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| Murat I |
Yet his work was not yet at an end. Two important
tasks still stay ahead: conquering Serbia and raising Adrianople
to the dignity of a capital (1362). After Ikonya and Bursa it was
the third city in which the Sultan established his seat. But none
of these cities was ever considered the final Royal Seat. They were
simply stations on the inexorable westward advance of the Turks.
After the Serbian Tribe was defeated in 1371 their leader acknowledged
the overlordship of the Ottoman Empire and agreed to pay 50 okkas
of silver to the Sultan. He also agreed to send troops to fight
for the Empire as and when needed. Following this victory Murad
I returned to Bursa and married his son, Bayazid, to Solyman Shah's
daughter, receiving Kutalya, Tavshanh, Simav and Emet as dowry.
The Battle of Kosovo
(1389)
 After
taking possession of Anatolia, Murad I crowned his life's work by
conquering Serbia. It was a rapid and ruthless campaign, culminating
in the Battle of Kosovo Polye (also called "Blackbird Field"),
in which Murad and the Serbian King, Lazar, stood face to face.
Abandoned by the Occident, the Serbian knights were decisively defeated
in 1389. The Turkish chroniclers describes the battle as follows:
"Rivers of blood lent the diamond swords the hue of hyacinths
and the glittering metal of the lances became rubies. Great numbers
of severed heads and unravelled turbans had made the battlefield
into a calourful field of tulips." At least sixty thousand
men died that day. When it became apparent that the Serbians had
lost and that King Lazar had been taken captive, Serbian sources
relate that a Serbian nobleman, Milos Obilic, rushed with ten men
into Murad's tent and thrust his dagger into the Sultan's breast.
He was executed on the spot. King Lazar was dragged before the dying
Murad and also executed. Thus the expiring Sultan had the satisfaction
of seeing his enemy die before he himself did so.
His son, Bayazid I (1389-1402), who had fought
in the front ranks, succeeded to the throne that very night. Murad's
mortal remains were brought back to Bursa and interred in a splendid
mosque.
Tribes such as the Menteske and Hamid Oghoullari seized the opportunity
to declare war on the Ottoman Empire but Bayazid the Yilderim (Lightning)
quickly moved against them and put an end to their challenge. Beysheheer
was ceeded to the Empire and peace was declared.
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