Murad, Ottoman Sultan (1361-1389)
Second son of Sultan Orkhan, Murad created the European part of the Ottoman Empire. His success in the Balkans was in part due to the divided state of the area at that time. The Serbian empire of Stephan Dushan had disintegrated after his death, while Louis the Great, king of Hungary, attacked both Serbia and Bulgaria in 1365-6, weakening them both. Murad himslf invaded with relatively small numbers, but by the end of his reign he was able to raise large numbers of troops settled as Timariots across the Balkons. He was killed at the Battle of Kossovo in 1389, although the battle was an Ottoman victory and crushed the last Serbian resistance to the Turks, leaving the burden to fall on the Hungarians. During his reign he conquered Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia.
How to cite this article:
Rickard, J. (10 October 2000), Murad, Ottoman Sultan (1361-1389), http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_murad.html