Five Sultans

Prologue: Mehmet I (-1421)

"Father?"

Mehmet the First, Sultan of the Ottoman Turks, was gazing out a window at Bursa, the capital.

"Father, I have arrived." Murad cleared his throat self-consciously.

"I know that," snapped the Sultan. He turned and faced his son. "Before you are ready to replace me, you must learn the finer points of ruling an empire." Murad grinned and the Sultan sighed. "Don't think I can't see how you lust for my power. It sickens me. Not the emotion itself - I was no better than you in my youth - but in how little it takes to spark that interest in you."

He waved away his son's protests.

"Our ancestors claimed this fertile land for their own...but in my time I have only grown dissent. I am no fool. Regardless of what the chiurgions say I know my end is near, so I look back on my reign and remember, so that you, my son, can have the benefit of my wisdom."

"General Hamza tells me he has put down the last of the revolts in my lands...but he lies, for all Anatolia should be mine. THAT would be a mighty empire - not this remnant you crave so badly."

"Yet you have much to desire, too. Lands stretching from the Balkans to Sivas, broken only by our former vassals, the Romans. A treasury near to bursting, and a mighty army to squander that silver with. Relative peace and stability, a luxury I have rarely had. We are known as far west as Fez, as far south as Numidia, as far north as the Kalmar Union and as far east as Isfahan - the successors of our hated enemy, Timur. We yet maintain four Christian vassals in the west, though their tribute is poor. Time and weakness have rid us of any fear on the part of our enemies, and we can start anew with a clean slate. Only our immediate neighbours hate us. I leave you all those things, and, most importantly, a claim on the whole Seljuk Sultanate of Rum. They will all be yours - someday. I am not yet finished - not yet, not this day, although I cannot say if I will see the sunrise. I will not let myself die."

"For I have work to do."

Mehmet I: History

Mehmet's rule was dogged by unrest and civil war. The ruler was a capable but overwhelmed man who nevertheless brought order out of chaos and formed a loyal household guard, amassed a fortune, and then raised a huge army - five times larger than the state could support comfortably.

"You cannot remember the glory of the Seljuks and so I must use force. You curse me now, but generations will praise me for what I must do."

"After raising the forces, my first act was to burn a third of the fleet. They were an unnecessary burden on the royal treasury, and it will force my successors to seek new territories at hand rather than go adventuring far from home. I told the exchequer to spend no more dinars on such frivolity, and he promised to curtail all spending on the sea. In such a way I alienated some of the lords and created some unrest. So be it - the army I have nurtured will keep them in line if it must."

"The subject people of the Balkans have no love for us. Those Greeks, Slavs and Romanians will be the death of us yet - and we have no claim on the lands beyond. To the west lies only infidels and heretics who will soon see the will of Allah. In the meantime, I have told the governors to tolerate their faith as much as possible. In the east, another subject people are to be found: the Kurds. Impossible to think such lowly folk once brought forth the greatness of Saladin! Yet here is an opportunity - if I honor their lords with Turkish titles, they will pledge loyalty to me. My years of strife have taught me not to take such trifles lightly - for trifles they are to the Sultan, but dear they are to the people. Very well - and a bargain! The kurds shall henceforth be part of our empire."

"Then I turned my gaze to the Turks. Those traitors - I shall take great pleasure in seeing them humbled before me! They were afraid of me and had created an alliance against me - a good strategy if they had the mettle, but I suspected they did not. Pulling troops out of the Balkans, I invaded the Karamans. Only Candar came to their aid - my gamble paid off, and their alliance was broken!"

The Anatolian War (1419-21)

Two armies of Janissaries and Timiariot cavalry converged in Konya, where they were met by the single, smaller army of the Karamans. While the Karamans were able to use the terrain to their advantage, they were simply overwhelmed with the arrival of the second army, leaving Karaman undefended. In the north, a similar but smaller battle waged several days longer in Candar, but with ultimately the same result.

