السلطان محمد الفاتح

1481 CE · 886 AH

Mehmed the Conqueror, seventh of the Ottoman kings — sultan for thirty-one years from 856, 'the greatest of their sultans in jihad', who laid the Ottoman state's foundations and its statutes. His fame rests on the conquest of Constantinople: he drove ships over land, besieged it fifty days and took it on Wednesday 20 Jumada II 857, prayed Friday in Hagia Sophia, built the Eight Madrasas with endowed stipend-ranks for students, and drew the age's great scholars — Ali al-Qushji, al-Tusi, al-Kurani — till Istanbul became mother of the world ¹.

Depth

At a glance

Roles: Ruler · military
Era: The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era · The Gunpowder Empires
Region: Anatolia
Review: Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

Life in time

The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Gunpowder Empires · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era Contemporaries: Al-Balawi, Ahmad ibn Ali · al-Burshani Ibrahim ibn Muhammad · al-Busrawi Ala al-Din Ali ibn Yusuf · Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi · al-Samhudi

On screen

Conquest 1453· Film, 2012 · About · historical drama
Rise of Empires: Ottoman· Documentary series · About · documentary

Overview

Sultan Mehmed II, known as the Conqueror, the seventh of the Ottoman rulers, son of Murad Khan. He was born in 835 AH, came to the sultanate in 856 AH, and his reign lasted thirty-one years. ²

The conquest

Ibn al-Imad says that he besieged Constantinople for fifty days until he took it on Wednesday, 20 Jumada al-Akhira 857 AH. He prayed the Friday prayer in Hagia Sophia. ²

Ibn al-Imad describes him as one of the greatest of the Ottoman sultans in holy war and the boldest of them. ²

Learning

He founded madrasas with eight doors in Istanbul, gave the students what met their needs and grades to rise through, and brought in great scholars, among them Ali al-Qushji and al-Kurani. ²

He was among the pupils of Aq Shams al-Din, and his son Abu Yazid succeeded him. ³

He died in 886 AH (1481 CE). The Gregorian date is from al-Salabi. ³