SULTAN ORHAN GAZİ

Father: Sultan Osman Bey
Mother: Mal Hatun
Date of Birth: 1288
Accession to the Throne : 1324
Death: 1360

He was born after the death of his grandfather, Ertuğrul Gazi, and the date of his birth is given by Sa'deddin Efendi as 680 A.H. (1281 A.D.).

Like his father he conquered many places and is known for his charitable acts and liberality. He took Bursa in 720 A.H. (1326 A.D.), the date of his fathers death, and made it his capital. Henceforth, he minted silver coins, which will be called "Akça", in his own name when he was about forty- three years old.

He made his brother, Alaeddin Pasha, his Grand Vizier, and he also appointed Süleyman Pasha, who crossed over to Roumelia as Vizie and Serdar (commander-in-chief). All through his Iife he waged gazas.

He had the soul of a dervish and was not interested in amassing riches and property. He used to distribute great amounts of his wealth to the poor. He had no eye for Iuxury and spent his life in battlefields waging "gaza"s (Holy War).

Although his hair had turned gray, he had an imposing appearance with his strong and well-built body, his high and broad chest, thick calves and hands Iike Iion's paws. His complexion was of a reddishwhite hue and his eybrows were joined together like a crescent. He had hazel brown eyes, a wide forehead, a ram-nose, a well-shaped beard and a long thick mustache.

Orhan Gazi was good-natured and very patient. He knew how to take advice and his speech was gentle. However, he was also very determined and unyielding.