Mehmed II (Ottoman: محمد ثانى, romanized: Meḥemmed-i Sânî), known as Fatih Sultan Mehmed (Mehmed the Conqueror) or by his title Fatih (the Conqueror) (30 March 1432, Edirne – 3 May 1481, Gebze), was the 7th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He reigned first for a short period between 1444 and 1446, then for 30 years from 1451 until his death in 1481. On 29 May 1453 he conquered Istanbul and put an end to the roughly thousand-year-old Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. After the conquest he began to be called by the title "Fatih" (the Conqueror). This event is regarded by many experts as one of the historical events that brought about the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age.
Mehmed II was born on 30 March 1432 in Edirne. His father was the sixth Ottoman sultan Murad II, and his mother was Hüma Hatun. Prince Mehmed, whose education and upbringing were given great importance from an early age, was taught by the most eminent scholars of the era. When he reached the age of 11, he was appointed governor (sancakbeyi) of Manisa in order to gain administrative experience. He was extraordinarily well trained in the fields of philosophy, hadith, tafsir, fiqh, kalam, history, geometry, and mathematics. In 1444 Murad II handed over the throne to his 12-year-old son Mehmed and withdrew to Manisa. However, the European countries, hearing that someone of a young age had ascended the Ottoman throne, once again turned toward Ottoman lands. Upon this, Murad II returned to the throne in 1446.
Upon his father's death in 1451, Mehmed II again ascended the Ottoman throne at the age of 19. He strengthened the Ottoman navy and began preparations to attack Constantinople, and conquered the city in 1453 at the age of 21, putting an end to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Then, in 1460 he seized the Despotate of the Morea, and in 1461 the Empire of Trebizond, bringing under his rule the last two remnants of Byzantium as well. In 1473 he defeated the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan at the Battle of Otlukbeli. In addition, continuing his conquests in Anatolia and Southeastern Europe, he gained for the Ottoman Empire important regions such as Karaman and its surroundings, Serbia, Wallachia, Bosnia, Albania, and Crimea. In 1481 Sultan Mehmed set out on a new campaign toward Anatolia, but fell ill at the start of the journey and died on 3 May 1481 at the age of 49 at his encampment at Hünkârçayırı near Gebze. His tomb is located in the Fatih Mosque in the Fatih district of Istanbul.
After conquering Istanbul, Mehmed the Conqueror proclaimed himself "Emperor of Rome" (Kayser-i Rûm) and for the rest of his life regarded the Ottoman State as the continuation of the Roman Empire, and himself not as one who "replaced" the empire but as one who "continued" it. Mehmed II, who carried out many political and social reforms during his reign, compiled the laws he issued in his era into a book under the name "Fâtih Kanunnâmesi" (the Conqueror's Code) and put it into force. He encouraged art and science, and by the end of his reign, thanks to a "reconstruction" program, he transformed Constantinople into a flourishing imperial capital.
Names and titles
Mehmed, the birth name of Fâtih Sultan Mehmed, is a word of Arabic origin derived from the name of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and means "praised, lauded, worthy of all praise." Because the Turks pronounced the name Muhammad as "Mehemmed," it appears as Mehemmed in some of the sources; then this name began to be read as Mehmed, and after that as Mehmet. The name Mehmed is also the shortened and Turkicized form of the name Muhammad.
In 1453, at the age of 21, Mehmed II conquered Istanbul, putting an end to the 10-century-old Byzantine Empire, heir of the Roman Empire, and this event was accepted by some historians as the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age. After this conquest, he was called by the titles Fâtih, meaning "the Victorious, the Conqueror"; Ebû'l-Feth (ابو الفتح), meaning "the Father of Conquest"; Kayser-i Rûm (قیصر روم), meaning "Emperor of Rome"; and, in later periods, "the Sovereign who Opened an Age." The title Kayser-i Rûm does not indicate that Mehmed II was Greek (Rum); this title was used for political ambitions. For after the Conquest of Istanbul, Mehmed II asserted that he was the lawful ruler of all the former lands of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Known in the West by the nickname Grand Turco ("the Great Turk"), Mehmed II's name appears in many historical sources, like those of the other sultans named Mehmed, in the form Muhammad, or by his pen name in divan literature, Avni. The fact that in the vocalized texts of his own era, such as Kıvâmî's Fetih-nâme, his name is written in a way that is clearly read as Muhammad (مُحَمّدْ) shows that his name was in fact Muhammad. He also used the title Sultanü'l-Berreyn ve Hakanü'l-Bahreyn ("Sultan of the Two Lands and Khan of the Two Seas"). Here, what is meant by "the two lands" is Anatolia and Rumelia, while what is meant by "the two seas" is the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Birth and princehood
Mehmed II was born at dawn on Sunday, 27 Rajab 835 (30 March 1432) according to the Hijri calendar, in the state capital Edirne, as the fourth son of Murad II. According to many sources, notably the historian Franz Babinger and the writer Lord Kinross, his mother Hüma Hatun was a non-Muslim concubine. The Turkish historian Halil İnalcık also holds this view. Again according to Babinger, his mother was named "Hüma Hatun" after her death, inspired by the huma, the bird of paradise in Turkish-Persian legends.
According to one account, after staying in Edirne until the age of two, Mehmed was sent in 1434, together with his wet nurse and his young elder brother Alâeddin Ali, to Amasya, where his fourteen-year-old eldest brother Ahmed was governor (sancakbeyi) of Rum. Here, upon the early death of his elder brother Prince Ahmed, Mehmed became governor of Rum at the age of six. His other elder brother Alâeddin Ali became governor of Saruhan in Manisa. Two years later, by the instruction of their father Murad II, the two brothers changed places and Mehmed became governor of Saruhan. Halil İnalcık has stated that Mehmed's appointment as governor of Rum in Amasya at the age of six is doubtful, and that it is known that in the spring of 1443, when he was 12, he was sent as governor from Edirne to Manisa together with his two tutors (lala), in accordance with the old Turkish state tradition, in order to become accustomed to administrative and governmental affairs.
Sources
- Turkish Wikipedia: tr.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org