Osman's Dream

Osman I (c.1254 - 1323), emir of his Turkish clan, married Rabia Bala Hatun (died 1324), daughter of Sheikh Edebali, a religious leader. According to a 15th-century chronicle, Osman had a dream while staying in the house of his father-in-law.

He saw that a moon arose from the holy man's breast and came to sink in his own breast. A tree then sprouted from his navel and its shade compassed the world. Beneath this shade there were mountains, and streams flowed forth from the foot of each mountain. Some people drank from these running waters, others watered gardens, while yet others caused fountains to flow. When Osman awoke he told the story to the holy man, who said 'Osman, my son, congratulations, for God has given the imperial office to you and your descendants and my daughter shall be your wife.

This story was probably created to establish a divine origin for the Ottoman Empire, named after Osman. In order to establish this empire, Osman did not always have to fight—though he was not opposed to doing so. He made alliances with his neighbors regardless of religious or political differences. The group with which he was not about to ally himself was the Mongols. 

After the Battle of Bapheus in c.1301—in which Osman defeated a force of 2000 soldiers—Byzantines started to move out of Anatolia, making Ottoman expansion easier. He expanded north and southwest. taking the city of Bursa in northwestern Turkey after a prolonged siege. Bursa turned into a staging ground for the eventual attack on Constantinople.

The illustration shows the imperial expansion, but in Osman's lifetime only the darkest red area was under his control. Osman died shortly after the conquest of Bursa, but the idea of empire lived on. We'll continue the expansion tomorrow.