The Interregnum (Fetret Devri) is the period from the Battle of Ankara in 1402 to 1413, marked by the struggles for the throne among the sons of Bayezid I. The Arabic word fetret means “interval, pause.” This eleven-year crisis ended when Mehmed Çelebi defeated his brother Musa Çelebi on 5 July 1413.
Quick Summary
- The period lasted about eleven years, from 1402 to 1413.
- It began with the defeat at the Battle of Ankara on 28 July 1402.
- The princes Süleyman, İsa, Musa and Mehmed fought one another for the throne.
- Mehmed Çelebi defeated Musa Çelebi at Çamurlu on 5 July 1413.
- According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the problems the period created lasted for about half a century.
Contents
- Definition
- The beginning of the period
- The princes and their territories
- The struggle among the brothers
- The end of the period
- How long did it last?
- Its consequences
- Frequently asked questions
What Is the Interregnum?
According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the Interregnum is the period that brought the Ottoman state to the brink of disintegration and is counted among the most important turning points in its history. The centralized state that Bayezid I had built with great difficulty faced the danger of collapse in these years. According to the encyclopedia, this crisis could be overcome thanks to the firm Ottoman settlement in Rumelia. The problems the period created, however, lasted for about half a century.
In Ottoman history, this name refers to the years when the state was left without a head and the princes fought one another. According to the encyclopedia, the period was also the main basis of developments that affected the state’s organization, its conception of sovereignty and its rules of succession. For this reason it is seen not only as a civil war but also as a period of transformation. These years also clearly showed how dangerous a struggle for the throne among princes could be for the state.
How Did the Interregnum Begin?
According to the encyclopedia, when Timur took Baghdad in 1399, Sultan Ahmad of the Jalayirids and Qara Yusuf of the Qara Qoyunlu took refuge with the Ottomans. Bayezid refused to hand them back, and harsh letters were exchanged between the two rulers. Timur then besieged Sivas; when the city surrendered after holding out for eighteen days, he had its defenders killed and the city burned. According to the encyclopedia, through an envoy sent on 13 March 1402, Timur demanded the return of Qara Yusuf and the acceptance of a cap and belt as a sign of dependence. When Bayezid rejected these demands, war became inevitable.
The period began with the Battle of Ankara. According to the encyclopedia, the battle was most probably fought on 28 July 1402 on the Çubuk plain near Ankara. According to the sources, Timur’s army numbered 160,000 men; the Ottoman army, according to Timur’s proclamation of victory, numbered about 70,000. The battle turned in Timur’s favor when the Black Tatars, whom he had won over through his spies, changed sides.
According to the encyclopedia, Timur’s army consisted mostly of cavalry and had more than thirty elephants. The Serbian king, meanwhile, was in the Ottoman ranks with 20,000 soldiers. According to Neşri, the soldiers of some Anatolian principalities also joined their former lords, who were on Timur’s side. These defections weakened Bayezid’s army at the most critical moment of the battle. According to the encyclopedia, Bayezid had lifted the siege of Constantinople for this campaign by coming to terms with Byzantium.
According to the encyclopedia, Bayezid I was defeated, taken prisoner and died in captivity in Akşehir on 8 March 1403. Timur returned the lands of the Anatolian lords to their former owners. He divided the remaining territories among Bayezid’s sons. Thus the unity of the state was broken, and the struggle for the throne began.
Which Territories Did the Princes Control?
According to the encyclopedia, Bayezid left behind sons named Süleyman, İsa, Musa, Mehmed, Mustafa and Kasım. The eldest prince, Emir Süleyman, took the treasury and the archives from Bursa together with the grand vizier Çandarlı Ali Pasha and crossed into Rumelia. In February 1403 he signed the Treaty of Gallipoli with the Byzantine emperor Manuel and proclaimed his rule in Edirne.
According to the encyclopedia, with this treaty Thessaloniki, Thessaly and some places on the Black Sea coast were ceded to Byzantium. The tribute that Byzantium paid to the Ottomans was also abolished. At the same time İsa Çelebi took control of Bursa, and Mehmed Çelebi of the area around Amasya and Sivas. According to the encyclopedia, the aim of all the princes was to capture Bursa, the first capital.
Emir Süleyman left his younger brother Kasım and his sister Fatma Sultan in Constantinople. According to the encyclopedia, in June 1403 he also came to terms with Venice and Genoa by granting them commercial privileges. Under this agreement, the Italian states were to prevent Timur from crossing into Rumelia. According to the encyclopedia, Mehmed Çelebi was also known by the nickname “Kirişçi,” which derives from a Greek word meaning “young lord.”
