Hacı İlbey (also known as Hadji Ilbeg or Haji

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

; 1305-1365 or 1371) was an Ottoman commander during the early years of the empire.

Early years

He was probably born around 1305 in

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Balıkesir Province, which is also a Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality. As of 2022, the population of Balıkesir Province ...

, northwestern

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 ...

. He was a commander of the Beylik of Karasi, a principality situated at the Asiatic coast of the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

strait. However, during the interregnum in the beylik after the 1340s, Hacı İlbey left Karasid territory and took service in the Ottoman beylik, the future Ottoman Empire, situated at the north of the Karasids. In 1361, all territory of

Karasids The Karasids or Karasid dynasty (; ), also known as the Principality of Karasi and Beylik of Karasi (''Karasi Beyliği'' or ''Karesi Beyliği'' ), was a Turkish Anatolian beylik (principality) in the area of classical Mysia (modern Balıkesir and ...

was annexed by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

during the reign of

Orhan Orhan Ghazi (; , also spelled Orkhan; died 1362) was the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I. In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering mos ...

. It was around this time that the capital of the Ottoman state was moved from

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 ...

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 ...

Ottoman commander

Hacı İlbey was tasked with conquests in

Rumeli 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 vassals in Europe. These ...

(European portion of Turkey), where the Turks under Süleyman Pasha, son of the Ottoman Beylik's second ruler

, had set foot in 1354. In

, Hacı İlbey proved himself as a competent commander. He captured

Lüleburgaz Lüleburgaz (; Modern Greek: Λουλέ Μπουργκάς ''Lule Burgas''; Bulgarian: Люлебургаз ''Lyuleburgaz''), Bergoule (Ancient Greek: Βεργούλη) or Arcadiopolis (Ancient Greek: Ἀρκαδιούπολις ''Arkadiópolis'') ...

(medieval Arkadiapolis) and possibly

(medieval Adrianopolis), which soon became the capital of the empire.

Battle of Çirmen

While the new sultan

Murad I Murad I (; ), nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'' (from – meaning "Head of state, sovereign" in this context; 29 June 1326 – 15 June 1389) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1362 to 1389. He was the son of Orhan Gazi and Nilüfer Hatun. Mura ...

was occupied in capturing

Biga Biga may refer to: Places * Biga, Çanakkale, a town and district of Çanakkale Province in Turkey * Sanjak of Biga, an Ottoman province * Biga Çayı, a river in Çanakkale Province * Biga Peninsula, a peninsula in Turkey, in the northwest part ...

(Pigas of the antiquity) in Anatolia, a Crusader army appeared near the river

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( ), also known as Evros ( ) and Meriç ( ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,

in Rumeli. Hacı İlbey was sent with a relatively small expedition force over to

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

. He defeated the

in a surprise night attack. There is no consensus on the date of this event. According to Ottoman chronicles, the battle took place in 1364 and according to western sources in 1371.

Death

Shortly after the battle of Çirmen, Hacı İlbey died. According to a legend, he was poisoned by

Lala Şahin Pasha Lala Shahin Pasha (; 1330 – after 1388), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman military commander and first Beylerbey of Rumelia. He was instrumental in the early Ottoman expansion into the Balkans, serving as a key commander under Murad I, Sultan Mu ...

, a senior Ottoman commander, who was Hacı İlbey's rival and worried of his increasing reputation.Joseph von Hammer: ''Osmanlı Tarihi'' cilt I (condensation: Abdülkadir Karahan), Milliyet yayınları, İstanbul. p.17

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haci Ilbey 1300s births 14th-century deaths 14th-century Ottoman military personnel