6 April 1326
Bursa, 1326
According to the chronicles, Andronikos II orders the governor of Prusa to give the city up. On 6 April 1326 Orhan enters Prusa, which the Turks call Bursa. The townspeople accept Ottoman rule and the poll tax and keep their lives and goods, and by Ottoman tradition the city pays 30,000 gold pieces.
The walls and a gate of the citadel of BursaWikimedia Commons, Karelj, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Bursa Turkey 2013 1.jpg)
The commander of the garrison, called Saroz in the chronicles, surrenders to Orhan. By one account he converts to Islam and receives the title of bey, by another he leaves for Constantinople by way of Gemlik. Köse Mihal, by now a Muslim, acts as Orhan’s envoy in the talks.
Orhan makes Bursa his capital. Osman’s body is brought from Söğüt and buried in the citadel of Bursa.
The cenotaph of Osman I in his tomb in the citadel of Bursa, rebuilt in 1863Wikimedia Commons, Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Bursa Osman Gazi Türbesi 2003 0047.jpg)
Sources
- Aşıkpaşazade, Tevârîh-i Âl-i Osmân (late 15th century).
- Halil İnalcık, “Bursa”, in TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 6 (1992).
- Cemal Kafadar, Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State (1995).
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