The Struggle among the Brothers
Mehmed Çelebi first defeated his elder brother İsa Çelebi at Ulubat and proclaimed his rule in Bursa in 1404. According to the encyclopedia, İsa Çelebi tried his luck a few more times but was captured at Eskişehir in 1405–1406 and killed. Then Emir Süleyman crossed into Anatolia and took Bursa and Ankara. Mehmed Çelebi was forced to withdraw to Amasya.
Mehmed Çelebi then sent his brother Musa Çelebi to Rumelia by way of Wallachia in 1409. According to the encyclopedia, the lords of Rumelia and the timariot sipahis joined Musa Çelebi. When Emir Süleyman was forced to return to Rumelia, Mehmed Çelebi recaptured Anatolia. In the first encounter, on 15 June 1410, Musa Çelebi was defeated when the Serbs changed sides at the last moment. Musa Çelebi entered Edirne in 1411; Süleyman Çelebi, who fled, was caught and killed.
According to the encyclopedia, Musa Çelebi proclaimed his rule in Edirne on 17 February 1411. He appointed the famous jurist Sheikh Bedreddin as kazasker and Mihaloğlu Mehmed Bey as beylerbeyi. He took back the places ceded to Byzantium and besieged Constantinople. According to the encyclopedia, he marched against the Serbs and took Novo Brdo, and he neutralized the Bulgarian prince who had rebelled in Vidin. His harsh treatment of those around him, however, drove the lords of Rumelia away from him.
How Did the Interregnum End?
According to the encyclopedia, the Byzantine emperor first tried to keep Musa Çelebi busy by sending Orhan Çelebi, whom he held as a hostage, to Rumelia. When Musa Çelebi defeated him near Thessaloniki, he increased his pressure on Constantinople.
Fearing that Musa Çelebi would take Constantinople, the Byzantine emperor invited Mehmed Çelebi to Rumelia. According to the encyclopedia, in October 1412 Mehmed Çelebi was defeated by Musa Çelebi at İnceğiz near Çatalca. Musa had 7,000 Janissaries under his command. Mehmed Çelebi did not succeed in a second attempt either.
According to the encyclopedia, this time Mehmed Çelebi secretly won the lords of Rumelia over to his side. The akıncı commander Gazi Evrenos Bey also brought the Serbs into his ranks. Having received auxiliary forces from Nasırüddin Bey of the Dulkadır dynasty, Mehmed Çelebi crossed into Rumelia on Byzantine ships.
The two brothers met on the plain of Çamurlu near Samakov, south of Sofia. According to the encyclopedia, Musa Çelebi fought bravely with the few Janissaries at his side, but his forces scattered. He was captured while fleeing wounded and was killed on 5 July 1413; his body was buried in his father’s tomb in Bursa. Mehmed Çelebi proclaimed himself the sole ruler of the state in Edirne, and the years of the Interregnum came to an end.
How Long Did the Interregnum Last?
The period lasted about eleven years, from the Battle of Ankara on 28 July 1402 to the Battle of Çamurlu on 5 July 1413. In textbooks this span is usually given as 1402–1413. Throughout these eleven years the state had no single, undisputed ruler. Its consequences, however, were not limited to these years. According to the encyclopedia, the problems the period gave rise to occupied the state for about fifty years.
The Consequences of the Interregnum
According to the encyclopedia, after the defeat at Ankara the Anatolian principalities regained their former territories. With the Treaty of Gallipoli, Byzantium recovered some territories and was freed from paying tribute to the Ottomans. The unity of the state could be preserved only thanks to the strong settlement in Rumelia.
In these years Byzantium pursued a policy of playing the princes off against one another. According to the encyclopedia, Emperor Manuel always intended to profit from the struggles among the princes. The same policy was seen in later years in the affair of Düzme (“False”) Mustafa.
The effects of the crisis continued under Mehmed I as well. The affairs of Sheikh Bedreddin and Düzme Mustafa were the aftershocks of this period. When Murad II came to the throne, he too had to fight his uncle Düzme Mustafa. We described the recovery in our article on how Mehmed Çelebi reunited the state, and the following period in our article on Murad II and the Battle of Varna.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long did the Interregnum last?
It lasted from 1402 to 1413, about eleven years. It began with the Battle of Ankara and ended with the Battle of Çamurlu.
What does fetret mean?
It is a word of Arabic origin meaning “interval, pause.”
Who ended the Interregnum?
Mehmed Çelebi ended this period by defeating his brother Musa Çelebi at Çamurlu on 5 July 1413.
When was the Battle of Ankara fought?
According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, it was most probably fought on 28 July 1402 on the Çubuk plain near Ankara. Bayezid I was taken prisoner in the battle.
Conclusion
The Interregnum was a struggle for survival that began with the defeat at Ankara and lasted eleven years. Bayezid’s sons fought one another for Bursa and Edirne, and the state came to the brink of disintegration. Mehmed Çelebi’s victory in 1413 restored its unity. These years also left deep marks on the conception of sovereignty and succession.
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