With the victory, the fight seemed to go out of the allies. The Sultan was able to convince Teke to join the Ottoman forces, preventing the alliance from re-forming.

Candar fell to Imperial forces in April. The Sultan proved to be magnamious and allowed them to merely pay a tithe and renew their oaths of fealty, hoping that an act of mercy would convince the others to stay in line. The Karamans followed in June. The Ottomans took half their lands but, in a burst of cunning, decided to let Teke prove its loyalty by finishing them off. The Sultan planned to have the ruler of Teke assassinated, then send forces in to 'protect' the Turks living there, leaving his hands clean.

Dulkadir was the logical next step, and the Ottomans boldly invaded after the fall of Karaman. In Dulkadir, General Hamza proved disappointing. The mountains of Dulkadir were too much for the men, and the Ottomans faced two bloody defeats before sheer numbers alone brought down the army of Dulkadir.

"I fear lord Hamza needs some...encouragement. Luckily for me, my advisors have noticed a brilliant young man in this year's janissaries - a young Albanian noble named Alexander. Of course, he needs a proper Turkish name - Iksander is the obvious choice. I shall promote him and make him my general. But irritatingly, corruption has once again reared its ugly head and I have been forced to turn my attentions elsewhere. Now, to deal with Dulkadir..."

Sadly, the Ottoman sultan passed away before the end of the war. He had almost achieved his dream of re-creating Seljuk Rum and asserting Ottoman hegemony over the Anatolian Turks, yet his war had also cost the state a fortune and killed thousands of men on both sides. His would be a mixed legacy - or a good start to a legend.

Originally posted by Craig Ashley
Nice idea. I have found out just how daunting a 400 year AAR can be. Limiting it to about 100 years will leave you with a greater amount of options. Plus you get some fantastic leaders and monarchs to play with. Let us know how it turns out.

Click to expand...

Thanks! Yes, I've noticed that the longer the game runs, the more things get out of whack and the fewer events fire. I wanted to keep it short enough to be writable yet long enough to be interesting. And of course, there had to be a challenge - the Ottomans hold all the cards, so you have to find something that's difficult. A time AND reputation limit should be challenging!

Originally posted by Oleg
This could prove to be very interesting indeed, the Ottomans are one of my favorite nations.

I´ll be reading.

Click to expand...

Glad to hear it. The Ottomans are one of my favorites as well.

Originally posted by Stroph1
The Christians of SE Europe had watched with fear the spead of the Sultans. When they had been defeated by Timur, the Western world had breathed a sigh of relief. Now, with the Turks seemingly reemerging, the West trembled....

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thank you. A very poetic reply...perhaps I should be reading, and you should be writing this...

Interlude: Murad II

The Front
Near Belgrade
December 5, 1440

"Lord Hamza, the Huns are moving."

Hamza Bey looked up from his maps. "Damn it!" he cried. "Where is that man?"

The king knew how he felt about Iksander. The Albanian-born prince could never forget his home. He would betray them all! Iksander, for his part, had hotly replied that the general never forgot how Iksander had been a Janissary. The general was upset at having a social equal that he couldn't accept. The king had heard them argue until they turned blue in the face, yet in the end, it had changed nothing.

And now, while the king was away to the East, he had left Hamza in charge of the war - but given Iksander second place.

Hamza snarled and left the maps for his subordinates to clean up. "We shall engage them without lord Alexander," he said. "If Allah is with us, we will win." The subordinate saluted smartly, but Hamza could have cared less. Now that battle was imminent, the only thing on his mind was winning.

The city of Belgrade lay 20 miles to the north, occupied by the Huns before the Ottoman advance. General Hamza could see a thin column of smoke rising in the distance. Further south, Iksander's forces were to have taken Kosovo from the traitorous Serbs and sent aid to the battle - but there was still no sign of them.

As the Christian army appeared in the distance, Hamza mentally compared the armies.

