00:01You know, when you think of the Ottoman Empire's beginnings, one name probably pops into your head, right?
00:07Osman.
00:08But what if I told you the guy who really designed this 600-year empire was actually his son?
00:13Today, we're going to dive into the absolutely incredible story of Orhan Ghazi.
00:18This is a ruler who, get this, never lost a single battle and literally laid the foundation for one of
00:24the most powerful states in all of history.
00:26So, conqueror of Byzantine castles and founder of the first regular army, that's not just some fancy title.
00:34It's basically his whole life story in a nutshell.
00:36He was way more than just a warrior.
00:39Orhan was an innovator, a brilliant strategist, and a state builder.
00:42And the stuff he did, it would echo across three continents for centuries to come.
00:47So yeah, let's get right into it from the very beginning.
00:50Okay, so let's set the scene.
00:52It's 1281. We're in this small town in Anatolia called Sud.
00:56This is where Orhan is born, son of the legendary Osman I and Malhun Hattun.
01:02And right from the get-go, it was obvious this kid was different.
01:05He was a natural-born warrior, brave, super skilled, and just completely in his element on the battlefield.
01:12But what's really fascinating here is his relationship with his older brother, Aladuddin.
01:17You see, if Orhan was the sword, the man of action, then Aladuddin was the brains of the operation,
01:23a scholar, a master of law and how to run things.
01:26And their father, Osman, he was smart. He saw this perfectly.
01:30He didn't see them as rivals at all.
01:32He saw them as two sides of the same coin, both absolutely essential for building a real state.
01:37Now get this. At just 20 years old, 20, an age when most of us are just figuring things out,
01:43Orhan was made Baylor Bay, which means commander of the armies.
01:46The entire army. Just think about that for a second.
01:50That's not just a promotion. It's a massive show of trust from his father.
01:53It shows you just how much faith Osman had in his son's military genius.
01:57A genius that was sharpened in, you know, countless raids against the Byzantines from the time he was a kid.
02:02All right, so the ultimate test, the big one, was the siege of Bursa.
02:07And this wasn't some quick battle. We're talking a decade-long grind.
02:11His father, Osman, kicked it off, but his health started to fail, so the whole thing landed right in Orhan's
02:17lap.
02:18It was up to him to finish the job. And he did it strategically. He didn't just smash against the
02:23walls.
02:24He systematically choked the city off, capturing its key port, Mudanya, until Bursa literally had no other option but to
02:32surrender peacefully.
02:33And as Osman was on his deathbed, he heard the news that Bursa had finally fallen.
02:37Imagine that moment. He turns to Orhan and gives him this incredibly powerful advice.
02:42He tells him to rule with justice, to listen to the scholars, and to remember that they live and die
02:48for their faith.
02:49This, this right here, became the moral and political blueprint for the entire Ottoman Empire.
02:55It was a clear instruction. Build a state on justice and faith, not just on conquest.
03:00So, Orhan makes Bursa his new capital, and everything changes.
03:04His job description that's a major upgrade. He's not just a general anymore. He's the sultan.
03:09And now his focus has to shift from just winning battles to something way, way harder.
03:14Actually building a nation from the ground up.
03:17And this next part just shows you how smart Orhan really was.
03:21He knew what he was good at. But more importantly, he knew what his brother was good at.
03:25He actually offered the throne to Aladin first.
03:28But his brother, just as wisely, said no.
03:31Instead, he chose to become the first Grand Vizier.
03:34Basically, Orhan's right-hand man and chief advisor.
03:36This partnership, man, it became the engine that powered this new state.
03:41So, working together, these two brothers started putting up the pillars of a real, functioning state.
03:47First, they minted their own money.
03:49The Akce. That's a huge deal.
03:51It's like planting a flag and saying, we are our own power.
03:55Then, they set up the first Ottoman university.
03:57This showed everyone that they valued knowledge just as much as military power.
04:01They also created a military court system to make sure there was justice and discipline in the army.
04:06And then, well, then came their most revolutionary idea of all.
04:10Okay, so here was the problem.
04:12The army was basically made up of volunteers.
04:14They'd fight a campaign and then they'd just go home.
04:17Orhan needed a permanent professional force.
04:20The solution they came up with was, frankly, genius.
04:22The idea was to take young, non-Muslim boys who'd been displaced by the wars, raise them in the Islamic
04:27faith, and train them from childhood to be elite soldiers.
04:30The key part?
04:31They were loyal only to the sultan.
04:34In an age of part-time soldiers and feudal lords, this was a total game-changer.
04:38And the result?
04:38The Yenichari, or the new army, better known as the Janissaries.
04:42They would become, arguably, the most disciplined and feared fighting force in the world.
04:46So Orhan's state is organized, he's got this killer new army, and his ambitions start to grow.
04:52Big time.
04:53It got to the point where his banners could literally be seen from the emperor's palace in Constantinople.
