The second ruler of the
Ottoman Turks. Son to
Osman I, he was born in
1281 and ruled the fledgling
Ottoman Empire from
1326 to
1359.
Amir Orkhan, or Orkhan Khan fought his first battle when he was 15. He would go on to capture the cities of Bursa and Nicaea, and defeated Byzantine Emperor Andronicus III.
Andronicus was succeeded by the infant John V, whose government was in the hands of his minister John Cantacuzenus. Seeking to become emperor himself, Cantacuzenus bought the favor of Orkhan through subsidies and delivering his daughter into Orkhan's harem.
Until Cantacuzenus was overthrown in 1354, Orkhan supported the Byzantines, taking advantage of the situation to occupy the city of Gallipoli and gain a foothold in Europe.
Orkhan died in 1360 and is interred in Bursa.