He had some 10,000 Janissaries, the professional infantry raised from the children of Christians sent as tribute to the Sultan. Raised in the True Faith, they were fanatically loyal troops. They were armed with bows and guns and waiting behind a line of wagons chained together for defense. To the flanks were 2,000 Timiarot cavalry, nobles raised through the feudal system. The horses were arranged forward of the main line, curving forward to give the whole a vaguely crescent-shaped appearance. Waiting in ambush near Hamza himself were another 2,000 Spahi warriors - elite household cavalry and the true backbone of an Ottoman army. Besides all these, he had 10,000 irregulars screening his position, scouting the area and drawing the Huns into a frontal attack. Once they became disordered in the wake of the Janissaries fire the Spahi would charge and it would be all over.

Against the Turks were an army of Huns, having left their allies, the Bosnians, to defend the city. 20,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry were lining up before the Ottoman armies. Lord Hamza knew they were led by a great leader, Janos Hunyadi, but he had never before tested him in battle. Time would tell which was the better commander. The forces were equally matched. Iksander's forces would have been decisive - but Hamza could not count on them any longer.

The battle began.

The Huns refused to be drawn into an Ottoman trap. They began moving slowly, carefully, trying to outflank the Turks on the left. Hamza was forced to move his lines, grimly realizing his Spahi were now out of position. There was no way he could get a message to the Spahi in time to make a difference, but he sent one anyway.

The Hungarian cavalry began a slow, loping run around the left. What were they doing? Hamza realized his formation was now a liability and sounded the drums to charge. His men dutifully raised a yell and began advancing, leaving behind the cover of their positions. As if it were a signal, the Huns began closing as well.

Small clouds of smoke appeared on the battlefield as the infantry began taking shots at each other. In the distance, a faint clash of arms could be heard. The Hungarian horse had circled around and was facing a smaller Turkish cavalry, circling each other - but the Ottoman commander lost his nerve and withdrew. Curse him! Hamza called for the Spahi to charge, knowing he could not afford to lose his right flank so soon. On the left, his cavalry was holding its position against Hunnish soldiers - they had thinned their ranks to cover the whole line on the center-left. One good charge could break through in the middle, there...if Hamza had had any reserves to throw at him.

Then the sound of distant horns sounded! Hamza smiled even before the messenger reached him.

"General! Lord Iksander arrives, with half his army!" Some 8,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, then. If only they could arrive in time. Hamza began barking orders - now, he was fighting to hold on, not to win. All assuming Iksander wasn't about to betray them, of course.

The Turks grimly held on, but the fighting was terrible. Distant screams had long before joined the echoes of metal and the tiny, almost meaningless pops of firearms. On the right, the Spahi had engaged the Hun's horses, but without effect. His center was slowly losing ground to cover the right, and the Hun was advancing on him. Hamza cursed.

Iksander's forces were coming from Hamza's left - Hamza cursed the Hungarian commander's luck and commanded his cavalry on the left to withdraw to give the Albanian general's troops their opportunity. But even as he did it, he knew the Janissaries would be demoralized by the action.

The second Ottoman army smashed into the Hunnish left, but it was too late, too late...Hamza's forces were in disarray, panicking. They could still win! Hamza clenched his teeth and shook his head. No, they couldn't.

Hamza called the retreat, and Iksander screened his forces, protecting them from pursuit until they themselves had to withdraw. So Iksander was no traitor after all. It didn't matter any longer, did it? A fine start to the war...a fine start. If they could not take Belgrade, then the war would be fought on the Hun's terms - and they would lose.

Defeat was a bitter tonic.

Hours later, Hamza rode out to meet his second. "Lord Iksander," he said, nodding his head.

"Lord Hamza," replied the Albanian. "How are your forces?"

Hamza shrugged. "I lost over six thousand - mostly Janissaries and irregulars. The cavalry, curse them, took almost no losses. Like your troops, I see."

Iksander nodded. "Then we have won."

