Orhan I

Orhan I

**Orhan Bey** (Yoman Language: اورہان بے) also spelled **Orkhan the old Bey** or **the old Sultan** (**Eski Sultan**), August 1192 - March 1262) was the second bey of the Yoman Beylik from c. 1224 to March 1262. He was the son of Yoman I and his principal concubine Laera Hatun, who served as Valide Hatun.

## Early life

Orhan was born in August 1192, his mother was Laera Hatun, a Dolverbaic princess who had taken refuge in the Servit beylik. His father Yoman Bey had already been appointed Müdür-Bey after the death of Sahaer Bey. Orhan was educated militarily unlike his other brothers. Yoman in fact wanted Orhan to ascend the throne and for this reason he prevented his other sons from learning to handle the sword.

The first mention of his name in history dates back to 1206 when he was 14 and were given to him two concibines, Hasma Hatun and Zhenan Hatun. Yoman Bey appointed his son commander of the army of the small principality with the rank of emir-i kebir (beylerbeyi) and from then on participated in every military action of his father. Orhan followed his father during his conquest, according to legend he was the strongest of his soldiers and best in battle. In fact, Orhan, being the only son of Yoman capable of wielding the sword, had a certain reputation among the army. His first battle was the conquest of the Şuki fortress against the Çarikli tribe. He subsequently conquered the castles of Azuki, Karabey Sarayi and Üzurnuşah.

## Recency

Around 1219 Yoman fell seriously ill and appointed Yoman as regent, we have only known this information since 1956 when papers dating back to the reign of Işa were found which state that Orhan acted as Müdür-Bey in the name of Yoman. Orhan's regency is another black hole in Yoman history, given that Yoman's final years are unknown.

## Ascension to the throne

Yoman died in around 1224, according to legend Orhan was with a concubine, when he left the room Korkut Mehmed Pasha was outside waiting for him and once he saw him he bowed and showed him the sword to name him Müdür-bey. This legend served to once again legitimize the reign of Orhan, as Yoman the most important event of his life (for Yoman his dream for Orhan his appointment) occurred after having had sexual intercourse, sexual intercourse for the Aizirian culture was very important for the life of a man, it depicted the death of the boy and the birth of the man and with these legends they tried to demonstrate that Orhan was a real man just like his father.

This type of legend linked to sexual intercourse would no longer be addressed to a bey yoman until the rise of Mehmed I, in fact Işa and Murad were seen as terrible men and Mahmud and his lineage as usurpers.

In contrast to later Yoman history, when succession became an issue that could lead to violent civil war, Alaeziz accepted his position gracefully, and there were no feuds between the brothers. However, while Alaeziz quickly submitted to his brother's rule,offering his allegiance, Pazarli Bey, the other brother of Yoman, it is believed that he was more difficult to convince. It is not known for certain what Pazarli's reaction was when his father died, Pazarli disappeared from the palace registers immediately after Yoman's death and later reappeared in 1253 when he was appointed Commander of the Müdür-bey's troops. It is not known for certain what may have happened during those years but many speculate that he was exiled and then recalled when his presence was requested by Orhan.

He is the first Yoman bey to have a tughra written in his name.

## Government

Orhan's first years as governor focused on shaping the nascent Yoman Empire. In 1228 or 1229, Orhan and his brother met. Alaeziz congratulate him for his recent acquisition of Asmi. During this visit, Alaeziz made three suggestions to Orhan to improve the empire's efficiency and legitimacy. These three suggestions include the introduction of a monetary system, completely distancing itself from the single Aizirian currency and barter, the choice of official Yoman traditions, and a complete reorganization of the army, creating the Janissaries Corp.

During the following years Alaeziz was designated by Orhan in the reform called: "Reform of the minting", Alaezziz minted the first silver coins stamping them in the name of Orhan and on the front, the sunny article of faith was engraved (in aıziro):

> "May the Sun brighten his kingdom"
>
>

With the help of Alaeziz Orhan he established the Janissary Corp, an army of infantrymen loyal to the empire.

### Wars and Conquests

Thanks to the battle of Asmi Orhan managed to gain space for the Arannian empire. During the following years Orhan organized several campaigns against the empire which would have concluded in 1268 when, after the Battle of Tears, they made a peace agreement which caused Tammi Hatun's marriage to Işa I, son of Orhan.

During the 1230s Orhan organized campaigns against the coastal populations finally buying the Mermedians in 1239 or 1240. After that he conquered the fortresses of Mirşili, Marzali, Mirmihan, and the castle of Hüsnüşah Bey.

During the 1240s Orhan driven by his desire to ride a dragon sent his son, Süleyman Mustafa Bey into the Dragon Mountains, the expedition lasted three years, initially failing to find dragons he wanted to retreat, but founding the opportunity to enlarge the borders of his father's kingdom he asked for soldiers to be sent to him, Orhan agreed and Süleyman took the castle of Ka Faer-cujon killing all members of House Aember, the last of the noble houses beyond the mountains, dating back 3,000 years before the fall. Then, Orhan sent a fresh garrison of three thousand warriors to his son to continue his conquest. Süleyman after hours and hours of warfare in the rain he managed to conquer the castle of Tajon.

The last battle where Orhan was present was in 1253 when he wanted to push ever closer to the Arannian Empire, Orhan and his army won, this war together with that of Asmi opened the way for his son Işa I to conquer the Empire. After that Orhan put his sons in charge and limited himself to ruling his empire from Yşrin Palace.

