The Battle of Çamurlu was fought on 5 July 1413 between

Musa Çelebi Musa Çelebi ( 1402 – 5 July 1413) was an Ottoman dynasty, Ottoman prince and a co-ruler of the Ottoman Empire, empire for three years during the Ottoman Interregnum. Background Musa was one of the sons of Bayezid I, the fourth Ottoman su ...

and Mehmed Çelebi, both 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 ...

, as the last conflict of the Ottoman civil war known as 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 ...

. The battle decided which son of Bayezid I would finally reunite 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 ...

, with Mehmed Çelebi becoming

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 ...

of the Ottoman Empire.

Mehmed's invasion and final battle

After suppressing Cüneyt Bey's revolt, Mehmed Çelebi gathered his troops at

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. With his Dulkadirid father-in-law, he began planning an invasion 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 ...

(the European part of the empire and Musa's stronghold) to defeat his brother, Musa. On his march to

Bursa Bursa () 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 Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

, Mehmed gained contingents of troops from western

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 ...

. Upon reaching the straits, Mehmed's army was given passage by ships loaned from

Manuel II Palaiologos Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 27 June 1350 – 21 July 1425) was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the name Matthaios (). Manuel was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, which ...

, who supplied Mehmed with some troops. Mehmed marched his army from Constantinople to

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 ...

. He then marched onto Kosovo to join forces with his ally (and also half-uncle) Serbian ruler

Stefan Lazarević Stefan Lazarević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Лазаревић, 1377 – 19 July 1427), also known as Stefan the Tall (), was a Serbian ruler as prince (1389–1402) and Despot (court title), despot (1402–1427). He was also a diplomat, legislat ...

, along with receiving information from

Evrenos Evrenos or Evrenuz (1288–1417, Yenice-i Vardar) was an Ottoman military commander. He served as a general under Süleyman Pasha, Murad I, Bayezid I, Süleyman Çelebi and Mehmed I. Legends stating that he lived for 129 years and had an incr ...

concerning possible defections during the battle.''

Encyclopedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is a reference work that facilitates the academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Islamic world. It is considered to be the standard ...

'', Vol. 7, Ed. C. E. Bosworth, E. Van Donzel, W. P. Heinrichs and Ch. Pellat, (E.J.Brill, 1993), 699. Both armies met at Çamurlu, near modern-day

Samokov Samokov ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in Samokov Valley between the mountain ranges of Rila, Vitosha and Sredna Gora, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due ...

, south east of

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, Bulgaria. Initially, Musa appeared to be winning the battle despite the defection of Pasha Yigit and Sinan Bey of Trikkala. However, the tide of the battle turned in favor of Mehmed, with the help of Serb and

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 ...

troops, and Musa Çelebi fled.

Aftermath

Following the battle, Musa Çelebi was captured and strangled. This battle re-established the unity of the Ottoman state, under the control of

.''First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913–1936'', Ed. M. Th Houtsma, (BRILL, 1993), 658.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Camurlu 1413 in Europe 1410s in the Ottoman Empire Çamurlu Conflicts in 1413 Çamurlu