Hamza snorted angrily. "Explain yourself!" he barked.

Iksander drew Hamza over to his command. "The Huns lost eight thousand, by my reports," he said. "'Give me a few more victories like this, and I shall lose Italy.'"

"Pyrrhus," said Hamza thoughtfully.

Iksander grinned. "My scouts report the Huns are quitting Serbia."

"What?" asked Hamza, stunned. Surely he had heard wrong...

"We have won. The Huns need rest and reinforcements, and are moving back to Budapest. We can push forward and take Belgrade - and then all of Hungary will be open to us."

Hamza smiled. Yes...it was possible. Just barely possible.

"We'll have to invent a name for this kind of victory," said Iksander thoughtfully. "'Pyrrhic' won't do. How about 'Hamzic'?"

Lord Hamza looked at the younger general. "Allah is with us," he said carefully. "We should take no credit for what we were given by God's grace."

"I prefer to think that God was not with them, my lord general," said Iksander, head bowed respectfully.

Now Hamza grinned. He slapped Iksander on the back and laughed. "By Allah! Give me a dozen like you and I'll take all of Europe!"

First Sultan: Murad II (1421-1451)

"Look at what revenge has cost us: unrest, debt and thousands of dead. The east holds only more graves; our destiny lies in the west."

Murad I ascended the throne in 1421. He proved to be an able monarch, skilled in war, diplomacy and in the many duties of a ruler. It was fortunate for the Ottomans that this was so, for he inherited a land with serious difficulties. The internecine strife in the east had disturbed many of the empire's muslims and given hope to the Christians living in the west. And despite two years of war, the gains in the east were slight: one province was added to the empire, while four Turkish princes pledged fealty to the Sultan.

The Ottoman habit of never acknowledging a ruler as an equal led to serious problems with neighbors - both Christian and Muslim found this attitude intolerable, where they might have been allies otherwise. Murad was careful not to make any terrible enemies, but he could not help but become the object of hatred in the west, and in 1421 and 1440 he faced wars that would entangle the Ottomans with the west. Despite his focus on Europe, it is interesting to note that his greatest achievements were in the muslim east...

"Once again I had been left to clean up father's messes. The empire was in such a state that it would take years to recover. The minimal gains in the east were balanced by a shrinking treasury and a chewed-up army. No, the east held no gains for me. Even before I was crowned, I decided to turn away from the east after Dulkadir fell."

"Teke had proven to be wary of my father's schemes, for the little Turks had not so much as taken a step outside their own borders. I knew then that I should be careful in my dealings with them. Nevertheless, without their help Imperial forces took Dulkadir in the first year of my reign, bringing them into the fold as vassals and leaving the Ottomans the undisputed masters of Anatolia - such as it was. Our lands were poor and our armies large. Even with the increased tribute, the armies were still draining my treasury. But I felt that without their protection, my enemies would soon strike."

"Among other things, my father had neglected trade. After I convinced the Beys to allow it, trade began with the Venetians. I did not trust them, but their coin was as good as mine to a soldier - and I had many of them to pay."

"Indeed, building the armies back to strength seemed both impossible and impractical - we could not continue to pay such a ravenous monster forever. Heeding the problem, I passed new laws and imposed a regular system of tax collection in each of my provinces. The people would be unhappy, but Anatolia would regain somewhat of her former riches - in time. At the time my treasury was bare, so I turned my attention to the west, to see what prizes I could find. I thought of bringing the Greeks into my empire, but all thoughts and plans ceased when I saw what was happening."

"I was astounded! Before my very eyes, I witnessed the surrender of Albania - my own vassal - to the treacherous Romans. With their allies, the Greeks, they had united Greece under them, leaving only the Venetians...and the Ottoman territory of Macedonia as their next likely target. I was livid. The Albanians had surrendered to my enemies rather than stay as my vassals. My enemies had struck while my father's attention was elsewhere. And rather than divided and weak, my enemies were building their forces against me."

