Karamanoğlu, he took a big step towards establishing unity in Anatolia. He sent his son Ertuğrul, the Sanjak Bey of Aydın Province, against Kadı Burhaneddin. In 1392, Ertuğrul was defeated in the battle at Çorum Kırkdilim and died in the battle.

In the winter of 1393-1394, he called the Balkan princes and the new Emperor Manuel II to a meeting in Serres. He put moral pressure on his vassals who came to the meeting in fear, unaware of each other, and reinforced their loyalty. Emperor Manuel expressed his fear in his letters.

Upon complaints of bribery against the Kadis, he locked about eighty Kadis in a house in Yenisehir and ordered them to be burned. No one dared to object, not even the Vizier Ali Pasha. Ali Pasha had one of his slaves appear before Bayezid in proper attire and tell him that he was going to Byzantium to ask for eighty monks. When Bayezid asked him what he was going to do, he said that he was going to replace the kadis who were to be burned in the court and obtained their pardon. The qadi's were paid a fair wage in accordance with their work. Oruç Bey described his state of mind very accurately in his History as "though he was a tiz-nefs person and illa germ-dil (angry), he was compassionate and forgiving".

On June 3, 1395, when he took Niğbolu, all of Bulgaria became Ottoman territory. This move caused a new Crusade. Bayezid returned to the siege of Istanbul, leaving Doğan Bey, his friend from his princedom, in Niğbolu. In 1396, when the Crusader Army besieged Niğbolu, he had to return to Niğbolu quickly. Niğbolu was completely besieged. With an unprecedented courage in history, he passed through the Crusader army alone in the middle of the night and came up to the castle walls. He called out to the castle, "Doğan, bre Doğan". Doğan Bey, who was controlling the Crusaders on the walls, responded and gave the order for the next day's attack, then returned to his headquarters as he had come. The next day's battle (September 25, 1396) was a complete rout for the Crusader Army. As a result of the victory name he sent, he was given the title of "Sultanu'l Iklimi'l Rum" by the Caliph. A Crusade could not be organized until the Battle of Varna in 1444. He built Bursa Ulucami, madrasah and darüşşifa with the spoils captured here. When Bayezid returned to the siege of Istanbul, the Emperor renewed his vassalage. After the Battle of Pasinler in 1043, the Seljuk Sultan Tugrul Beg had asked the Emperor to repair the mosque, which had been built during the Umayyad period and then dilapidated, to appoint an official to the mosque, to read a khutba in his name and to place the signs of "bow and arrow" on the mihrab. Bayezid similarly demanded the establishment of a Turkish quarter on the Anatolian side, the construction of a mosque and the appointment of officials. He then lifted the siege. 

In 1397, he had the Anatolian Fortress built. He marched on Alâeddin Bey, Karamanoğlu in Anatolia and killed him in Konya. Thus, the lands of Karamanids were also annexed to the Ottoman Empire. In 1398, places under the rule of Kadı Burhaneddin became Ottoman lands. He also captured Malatya, Elbistan, Beisni, Kâhta and Divriği which belonged to the Mamluks. However, this action caused him to lose the Mamluks, who should have been his greatest ally against Timur.

In 1399, when he returned to the siege of Constantinople, Emperor Manuel went to Europe to ask for help. However, he did not receive any help from the European states, which suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Niğbolu. While the Byzantine rulers were negotiating the terms of surrender, Bayezid was forced to lift the siege when he heard that Timur, "the scourge from the Steppe" as Ibn'i Arabşah called him, had entered Anatolia.

Bayezid claimed to be the heir of the Seljuks and the Roman Empire, while Timur claimed to be the heir of the Seljuks and the Ilkhanids. Against the Anatolian beys who fled from Bayezid and sought refuge with him, Bayezid patronized Timur's enemies, Sultan Ahmet Jalayir and Kara Yusuf. Mutual requests for asylum did not yield any results. The insults used in the letters were too harsh for the diplomatic language of the day. In fact, both of them were eager to fight each other. On July 28, 1402, Timur won the battle in Ankara Çubuk plain. Bayezid was captured.

His death

Although some sources say that Timur treated Bayezid well, it is certain that he was put in chains and caged. Timur did to Bayezid what Alparslan did to Roman Emperor Romanus Diogenes in 1071 and Saladin Ayyubi did to King Guy de Lusignan of Jerusalem in 1187.

Every day Timur would bring Bayezid to his presence in chains and mock him. One night he invited Bayezid to his table again in chains and had the prisoners and his wife Despina, the daughter of the Serbian King, serve him drinks, which infuriated Bayezid. Bayezid, who was a handful, unstoppable, "Sultan'ul Iklimi'l Rûm" who had the Roman Emperor and many Christian Kings under his command, could no longer endure living in a cage in chains. When he fell ill, Timur sent his physician and made the utmost effort in his treatment, but his efforts were not successful. He died on March 8, 1403 in Akşehir. There is not enough evidence for the claims that he committed suicide.

Conclusion

After the Battle of Ankara, Anatolian unity was broken, the state disintegrated and retreated to the borders of Murad I's time. Çelebi Mehmet reestablished the state thanks to the strong settlement and system in Rumelia. In line with the Prophet's words, "Herald good news, do not hate", the current hate speech should be abandoned and rival parties should stop accusing their opponents of treason.

References:

Mehmed Neşri, Neşrî Tarihi, Ankara, TTK, 1983.

Ibn Arabshah, Acâibu'l-makdûr Trouble from the Steppe, Cairo, 1868, 142.

Âşık paşazâde, Tarih, 64-68.

Mükrimin Halil Yinanç, "Bayezid I", IA, II, 369-392.

Halil İnalcık, "Bayezid I", TDVİA.

İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Ottoman History, I, Ankara, TTK: 2019.

Murat KEÇİŞ, "Sultan Yıldırım Bayezid and the Ottomans in the Letters of Manuel Palaiologos II", The Journal of Academic Social Science Studies, Volume 6 Issue 3, p. 301-320, March 2013.