Helmet of Orhan I

Orhan I, was the second Bey, or chief, of the nascent Ottoman Empire (then known as the Osmanli principality) from 1324 to 1361. He was the son of Osman I, and his mother was Mal Hatun, daughter of Abdulaziz Bey.

In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering most of northwestern Anatolia. The majority of these areas were under Byzantine rule and he won the first battle, the Battle of Pelekanon, against the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. Orhan also occupied the lands of Karesi Principality ruled by a Turkish Emir and of Ankara which was controlled by religious fraternity-guilds called Ahis.

During the last years of the civil war in the Byzantine Empire, John VI Cantacuzene induced Orhan to marry Theodora, daughter of Cantacuzene, in order to support him in his aim to become the ruling Emperor, usurping Emperor John V Palaeologus.

In 1354 Orhan's son, Suleyman Pasha (Süleyman Paşa), occupied Gallipoli and gave the Ottoman state a bridgehead into mainland Europe.

Whereabouts: Harbiye Military Museum