"So. War it would be. Against a heathen, my nobles did not so much as raise a word against the idea, so I was able to declare war without a fuss. Nevertheless, I made sure to secure the east by agreeing to a Georgian treaty concerning the northern border. And in spring of the second year of my reign my generals began their campaign."

"In an ironic twist of fate, I sent Iksander to reconquer his homeland of Albania, while lord Hamza took Constantinople and I dealt with the Greeks. Unlike my father, I rode with my army - it cheered the men and served as a valuable lesson in the horrors of war."

"Despite their co-operation in my father's reign, Morea and Rome fought separate wars, neither one turning to the aid of the other. Soon General Hamza took Constantinople and the Greeks sued for peace. I demanded the return of Albania and the cession of Hellas and was rewarded by their capitulation. But before I could congratulate myself, Teke - my so-called ally - embroiled itself in a war with Cyprus. I joined them, frustrated at the timing - and immediately, marvellous news reached me! The prince of Teke had been assassinated - surely not by my father's agents? - and his feuding nobles had handed the country to me, their ally with an old claim on their lands, rather than try to claim it for themselves. All that remained was to deal with Cyprus and it's ally - Rome."

"It was a sign from Allah. Rome was meant to be mine."

Murad II

"On September 5th, 1424, the Roman Emperor surrendered the city to my forces and the Roman Empire fell."

"This event - recorded by so many historians already - brought up many questions for me. The first was what to do with the city. It had been great, once, long before my time. I could make it great again...and I would. It was nearly a ghost town, but I sent a hundred thousand loyal Turks and made it a great city to rival Alexandria or Baghdad. Yes - a great and terrible dream. The Ottomans have a history of moving their headquarters as better prospects come along - first Sogut, then Eskihir, then Bursa, and then...Constantinople! I decided to move the court there, and made the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. My people, having suffered from the wars, now cheered my name."

"Another, thornier problem was what to do with the Patriarch. Though a muslim myself, well did I know that not all my subjects shared the same beliefs. The Christians in our lands owed fealty to the Patriarch of Constantinople - and my advisors whispered that we could use that man as our puppet to control them. I thought that to be a grand idea - but I resisted the urge to replace the man with my own candidate. The Patriarch seemed almost too happy to agree, and the surprised slavs refrained from holy war. I would have peace, it seemed - the peace and stability I yearned for. But my coffers were completely bare."

"That brought up the next issue - the economic agreements we had with Genoa and Venice. Those Italian traders had been supporting my father and myself to regain control of Rum, and in return, we had promised to let them keep control of trade in the Black Sea. But I felt unconstrained by a promise my father had made to a Christian. They had taken our wares long enough! I controlled one of the gateways to India, and I would use it! Their bribes were enormous, though...and the treasury was bare. I spent sleepless nights pondering the future - and in the end, it was the future that made my decision for me. It it would not be so profitable for them, the Italians would never have offered such a large bribe. I trusted their banker's sensibilities even as I did not trust their promises. I closed the Black Sea to them, closed my ears to their squacks of indignation and swept their colonies into my hand."

"To my consternation, while I was busy with these questions, I heard that Trebizond - a little strip of land to the north - had proclaimed itself the new Roman Empire, with a claim on our lands! Their land had been separated from Greece generations ago, and after the crusaders took Constantinople they declared themselves the true heirs of Constantine. The more fools they, for they were weak...but they had powerful allies, the Ak Koyunlu - the perennial thorn in our side."

"The Ak Koyunlu were a tribe of Turks that had sided with Timur when his forces attacked my forefathers. When Timur died, the 'black sheep' turned on his successors and carved out an empire for themselves with rich lands and strange bedfellows: Kurds, Greeks and Armenians. Looking at history, I realized the chance of the black sheep staying out of a conflict were slim, and I began preparing forces in the east."

