Mustafa Çelebi ( — May 1422), also called Mustafa the Impostor ( or ''Düzme Mustafa''), was an Ottoman prince who struggled to gain the throne of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in the early 15th century. He ruled parts of

Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...

twice between January 1419 – 1420 and January 1421 – May 1422.

Background

Mustafa was one of the sons of

Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...

, the Ottoman sultan. After the Battle of Ankara in which his father Bayezid was defeated by Timurlane, Mustafa as well as Bayezid himself was taken as a prisoner of war. After that, no trace of him was found and he was presumed dead. According to one version of events while his four brothers were fighting each other during the

Ottoman Interregnum The Ottoman Interregnum, or Ottoman Civil War, (, ) was a civil war in the Ottoman realm between the sons of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I following their father's defeat and capture by Timur in the Battle of Ankara on 28 July 1402. Although Ti ...

, he was held captive in

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

(in modern-day

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

). After the death of Timurlane, he returned to

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

in 1405 and hid himself in the territories of the Turkish beyliks.

First rebellion

After the interregnum, from which his brother sultan

Mehmed I Mehmed I (; – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi (, "the noble-born") or ''Kirişçi'' (, "lord's son"), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. Son of Sultan Bayezid I and his concubine Devlet Hatun, he fought with hi ...

had emerged victorious, Mustafa, or an impostor who claimed to be him, as Ottoman sources wrote, appeared in

(the European portion of the Ottoman Empire) with the help of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. He also had the support of

Mircea I of Wallachia Mircea the Elder (, ; 1355 – 31 January 1418) was the Voivode of Wallachia from 1386 until his death in 1418. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and brother of Dan I of Wallachia, after whose death he inherited the throne. After the dea ...

and Cüneyt Bey, the ruler of the Turkish Aydinid beylik. Mustafa asked

, who had recently defeated his other claimant brothers, to partition the empire with him. Mehmed refused this request and easily defeated Mustafa's forces in battle. Mustafa took refuge in the Byzantine city of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

in 1416. After reaching an agreement with Mehmed, the Byzantine emperor Manuel exiled him to the island of

Lemnos Lemnos ( ) or Limnos ( ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos (regional unit), Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean modern regions of Greece ...

Second rebellion

After the death of Mehmet I in 1421, Mustafa felt that he could easily defeat

Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

, Mehmet's son and successor. With the help of the Byzantines, he captured

Gelibolu Gelibolu is a town in Çanakkale Province of the Marmara Region, located in Eastern Thrace in the European part of Turkey. It is located on the southern shore of the Gallipoli, peninsula named after it on the Dardanelles strait, away from Lapsek ...

, the fort which controlled the strait of the Dardanelles, and after capturing

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

, the European capital of the empire, he began ruling in Rumeli. Next, he convinced the people that he was indeed Bayezid's son and gained the support of the Ottoman provincial governors in Rumeli. Although Murad sent troops over the strait of Bosphorous to defeat Mustafa, even these troops joined his forces in the Battle of Sazlıdere. Growing overconfident in his abilities, Mustafa decided to cross the Dardanelles and complete his conquest of the Asian side of the empire in Anatolia. However, in Anatolia, Mihaloğlu (a descendant of Köse Mihal), a partisan of Murad who was very famous in Rumeli, encouraged Mustafa's allies to betray him and support Murad instead. Furthermore, some of Mustafa's allies, notably Cüneyt Bey, abandoned him. Mustafa gave up his hopes to conquer Anatolia and escaped to Rumeli, with Murad's forces in pursuit. To cross the strait of the Dardanelles after Mustafa, Murad asked for the help of Genoan vessels, for which he paid an exorbitant price. Murad's forces soon caught up with Mustafa and captured him.

Execution and aftermath

Mustafa was sentenced to death and was hanged in 1422. Although inter-dynasty executions were common in the

Ottoman dynasty The Ottoman dynasty () consisted of the members of the imperial House of Osman (), also known as the Ottomans (). According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe branch of the Oghuz Turks, under the leadership of Os ...

, hanging was not the usual treatment for a dynasty member; more "dignified" execution methods were normally used. It is thought that Murad wanted to send the message that Mustafa was not his genuine uncle (although he was) but an impostor. Thus, contemporary Ottoman historians called him ''düzmece'' () Mustafa.Halil İbrahim İnal: ''Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Tarihi'',İstanbul, 2008,, p 125 Aşıkpaşazade mentions that Mustafa was brought by crawling to the execution place, and that he wanted to say something to Murad, but was hanged without even being given the opportunity. It is also mentioned that one of his sons was held hostage by the Byzantine emperor, but there is no information about his fate. There were also claims that Mustafa Çelebi managed to escape to Wallachia, then to Cafa, and then returned to Thessaloniki where he participated in the long siege of the city on the side of the Venetian defenders. Meantime, another Düzme Mustafa was unearthed by

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, claimed to be the son of Bayezid, and that collaborated with the Venetian navy in the spring of 1425.

Legacy

His silver coins struck in Edirne dating 824 AH (1421 AD), and the copper coins minted in

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

have survived to this day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafa Celebi 15th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 1422 deaths Executed people from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman princes Executed Turkish people 15th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire Pretenders to the Ottoman throne Date of birth unknown Sons of sultans Children of Bayezid I