04:59Imagine being that emperor, looking out your window and seeing that.
05:02A constant, terrifying reminder of this new power rising just across the water.
05:06In fact, the emperor's own historian wrote that his boss was having actual nightmares about the Ottomans storming the palace.
05:12So, the Byzantine emperor, Andronikos III, he decides enough is enough.
05:17He has to do something.
05:19He puts together this huge army, packed with thousands of his best, heavily armored knights.
05:24The plan?
05:25Crush Orhan once and for all.
05:27And honestly, on paper, Orhan's 8,000 light infantry didn't stand a chance against this force.
05:32So the big question is, how on earth did he win?
05:35It was pure military genius.
05:37Orhan was smart.
05:39He picked the battlefield at a place called Pelikonon.
05:41He knew he couldn't fight these heavy knights on an open field.
05:45That'd be suicide.
05:45So he didn't.
05:47Instead, he sent out a small force of about 300 of his best archers to basically annoy the Byzantines.
05:52They'd attack, then pretend to run away, luring the big, clumsy, heavy cavalry deeper into these rough, narrow mountain passes.
06:00And once the Byzantine army was all stretched out, totally disorganized, and right where he wanted them, snap.
06:06Orhan sprung the trap.
06:07And it was an absolute slaughter.
06:09The Byzantine army wasn't just defeated, it was annihilated.
06:13The emperor himself was wounded and had to flee for his life, barely making it back to Constantinople.
06:19With this one single battle, Orhan completely shattered Byzantine power in Anatolia.
06:25Forever.
06:26And just like that, the path to Europe was wide open.
06:29So, with Anatolia pretty much locked down, Orhan looks across the sea.
06:34To Europe.
06:36But he wasn't just going to charge in with his army.
06:38Nope.
06:39His next move was a total masterclass in politics.
06:42He was about to exploit the one weakness that brings down almost every great empire.
06:47Fighting amongst themselves.
06:49And right on cue, a civil war breaks out inside the Byzantine empire.
06:54Perfect timing.
06:56One of the guys trying to seize the throne, John Kanta Kozenos, was getting desperate for allies.
07:01Orhan saw his opening.
07:03He goes, hey, I'll lend you my elite troops, but we need an alliance.
07:06And to seal the deal, Orhan marries the guy's daughter, Theodora.
07:11Just like that, Orhan isn't an outsider anymore.
07:13He's a major player in Byzantine politics.
07:16So, when it came time to get his reward for all this help, Orhan didn't ask for a pile of
07:22gold.
07:22He was playing the long game.
07:24He asked for something much more valuable.
07:27Land.
07:28Specifically, a single fortress called Simpe, on the European side of the Dardanelles.
07:34Kanta Kozenos was so grateful, he just said yes.
07:36He had no idea what he'd just done.
07:39He had just handed Orhan the key to Europe.
07:42And then, something completely unexpected happens.
07:46Call it fate.
07:47Call it luck.
07:48In 1354, a huge earthquake hits the area.
07:51And it completely destroys the walls of the super strategic city of Gallipoli.
07:56Orhan's son, Suleyman Pasha, sees this happen and doesn't waste a second.
08:00He marches his troops right into the ruined city, takes it without a single fight,
08:03and immediately starts moving Turkish families in.
08:06That tiny little foothold they had, it just became a major permanent base of operations in Europe.
08:12So as we get to Orhan's final years, you can just imagine him looking out at this empire that he
08:17had,
08:17for all intents and purposes, built from scratch.
08:20He'd created its laws, its army, its economy, its schools, the whole shebang.
08:28That son, Suleyman Pasha, the one who had just opened the door to Europe, the brilliant general who was supposed
08:35to be the heir, died.
08:38He fell from his horse during a hunt.
08:41For Orhan, this was just a devastating blow.
08:45I mean, he didn't just lose his son.
08:47He lost the future of the empire he had been so carefully building.
08:52Orhan himself passed away about five years later.
08:55He was 79 years old.
08:56And he was buried right where he wanted to be, next to his father in Bersia.
08:59And, you know, his legacy wasn't about treasure chests or fancy palaces.
09:04He left behind something so much more important.
09:06A powerful, incredibly well-organized, and tough state that was perfectly set up for centuries of growth.
09:12And the results of all that work?
09:13Well, it comes down to this one number.
09:16Over 600 years.
09:17The things Orhan built, the army, the courts, the government, they were so solid, so well-designed, that the empire
09:24built on top of them lasted for more than six centuries.
09:27And it didn't just last.
09:28It shaped the entire course of world history.
09:31So that really leaves us with the big question, doesn't it?
09:34We all know Osman lit the spark.
09:36But was it Orhan, this military innovator, this clever diplomat, this careful state builder who never, ever lost a battle?
09:44Was he the true architect?
09:46Was he the one who actually drew up the blueprints for an empire that would go on to change the
09:50entire world?
09:51It's something to think about.
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