"At last, after months, we enumerated the discoveries of Constantinople. The city had more secrets than people! Vast riches were mine...riches beyond belief, and not a moment too soon! Already my advisors were suggesting 'just a little loan' from a noble house here or there...as if I did not owe enough to the aristocrats. But Constantinople was not only the answer to my prayers, it had more: a treasure trove of information. Maps, schematics, and manuals of the Greeks. Treatises on mathematics and philosophy, a great library bigger than my palace, cowed scholars that remained behind. Some of it was clearly blasphemous, while others were strange and terrifying, and others seem to be but stories. I wondered...I remember greek fire and remember what the Byzantines had done to our navies and thought of taking that power for mine own. It was a heady idea."

"My advisors counselled me against it, seeing such gifts as things of Shaitan - tainted and corrupted things that would make us less a nation of holy warriors like my distinguished ancestor Osman, more like the bean-counter Italians. I myself was a man of the world, not of philosophy, and I welcomed anything that would win me wars. I sent my scholars into Constantinople and put out a bounty to my men for any books or strange devices from the sack of the city. My exchequer grumbled at the expense and grumbled more when I would not let him sell off some valuable prizes, but it was only half-hearted, for he had a treasury larger than my father had ever amassed - and with considerably less trouble."

"Yet something nagged at me. I couldn't help but feel that other muslims would have chosen differently...as if I had just taken a giant leap away from the muslim world. But what did I know? By the time I write this, I had been to other muslim countries and met their dignitaries, and they were no different from my people. My fears had no doubt been unfounded. If only I could have put my finger on what had changed...but at the time, I had no time to ponder life. I had more pressing matters."

"My fears had come true and we were under attack in the east! In the west, my so-called vassals took advantage of the chaos to throw off my yoke. Their time would come...if I survived the coming months. For the war did not begin auspiciously. I had prepared a large force along our eastern border, but no sooner did Trebizond declare war on us then the Ak Koynlu attacked, scattering our forces and forcing a retreat."

"After reinforcements arrived, I sent my entire forces against theirs. The Ottoman armies advanced while theirs charged. The Spahi spun and charged and the black sheep line folded in on itself. A swift victory, followed by pursuit into the heart of Kurdistan and Trebizond. I tasted victory, yet knew the war would drag on for months. I was raising troops constantly and I could not help but feel naked, for my reserves in Europe, even the capital, had been stripped to fight the war. When a chance came, I made peace with Cyprus - one fewer thing for my overstretched forces to deal with. News came back to me constantly of a loss here, a failure there, but my forces ultimately held the advantage."

"In the midst of this, the priests came to me and told me of an idea - a new office in my council, an office devoted to ensuring the government never strays far from the Koran. They had silky voices and promised it would ensure the support of the people - even if I raised taxes to pay for the war. My advisors urged me to accept, but I found myself suspicious. I could not trust people that had chosen such a...convenient time for their ideas. And I wondered why their aid came with a price. I turned down their plea - and found myself face-to-face with the high priest."

'You will have cause to regret this,' he said seriously.

'Is that a threat?' I asked him, glowering dangerously.

'No, great Sultan. It is a prophecy,' he replied.

'I do not like your tone,' I told him. 'Go, and never return to my court.' And he did.

"And so I considered that the end of it. But time would tell how wrong I was."

Murad II

"By winter of the sixth year of my reign, offers of treaty had reached me, but the chance was too good for me not to take, so I refused, fighting to the bitter end - theirs, of course. The Ak Koyunlu offered me 800 dinars - eight hundred! - if I would call back my armies. What fool did they take me for? They could not have that much in their entire tribe! I demanded their complete submission, instead, and after much bickering, they gave me most of what I demanded. They ceded their Turkish lands to me, and the gold mines of Armenia, and promised to be my loyal vassals. Westwards, I gave no such leniency to the so-called 'Romans'. I had the 'emperor' thrown out a window and sent a governor to occupy the palace, with none of the pomp or parade I had shown in Constantinople. The Greeks fled Trebizond, leaving it wholly Turkish. Life was good."

