Ertuğrul or Ertuğrul Ghazi (Ottoman
Turkish: ارطغرل, romanized: Erṭoġrıl; Turkmen: Ärtogrul Gazy; died c. 1280/1281)[8] was a
13th-century bey, who was the father of Osman I.[9] Little is known about Ertuğrul's life.
According to Ottoman tradition, he was the son of Suleyman Shah, the leader of
the Kayı tribe (a claim which has come under criticism from many historians)[b] of
the Oghuz Turks (known as Turkomans by then).[11] These Turkomans fled from
western Central Asia to Anatolia to escape the Mongol conquests, but he may instead
have been the son of Gündüz Alp.[6][12] According to this legend, after the death of his
father, Ertuğrul and his followers entered the service of the Sultanate of Rum, for which
he was rewarded with dominion over the town of Söğüt on the frontier with
the Byzantine Empire.[8] This set off the chain of events that would ultimately lead to
the founding of the Ottoman Empire.
Biography
[edit]
Nothing is known with certainty about Ertuğrul's life, other than that he was the father of
Osman; historians are thus forced to rely upon stories written about him by the
Ottomans more than a century later, which are of questionable accuracy.[13][14]
According to the sources written c. 100–150 years after the establishment of the
Ottoman state, Ertuğrul's lineage is traced to Noah, through Oghuz Khagan.[7] Ottoman
historian and ambassador to the Qara Qoyunlu, Şükrullah states that Ertuğrul's lineage
goes to Gökalp, a son of Oghuz Khagan. The author states that the information was
shown during a court of Jahan Shah, from a book written in Mongolian script.[15]
An undated coin, from the time of Osman, with the text "Minted by Osman son of
Ertuğrul", suggests that Ertuğrul was a historical figure.[9]: 31 Another coin reads "Osman
bin Ertuğrul bin Gündüz Alp",[6][7] though Ertuğrul is traditionally considered the son of
Suleyman Shah.[12]
In Enveri's Düsturname (1465) and Karamani Mehmet Pasha's chronicle (before 1481), Gündüz
Alp is Ertugrul's father. After Aşıkpaşazade's chronicle Tevārīḫ-i Āl-i ʿOsmān (15th century), the
Suleyman Shah version became the official one.[
According to many Turkish sources, Ertuğrul had three brothers named; Sungur-tekin,
Gündoğdu and Dündar.[3] After the death of their father, Ertuğrul with his mother Hayme
Hatun, Dündar and his followers from the Kayı Tribe migrated west into Anatolia and
entered the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, leaving his two brothers who took their clans
towards the east.[18][19][20] In this way, the Kayı Tribe was divided into two parts. According
to these later traditions, Ertuğrul was chief of his Kayı Tribe.[8]
As a result of his assistance to the Seljuks against the Byzantines, Ertuğrul was granted
lands in Karaca Dağ, a mountainous area between Diyarbakır and Urfa, by Kayqubad I,
the Seljuk Sultan of Rum. One account indicates that the Seljuk leader's rationale for
granting Ertuğrul land was for Ertuğrul to repel any hostile incursion from the Byzantines
or other adversary.[21] Later, he received the village of Söğüt which he conquered
together with the surrounding lands. That village, where he later died, became the
Ottoman capital under his son, Osman I.[7] Osman's mother has been referred to
as Halime Hatun in later myths,[citation needed] and there is a grave outside the Ertuğrul Gâzi
Tomb which bears the name, but it is disputed.[22][23]
According to many sources, he had two other sons in addition to Osman I: Saru-Batu
(Savci) Bey[24][7] and Gündüz Bey.[2][17][25] Like his son, Osman, and their descendants,
Ertuğrul is often referred to as a Ghazi, a heroic champion fighter for the cause of Islam.
