Ali Bey Evrenosoğlu[1] or Evrenosoğlu Ali Bey,[2] known simply as Ali Bey,[3] was an Ottoman military commander in the 15th century. He was one of the sons of Evrenos, an Ottoman general. During the 1430s he was sanjak-bey of the Sanjak of Albania who, after initial defeats, suppressed the Albanian Revolt of 1432–1436 with help of the forces commanded by Turahan Bey. In 1440 he participated in the unsuccessful Ottoman Siege of Belgrade.

Ali Evrenosoğlu

Native name
Ali Bey Evrenosoğlu
Buried
Courtyard of the Gazi Evrenos mosque in Yenitsá (Giannitsa in Greece)
AllegianceOttoman Empire
RankSanjak-bey
Battles / wars

Origin

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Ali Bey was a son of Ottoman commander Evrenos Bey. Οriginally, Evrenos Βey was a noble dignitary, a bey in the principality of Karasi, joining the Ottomans only after their conquest of the beylik in 1345.[4] A Greek legend[5] maintains that Evrenos' father was a certain Ornos, renegade Byzantine governor of Bursa (Prusa) who defected to the Ottomans, and then on to Karasi, after the Siege of Bursa, in 1326.[6] The Evrenos family were certainly of non-Turkish origin.[7] Stanford J. Shaw confirms this, stating that Evrenos was originally a Byzantine feudal prince in Anatolia who had entered Ottoman service following the capture of Bursa, converted to Islam, and later became a leading military commander under both Orhan and Murat.[8] Joseph von Hammer regarded Evrenos as simply a Byzantine Greek convert to Islam.[9]

Albania

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Ali Bey was sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Albania before 1432.[10] When Ishak Bey captured Dagnum from Koja Zaharia in 1430 it was attached to the territory controlled by Ali Bey.[11]

In the early phase of the Albanian Revolt, in the winter of 1432, Sultan Murat II gathered around 10.000 troops under Ali Bey, who marched along the Via Egnatia and reached the central valley of Shkumbin, where he was ambushed and defeated by forces under Gjergj Arianiti. In 1435-6 he followed Turahan Bey's campaign, which restored Ottoman rule in the region.[12][13]

Other campaigns

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According to some legends Hunyadi was Evrenosoglu's groom.[14] Hunyadi became intimate of the king of Hungary after he fled from Ali.[15]

Evrenosoglu commanded an army which was sent to weaken Wallachia[16] and Transylvania in 1438.[17] In 1440 Ali Beg participated in the unsuccessful siege of Belgrade where he built a wall around the city and used it to hurl stones.[3] According to Konstantin Mihailović, the title of bey and corresponding estate was promised to the Ottoman soldier who would wave Ottoman flag on the Belgrade walls. Although Evrenosoglu already had the title of bey at that time he decided to personally lead the assault to the walls of the Belgrade castle hoping to increase his already great reputation.[1] When Murad II died in 1451, Ali Bey was dispatched by Mehmed II to execute Murad's son, Şehzade Küçük Ahmed.[3]

Evrenosoglu was buried in the courtyard of the Gazi Evrenos mosque in Yenidje (modern Giannitsa in Greece).[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b Jefferson 2012, p. 244.
  2. ^ Jefferson 2012, p. 163.
  3. ^ a b c Babinger 1992, p. 18.
  4. ^ International Journal of Turkish Studies Volumes 7-8 (Turkey -- Periodicals, Turkey -- Periodicals -- History, Turkish antiquities -- Periodicals). University of Wisconsin. 2001. p. 13. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  5. ^ Bent Holm, Mikael Bøgh Rasmussen, ed. (2021). Imagined, Embodied and Actual Turks in Early Modern Europe. Hollitzer. p. 5. ISBN 9783990121252. According to a Greek legend, Evrenos Bey's father was the governor of Bursa and a convert
  6. ^ P. Voutierides, "Neai Ellenikai Poleis-Yenitsa" Panathinaia 25 (1912-13), p. 210.
  7. ^ Lapavitsas, Costas; Cakiroglu, Pinar (2019-08-08). Capitalism in the Ottoman Balkans: Industrialisation and Modernity in Macedonia. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-78831-660-6.
  8. ^ Stanford J. Shaw: History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280–1808. Cambridge University Press, 1977.
  9. ^ Joseph von Hammer: Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches. Zweite verbesserte Ausgabe Bd. I - IV. Hartlebens, Pesth 1836. (Serbo-Croatian edition by Nerkez Smailagić. Zagreb, 1979.)
  10. ^ Pollo, Stefanaq; Arben Puto; Kristo Frashëri; Skënder Anamali (1974). Histoire de l'Albanie, des origines à nos jours (in French). Horvath. p. 78. ISBN 978-2-7171-0025-9. Retrieved 23 June 2011. Le sandjakbey d'Albanie, Ali bey Evrenos, partant de Gjirokastra, se porta aussitôt contre Arianite, mais les Turcs, selon le chroniqueur Oruc, furent battus à Buzurshek, dans la vallée du Shkumbin.
  11. ^ M. Bešić, Zarij (1970), Istorija Crne Gore / 2. Crna gora u doba oblasnih gospodara. (in Serbian), Titograd: Redakcija za istoiju Crne Gore, p. 158, OCLC 175122851, Коју Закарију је или протјерао или заробио, а Дањ повјерио Али-бегу.
  12. ^ Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1993), First encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913-1936, vol. VIII, Netherlands: E.J. Brill and Luzac and Co., p. 466, ISBN 9004082654, ...Ottoman campaigns of 1435 and 1436 when the Ottoman generals Ali and Turakhan effected a partially submission of Albanians
  13. ^ Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994), The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, University of Michigan Press, p. 535, ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5, In 1432 Andrew Thopia revolted against his Ottoman overlords ... inspired other Albanian chiefs, in particular George Arianite (Araniti) ... The revolt spread ... from region of Valona up to Skadar...
  14. ^ Held, Joseph (1985). Hunyadi: legend and reality. East European Monographs. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-88033-070-1. Retrieved 12 June 2011. mentioned a rumor that Hunyadi may have served the Ottoman Ali, son of Evrenos, as a groom,
  15. ^ Imber, Colin (2006), The Crusade of Varna, 1443–45, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7546-0144-9, He fled from Ali bey and became intimate of the king of Hungary
  16. ^ Treptow, Kurt W. (2000). Vlad III Dracula: the life and times of the historical Dracula. Center of Romanian Studies. p. 203. ISBN 978-973-98392-2-8. Retrieved 10 June 2011. Ali-bey Evrenos-ogly
  17. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 16.
  18. ^ Vakalopoulos, Apostolos E. (1973). History of Macedonia, 1354-1833. Institute for Balkan Studies. p. 259. Retrieved 22 June 2011. Yenitsá ... Of the smaller mosques the most important were those of Gazi Evrenos..Beneath a high dome with many windows, Ghazi Evrenos lay buried amid the tombs of those 'gazis' who died as 'martyrs' (in other words, who fell in battle). In the courtyard of this mosque were the tombs of Ali Bey and Gazi Isa Bey, the sons of Evrenos. .

Sources

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Preceded by
?
sanjak-bey of Albania
1432–37
Succeeded by