The Battle of Dinboz Donald Nicol, ''Theodore Spandounes: On the origin of the Ottoman emperors''. Cambridge University Press 1997, p. 10Colin Imber, "The Legend of Osman Gazi" in Elizabeth A. Zachariadou (ed.), ''The Ottoman Emirate (1300-1389). Halcyon Days in Crete, A Symposium Held in Rethymnon''. 1994, , p. 72 or Dimbos Halil İnalcık, "The Struggle Between Osman Gazi and The Byzantines For Nicaea", Isıl Akbaygil, Halil İnalcık, Oktay Aslanapa (ed.), ''İznik: Throughout History'', Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, , 2003
pp. 61-62, 70.
in İnalcık's personal website.(

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

: Dimbos Muharebesi) was a battle between the

Ottoman Beylik The rise of the Ottoman Empire is a period of history that started with the emergence of the Ottoman principality (Osmanlı Beyliği) in , and ended circa 1453. This period witnessed the foundation of a political entity ruled by the Ottoman D ...

(later Ottoman Empire) and the Byzantine Empire in 1303.

Background

After the

battle of Bapheus The Battle of Bapheus occurred on 27 July 1302, between a Ottoman army under Osman I and a Byzantine army under George Mouzalon. The battle ended in a crucial Ottoman victory, cementing the Ottoman state and heralding the final capture of Byz ...

in 1302, Turkish gazis from all parts of Anatolia began raiding Byzantine territories. Byzantine emperor

Andronikos II Palaiologos , image = Andronikos II Palaiologos2.jpg , caption = Miniature from the manuscript of George Pachymeres' ''Historia'' , succession = Byzantine emperor , reign = 11 December 1282 –24 May 1328 , coronation = 8 Novembe ...

tried to form an alliance with the

Ilkhanid Mongols The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm ...

against the Ottoman threat. Failing to secure frontiers by the alliance he decided to attack the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

with his own army.

The battle

The battle is known only through later traditions which include semi-legendary elements, and hence probably reflects more folk tradition than actual historical events. According to

Theodore Spandounes Theodore Spandounes ( el, Θεόδωρος Σπανδούνης, it, Teodoro Spandugino) was an early 16th-century Greek historian of noble Byzantine extraction, the son of exiles fleeing the Ottoman conquest of Byzantium who had settled in Venice ...

, "Dimbos" (in Greek) or "Dinboz" (deriving from ''din bozmak'', "change of faith") was the first Byzantine town to fall to the Ottomans. The 15th-century chronicler

Aşıkpaşazade Dervish Ahmed ( tr, Derviş Ahmed; "Ahmed the Dervish; 1400–1484), better known by his pen name Âşıki or family name Aşıkpaşazade, was an Ottoman historian, a prominent representative of the early Ottoman historiography. He was a descen ...

drew on accounts of another battle near Koyunhisar (

Battle of Bapheus The Battle of Bapheus occurred on 27 July 1302, between a Ottoman army under Osman I and a Byzantine army under George Mouzalon. The battle ended in a crucial Ottoman victory, cementing the Ottoman state and heralding the final capture of Byz ...

) from other chronicles and moved them to the vicinity Dimbos to form his account of the "Battle of Dinboz". The Anatolian army of the Byzantine Empire was composed of the forces of local garrisons like Adranos (modern Orhaneli), Bidnos, Kestel (modern village Erdoğan) and Kete (modern village of Ürünlü). In the spring of 1303, the Byzantine army advanced to Yenişehir, an important Ottoman city north east of

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

. Osman I defeated them near the pass of Dimbos on the way to Yenişehir. During the battle both sides suffered heavy casualties. On the Ottoman side, Osman's nephew Aydoğdu and on the Byzantine side the governors of Kestel and Dimbos were among the losses.''Studies in Ottoman history in honour of Professor V. L. Ménage'' Isis Press 1994, p. 205

Aftermath

The governor of Kete tried to escape to nearby Lopardion (modern Ulubat) fort. But Osman arrested and later executed him in front of the fort; the fort subsequently surrendered and was captured by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

References

{{coord missing, Turkey 1300s in the Byzantine Empire Dimbos Dimbos Dimbos Dimbos History of Bursa Province Dimbos 1303 in the Ottoman Empire