"All this had made the great powers - the Mameluks, Hungary, the Timurids - a little nervous, and more than a little angry. My forces were in disarray and my treasury shrunk - again - so I spent the next several years spending the riches of Constantinople to good effect - fostering better relations with my neighbors, imposing taxes and laws on the new additions, encouraging trade and raising new forces to protect the western provinces."

"One would think that peace would bring stability, and one would be wrong. Completely wrong, in fact. Peace brought out all the tensions in the empire, it seemed. The Turks of Nuyssaybin were heretics. They suffered from a strange disease that turned them away from the One True Faith, although they called themselves muslims. It was causing problems between them and my governors, while yet another Orthodox province in Armenia was bringing more Christians into a nominally muslim nation. The situation could not continue without bloodshed, so I showed leniency to the high priest and recalled him to the capital. The heretics in Nuyssaybin, the Christians in our lands, they were vermin, I explained, vermin that ate away at the seeds I would plant in the fertile soil to grow a great empire. I was quite proud of myself for thinking of that metaphor. And after my great victories I met defeat."

"The high priest told me that his hands were tied, for my reforms had taken the teeth from his mosques. Not only were missionaries in short supply but inquisitions were seen in a bad light by the people, who were turning away from Islam in droves! I imagined a smile when he spoke, but he truly seemed to be sad - as if he loved his country like a son, and saw that son doing something truly stupid. It infuriated me, and I ordered his execution, calling on his successors to please me. Yet one after another, they refused, or proved incompetent, until I was forced to realize I had planted the seeds of my own defeat. Gnashing my teeth, I vowed to recant and come back to the arms of the church, and the high priest agreed to help me as much as he could - which was to prove just barely enough. But my humiliation was both public and prolonged. It would take me until now, the end of my reign, to make amends for what I had done. No empire can survive if its people are not at peace with themselves - look at Timur's sons."

"In the tenth year of my reign, assassins took the life of my favorite at court. The next time could be me. I increased the size of the Imperial forces around the capital again and concentrated on bringing my vassals under my control. By the fourteenth year of my reign I had convinced Candar to join me in return for concessions. I had also, at great expense, converted the heathens in Nuyssaybin and the Christians in Macedonia to the faith. To reward the Greek muslims, I opened the first college of art there four years later, although it drained my coffers sorely."

"Around this time, my Turkish vassals began feuding amongst themselves. This could not end well! The Karamans slyly asked me to honor my alliance with them and forced me to choose between them and Dulkadir. I was forced to dishonor the alliance I myself had forged, lest I break my vassalage and show the world what a terrible ruler I was! The Karamans shrugged it off and went on to absorb Dulkadir, bringing down all my dreams of bringing them into the empire that year. But my attention was suddenly dragged away from my vassals in 1440."

The Crusade (1440-43)

1440 was the year of the crusade. The Turks were taken by surprise, for the last crusade was long since over. But the king of the Huns had seized the moment and called for war! Days later, word reached the Turks that Serbia, its only loyal Christian vassal, had joined the crusade against them. That mystery explained itself in time: the Huns had laid siege to Belgrade, building a route to reach Ottoman lands. The Sultan was away in Nuyssaybin overseeing the conversion, so Iksander and Hamza Bey had to deal with the threat in the west.

The war opened in December, when Ottoman forces entered Serbia to take back our wayward vassal and strike preemptively at the Huns. Although Hamza Bey had the advantage of numbers, he lost the battle against the Hun's king. The Huns were hurt badly enough to force them to withdraw, however, and by the following winter Serbia had surrendered to my forces. The first year was the longest. The Huns could and did strike at our armies through nominally neutral Bosnia, and I could not afford to open the war to another front or anger Bosnia's powerful allies. The cost of raising armies had brought the treasury to new lows and a general war tax was brought into effect. That caused dissent in the east, leaving the Sultan increasingly busy far from the front.

