Murad II

Murad II was the sixth sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who ruled from 1421 to 1444 and again from 1446 to 1451. He was the son of Mehmed I, who had restored the unity of the empire after the civil war that followed the death of Bayezid I. Murad inherited a weakened state that faced internal and external challenges. He had to deal with the pretender Mustafa Çelebi, who claimed to be the rightful heir of Bayezid and was supported by the Byzantine Empire, the Karamanids, and some Anatolian beyliks. Murad defeated Mustafa in 1422 and secured his throne. He then turned his attention to the Balkans, where he fought against the Crusade of Varna, a coalition of Christian states led by Hungary and Poland, who sought to liberate the Balkan lands from Ottoman rule. Murad crushed the crusaders in the decisive Battle of Varna in 1444, which marked the end of the Ottoman-Hungarian wars. Murad also faced the threat of Timur's successor, Shah Rukh, who invaded Anatolia in 1442 and 1443. Murad managed to repel the invasions and maintain Ottoman control over Anatolia. Murad abdicated in 1444 in favor of his son Mehmed II, who was only 12 years old. However, he returned to power in 1446, when Mehmed faced a rebellion by the Janissaries, the elite Ottoman troops. Murad restored order and resumed his campaigns in the Balkans and Anatolia. He conquered Thessalonica from the Venetians in 1430, Serbia from the Despotate of Serbia in 1439, and Morea from the Byzantines in 1446. He also annexed the beyliks of Germiyan, Teke, Hamid, and Menteşe, and reduced the Karamanids to vassalage. Murad died in 1451 in Edirne, the Ottoman capital, and was succeeded by Mehmed II, who would go on to conquer Constantinople in 1453 and end the Byzantine Empire. Murad was a capable and energetic ruler, who expanded and consolidated the Ottoman Empire in a turbulent period. He was also a patron of culture and arts, who built many mosques, madrasas, bridges, and caravanserais. He was buried in the Muradiye Complex in Bursa, where his tomb and mosque are still standing.