Standing on our Own
Winter, 1415
The Malik looks down out of the Antaylan mountains, and points his sword at the smoke on the horizon.
"We ride now, to take back our city. This is but a setback, and now we will show the world what we are made of."
The first matter of business at the dawn of 1415 was to strike down upon the pretenders to the throne. The chief led his forces back out of Antayla, and after a couple skirmishes, was finally able to surround the rebels and destroy them.
After securing the kingdom, the chief waited, observing reports from across the Aegean. The Byzantines were supporting a massive rebellion within the western Ottoman Empire, throwing our cousins into disarray. Deciding that this show of weakness was unacceptable, the chief chose to strike and ensure that Turkish lands would be properly protected.
A goal was set to conquer Bursa, protecting the strait from possible Byzantine incursion.
A siege was laid upon Bursa, and mercenaries were raised to attack Bithynia as well. However, at the siege of Bursa, the chief was struck down by an arrow. His son was too young to take the reins, so his lords would maintain the war in his name.
The siege was, of course, successful, as the Ottomans had no means to raise an army against us. Saruhan accepted a peace to take possession of Bursa (being careful to not lay claim to any borders with the Hordes to the east). With the north more secure now, the kingdom would wait for the young king to rise to take the head of the Saruhanoglu.
Finally, Ibrahim Saruhanoglu, the first of his name, achieved the age of manhood. His advisors were not optimistic regarding his prospects, but his younger brother Abdulhamid, was showing great promise with his book studies. Perhaps Ibrahim would be a useful tool in the meantime, at the least.
Ibrahim's first act as Malik was to turn his eyes south. His trading advisors suggested that establishing a naval fortress would be useful for later shipping. He promptly declared war upon the Knights of Rhodes, and at least one advisor lost his head after stating that such action was not what he was recommending.
Shortly after declaring the war, word was received that the English would come to the Knights' defense. The race was on...
Luckily for Saruhan, the invasion force was able to overcome Rhodes' defenses before the English navy was able to arrive at their shores. Punitive siege forces were landed, but the westerners departed accepting a payment in gold. It was significant, emptying the nation's coffers, but it was considered a profitable (and fortunate) exchange.
Shortly afterwards, word was received from much closer to the west: the Byzantine Empire sent a messenger formally declaring was upon the Saruhanoglu. Much of the nearby Muslim world had extended their protections to Saruhan, and most of them responded with their armies. This show of force and unity caused the Greeks to reconsider their war, and soon after a white peace was accepted (likely because the rebellions in the western Ottoman Empire finally resulted in some of the land defecting to them).
One nation was noticeably absent amongst those declaring their support for Saruhan during the brief standoff with the Greeks: the Ottoman Empire. Malik Ibrahim I was not pleased, and declared that in doing so, the Ottomans had forfeited any claims to holding domain over Anatolia. As such, he immediately turned the armies assembled to protect against the Byzantines to the north, vowing to eradicate the Ottomans from the land.
His advisors were able to convince him to moderate his demands. Rather than possibly overextending the nation, the Ottomans accepted that they no longer laid claim to, at least, the Saruhanoglu lands.
With the end of this very brief war, Saruhan had achieved one of its goals: it now stood on its own, with no claims upon its lands by the Ottoman Empire. One major threat, that of their Turkish cousins reconquering them, had been laid aside. With the Byzantines apparently content to build up their domains in Greece for the time being, the next goal would be clear: securing more of Turkey by taking the war to the Karamanli.
The state of Europe as of 1426