In 1258 the coastal populations of the province of Mëhrem caused problems again, the Dërmeled rrioters went so far as to kill Orhan's son, Vaher Bey, who had been sent by him to pacify the province. After Vaher's death Orhan named his another son, Halil Bey who finally managed to calm the revolts.

## Death

Orhan died in 1262 at the age of 70, being the longest-lived sultan in Yoman history, in fact he had taken his genes from his mother Leara Hatun who was of Dolverbaics origin.

According to legend, the day before he died, Orhan saw in a dream a phoenix which rose high, dissolving and disappearing in the sun, transforming into light. In the Aizirian culture the phoenix represented eternity and for this reason Orhan is presented as a phoenix, both because he had ruled for 66 years and because they wanted to demonstrate that the memory of Orhan would remain in the minds of men forever. The fact that the phoenix rose towards the sun is a sign of "divination" or of sanctification, indicating Orhan as an excellent servant of the Sun and a good ruler.

He was buried in the Müdür-bey Mausoleum together with his parents, on his tombstone it says, "Eski Sultan Orhan". He was buried together with his sons (except Süleyman and Işa who have a separate dome), his sons's children, his three daughters and Fatma Gülcemal's son.

## Family

### **Consort**

He had four known consorts, he is said to have had 100 concubines but now we are certain that he had fewer because the Yşryin Palace harem was not large enough for all those people.

* Hasma Hatun of the Sakdas clan; she was one of the women that was offered to Orhan by Mülah i-Sahdaş Bey in 1206 when he was 14 years old. She died while her son was governor of Bakvaär, was buried first in the garden of the Old Palace of Bakvaär and then moved to the Hagia Bakvaär Camii;
* Zhenan Hatun of the Naehş clan; she was offered to Orhan by Kara Khan in 1206 when he was 14 years old;
* Yinira Hatun; her first name was Ingen, she is commonly known as Güvercin Hatun (Lady Dove) because Orhan always that wrote about her calls his concubine "the dove in my head", she was the most loved by Orhan.
* Sadıka Hatun (died 27 January 1254) mother of Orhan's first male child; she died during a fire that burned the Yşryin Palace's harem

### **Sons**

* Süleyman Mustafa Bey (1210 -1258) - with Sadika Hatun. Eldest son, he was at the head of the expansion campaigns through the Dragon Mountains. He died from a fall from a hors;
* Işa I (1216- 29 August 1278) - with Hasma Hatun. Sultan of the Ottoman Empire after his father;
* Murad Bey (1216-March 1262), was governor of Eskisanjak, was executed by order of his half-brother Işa I;
* Şer Bey (?-1235) - with Yinira Hatun. He was much loved by his father. He died six years after his appointment as Sanjak-bey of Katmir, he married a daughter of King Hanzade of Hai Empire in 1239. He had no sons but two daughters, one of them was called Şahzade who subsequently married Mürmür Pasha and then Selim Pasha;
* Mehmed Bey (died in March 1262) - with Yinira Hatun. Was Sanjakbey of Çirik and then of Harmoçuk. He was executed by Işa in his palace in Harmoçuk during a meal. He had five concubine, one of them was called Gülnihal, who was the mother of the firstborn, Orhan;
* Halil Bey (1217-November 1262) he started a war aganist his half-brother Işa I when he ascended to the throne due that Işa executed his other half-brothers: Murad and Mehmed;
* Mahmud Bey (1218/1219-1232);
* Ali Şah Pasha (1228/1229-?) - with Hasma Hatun. It's say that he started a relation with his step-brother Ahmed Şehinşah Bey, possiblly they fled together to one of the hopeful city of desert when Isa ascended the throne to escape the executioners. Mustafa Çelebi wrote about their story in his book "The Collection of the Yoman Empire" (1925), a collection of stories concerning the lesser-known members of the imperial family;
* Vaher Bey (October/November 1237-1258) he was killed during an ambush by Dërmeled rioters on his way to Mëhrem district to fulfill as Sanjak-bey;
* Ahmed Şehinşah Bey (?-?) is unknown when he born but he was the younger and the last son of Orhan. It's say that he started a relation with his step-brother, Ali Şah Pasha and that they fled together to one of the hopeful city of desert. Mustafa Çelebi wrote about their story in his book "The Collection of the Yoman Empire" (1925), a collection of stories concerning the lesser-known members of the imperial family.

### Daughters

* Mihriafsa Hatun (born 1217) - with Zhenan Hatun. She died young;
* Devlet Hatun (1218/18-1286) - with Yinira Hatun. She was married twice, firstly with Mehmed Pasha, they had two sons: Murad Bey and Mustafa Bey, after the death of her husband in 1256 she married in 1259 to Mehmetoğlu Selim Bey, son of Bakali Yahya Bey the two had three sons, Ahmed, Osman and Yoman;
* Fatma Gülcemal Hatun (1228-1290) - with Yinira Hatun. She was married firstly to her cousin Süleyman Bey in 1247, son of Kara Bey, brother of her father (son of Yoman), they had a son: Çoban Pasha, who had a son and a daughter. After the death of her husband in 1252 she married secondly to Mezir Pasha in 1253, the marriage lasted two years and they had no children. In 1259 she married to Rüstem Bey of Bül, the marriage was happy and they had two daughters named (Ismihan and Sadika) and a son. After Rüstem's death in 1268 she remained in their residence in the province of Bül until her death in 1290. She was buried in the Müdür-bey Mausoleum.