The second year of the war fared better. Ottoman sorties into southern Hungary resulted in the Huns striking a defensive posture and, more importantly, an unlikely ally entered the war: Poland. Along with its allies Bohemia and Moldavia, the Poles occupied northern Hungary, forcing the Huns into a two-front war. With their attention elsewhere and Ottoman reinforcements arriving in numbers, Generals Iksander and Hamza pushed the front lines all the way to Presburg, where the Huns had rallied and gathered their remaining forces.

The Battle of Presburg (July 1, 1443)

Iskander Bey led the attack with a scant 6,000 janissaries and 2,000 timiariots. The Ottoman forces had been stretched thin to cover Hungary and his army was the only one available. He faced an army twice his size - 13,000 infantry and 3,500 cavalry awaited his forces, but the king was elsewhere and Iksander was able to use his tactical genius to good effect, trapping the Huns into a frontal attack then flanking their fleeing forces. A great Ottoman victory ended with only 2,500 dead on the Ottoman side, versus over 6,000 for the Huns.

The battle of Presburg dealt the final blow to the Huns and forced them to seek peace with the Turks. But despite the scope of the victory, the war was a calamity for the Turks. Lacking a claim on Hungary and wary of the Catholics after dealing with the Shias, the sultan forbade his generals to demand territory, and in late summer 1443 the Turkish general accepted peace for 600 dinars - a princely sum, but less than the cost of the war. The only visible gain was Kosovo, a small and Christian province

The victory celebrations were to last only a year before war broke out once again.

The Kurdish War (1444-45)

Ak Koyunlu, having been cast down by the Ottomans, now survived as their vassal. But despite its new ties, its old ties had not been expurged. The feud between the black sheep and their cousins, the white sheep, would continue to play a role in the region for years to come.

After the Ottoman victory over the Kurds (1427), the Qara Koyunlu decided to take advantage of their old enemies' weakness. They began raiding Kurdistan from their bases in Azerbaijan and expanded their lands into Daghestan to the north, encircling the Kurds. By the 40s, their raids were becoming intolerable and tensions flared between the old rivals. In the spring of 1444 the Qara Koyunlu declared war on Ak Koyunlu. Ak Koyunlu called upon its liege, the Ottoman Sultan, to protect the black sheep as he had promised. While not expecting war, the Sultan agreed to fight and sent troops into Kurdistan. Seeing the tide changing against them, the Qara Koyunlu called upon their own allies, the Mameluks. And so began the Kurdish War.

The small and poorly equipped Kurdish armies were to play a negligible role in the war, although they lent their name to the conflict. Instead, Ottoman armies led by Sultan Murad II were to force their way into Azerbaijan and Aleppo.

The war opened in June when Ottoman forces met Mameluks on the plains of Aleppo. Although the entry of the Mameluks had been an unwelcome surprise to the Sultan, he was a proponent of striking first and quickly changed his plans, sending half his army south as a holding action while he himself led the charge against the white sheep.

"If a farmer hears of war, he will gladly send his sons to fight and die. But let him see war - one tiny, trailing cloud of smoke - and he will pack them up and flee with all force at his command. No, if we have to bleed and die, let it be on their lands."

On June 2, 1444, the Mameluks and Ottomans clashed at Aleppo. On one side were 14,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry in the Army of Anatolia, while on the other side were 16,000 infantry in the Syrian army of Egypt. The bulk of the Mameluk armies were in Africa dealing with their new conquests in Tunis and Nubia; the Sultan realized that he would have only a short window of opportunity to take Syria before Mameluk forces rallied. \

With both a numerical and tactical superiority, the Ottomans were expecting victory, but they were surprised by the scope of it. By the time the dust had settled, only four thousand Mameluks had fled alive, compared to only two thousand janissaries lost. The victory was the single greatest battle fought by Ottoman forces since their founding and cheered the soldiers to no end.