Gazi Suleyman Pasha

Ottoman prince, eldest son of Orhan Bey; in Ottoman history he is known as the conqueror of Rumelia, and according to tradition he is the prince who began the first movement of conquest by landing on the Gallipoli peninsula.

His date of birth is not known for certain. The first contemporary source in which his name appears is the Mekece endowment deed dated 724 (1324), where he is recorded among the witnesses as Süleyman b. Orhan. The title Paşa is found in the work of Ahmedi, regarded as the first Ottoman history; this title, which no other member of the dynasty used apart from his uncle Alaeddin Paşa, may be connected with his being the eldest prince among his brothers.

There is no information in contemporary sources on his early years. Ottoman sources write that he played a part in the taking of İznik (1331) and that after the conquest of İzmit (1337) some places in that region were given him as a timar; the source notes that this cannot be verified, but that his presence at his father's side in the conquests of İznik and İzmit is highly probable. When the principality of Karesi was annexed, his father gave him its governorship; with his capture of Kapıdağ, Edincik and Lapseki the Bursa-Lapseki road became the route of passage to Rumelia.

The firm information on his crossing to Rumelia is in the chronicle of the Byzantine emperor and historian Kantakouzenos, who was himself at the centre of events. Kantakouzenos had married his daughter Theodora to Orhan Bey in 1346 and asked his son-in-law for help against the Serbian tsar Stefan Dušan. Orhan Bey sent a cavalry force of 10.000 under his son Süleyman (749/1348). His second crossing was also at Kantakouzenos's request, but Orhan Bey recalled him (751/1350). On his third crossing in 753 (1352) he helped to relieve Edirne and, in the winter of 1352, routed the Serbian-Bulgarian forces on the Maritsa at Empythion; on this occasion he came to Edirne and met Kantakouzenos, and so was in a sense the first Ottoman bey to set foot in Edirne.

During this campaign he took many places on the Gallipoli peninsula; the fortress of Çimbi (Tzympe) became an Ottoman military base, and Süleyman Paşa did not evacuate it despite Kantakouzenos's offer of 10.000 gold pieces. When a great earthquake devastated the Gallipoli coast on 2 March 1354 he received the news near Biga, crossed over at once and took control of the town, had Gallipoli rebuilt, and settled volunteers brought with their families from Karesi in the ruined towns. The emperor's offer of 40.000 gold pieces, four times the earlier compensation, was likewise refused. He then extended his Bolayır-based raiding towards the Marmara coast of Thrace and the Maritsa valley; raids on Malkara, Keşan and Tekirdağ began. During the crisis caused by the captivity of his brother Halil (1357) he fiercely resisted proposals to evacuate Gallipoli.

According to Ottoman sources he died between Bolayır and Seydigazi while hunting, when his horse caught its foot in a hole and he fell. It is generally accepted that he died in the autumn of the year 758 (1357). It is said that Orhan Bey, deeply grieved at the news, came at once to Bolayır and had his son buried there. According to one report Süleyman Paşa had asked in his testament to be buried at Bolayır should he die, thinking that the gazis would thereby hold their ground there. Byzantine sources regard him as Orhan Bey's heir and the de facto manager of the affairs of state; Ottoman sources praise him as a raiding leader of courage and generosity. Of his sons, Melik Nasır drowned at sea, while İsmail and İshak continued raiding on the frontier; of his daughters, Sultan Hatun was married to Candaroğlu Süleyman Bey II, and Efendizade Hatun died at Akşehir. He built a masjid and a madrasa at İznik and a masjid at Bursa, and endowed them richly.

His Circle of Influence — Some Ottoman sources state that the gazis of the Rumelian frontier regarded him, together with Gazi Umur Bey, as a great military and spiritual leader, and that his memory was kept alive in legends. In Oruç Bey's words: "Among the gazis, Süleyman and Umur are possessors of sainthood (velayet)." At his death the Ottoman frontier in Rumelia reached westward to between Keşan and İpsala, and on the Marmara coast to the south of Tekirdağ; Ferecik had been taken shortly before his death, and raids reached Didymoteicho.

His Tomb and Complex — His endowment deed drawn up in the reign of Mehmed II and the endowment survey registers show that he built at Bolayır a complex consisting of a mosque, a zawiya, an imaret, a caravanserai and a tomb. Bolayır was the starting point for military units coming from Anatolia to join the conquests in Rumelia. Of the complex only the mosque and the tomb have survived. The square tomb, repaired in 956 (1549) according to its verse inscription, has a roof resting on an octagonal drum, an octagonal pyramid inside and dome-shaped outside, which is unusual in Ottoman architecture and bears traces of the Seljuk kümbet design. His grave, set on a platform, is surrounded by cast-brass railings in the Empire style from the second half of the XIX century. The original gold-embroidered turban of the cenotaph was moved first to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts and then to the Topkapı Palace Museum. It is related that his horse, which died with him, is buried at his feet. Near the tomb lies the grave of Namık Kemal, whose remains were brought here from Chios in accordance with his will.