Turahanoğlu family () was one of the families that led the '' akıncı'' corps in

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 ...

between the 15th-16th centuries.

History

The family was of

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

Yürük origin, as it descended from Yiğit Bey of Saruhan, who would become a prominent general. In 1390 the Ottomans populated parts of Macedonia (in modern-day northern Greece) and the Yürüks from Saruhan followed them. Pasha Yiğit Bey settled with the rest of the tribe in the borderland and was appointed as a leader of his troublesome fellow tribesmen. In 1392 Pasha Yiğit Bey led the army that took

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

(), thus he was named the conqueror of

by the Ottoman Empire. Pasha Yiğit Bey became the first lord () of the

Sanjak of Üsküp The Sanjak of Üsküp was one of the sanjaks in the Ottoman Empire, with Üsküb (modern-day Skopje) as its administrative centre. Origins Starting from the end of the 10th century Skopje experienced a period of wars and political troubles. It ...

, the borderland province of

, and served for 21 years, from 1392 to 1413. He died and was buried in

. He had two sons,

Turahan Bey Turahan Bey or Turakhan Beg (; ; ;PLP 29165 died in 1456) was a prominent Ottoman Turkish military commander and governor of Thessaly from 1423 until his death in 1456. He participated in many Ottoman campaigns of the second quarter of the 15t ...

and

Ishak Bey Ishak, Ishaq or Eshaq may refer to: * Ishak (name), list of people with this given name or surname * Isaaq, a Somali clan-family in the Horn of Africa * Ishaaq bin Ahmed, the forefather and common ancestor of the Isaaq clan-family * Atakapa, a Nat ...

. Turahan became a prominent Ottoman military commander and governor of

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

from 1423 until his death in 1456. He participated in many Ottoman campaigns of the second quarter of the 15th century, fighting against the Byzantines as well as against the

Crusade of Varna The Crusade of Varna was an unsuccessful military campaign mounted by several European leaders to check the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Central Europe, specifically the Balkans between 1443 and 1444. It was called by Pope Eugene IV ...

. Turahan begat Ahmet and Ömer. The latter was an Ottoman general and governor, active chiefly in southern

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, who fought in the

Morea Morea ( or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used by the Principality of Achaea, the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the O ...

against both the Byzantines in the 1440s and 1450s and against the Venetians in the 1460s, while in 1456, he conquered the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Duchy of Athens The Duchy of Athens (Greek language, Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan language, Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during ...

. He also fought in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, north-east

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

and

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 ...

Members

(fl. 1413–d. 1456), general and governor, son of

Pasha Yiğit Bey Pasha Yiğit Bey or Saruhanli Pasha Yiğit Bey (, also ''Pasaythus'' or ''Basaitus''; died 1413) was an Ottoman Turkish civil and military officer at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century. Life He was born in Manisa and was of ...

** Turahanoğlu Ahmed Bey **

Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey (; 1435–1484) was an Ottoman general and governor. The son of the famed Turahan Bey, he was active chiefly in southern Greece: he fought in the Morea against both the Byzantines in the 1440s and 1450s and against the ...

(fl. 1435–1484), general and governor ***Hasan Bey ***Idris Bey

Family tree

After

Franz Babinger Franz Babinger (15 January 1891 – Durrës, 23 June 1967) was a well-known German orientalist and historian of the Ottoman Empire, best known for his biography of the great Ottoman emperor Mehmed II, known as "the Conqueror", originally published ...

in the ''

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 ...

'':Babinger (1987), p. 877

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turahanoglu Family Ottoman Greece Turks from the Ottoman Empire Families from the Ottoman Empire 15th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 16th-century people from the Ottoman Empire