Overview
Murad I, son of Orhan, turned the Ottoman beylik into an empire reaching deep into the Balkans. He is the first Ottoman ruler whose inscriptions use the khan family of titles: an inscription of 1375 at Ankara calls him Murad Khan, and inscriptions at Gallipoli (1385) and Iznik (1388) call him khaqan.
Rise to Power
He succeeded his father Orhan in 1362, after his elder brother Süleyman had died.
Rule and Achievements
- Took Adrianople (Edirne), probably in the 1360s, and made it the capital in Europe
- Defeated the Serbian lords at the Maritsa in 1371 and made Bulgarian and Serbian rulers his vassals
- Organised the Janissaries, an infantry recruited from war captives and later from Christian boys
Legacy
He was killed at the battle of Kosovo on 15 June 1389, which the Ottomans won; his son Bayezid succeeded him on the field.