Unfortunately for the early empire, these sultans were father and son. Only once did a sultan die in battle and only one sultan was ever captured by an enemy. We donвЂ™t know what he looked like we have no proclamations extant from his reign, as OsmanвЂ™s reign began in what was then the Ottoman Dark Ages. During his lifetime, he was regarded as unimportant enough that we have absolutely no contemporary sources about him. Osman was definitely real, but in some ways, heвЂ™s like King Arthur in the west: a founder of an idea and a near-mythical figure.

Putting it simply, Osman was unlikely ever to have had such an impractical sword, though it could be that the original blade was later plated and embellished. OsmanвЂ™s lavishly-decorated sword and belt are the Ottoman equivalent of the coronation crown jewels, but itвЂ™s doubtful that what is seen today on display in the TopkapД± Palace Museum in Istanbul is what Osman held in his hand. But as the empire matured and then waned, so the sultans began to shirk their duties on the battlefield. This certainly rang true in the first half of the history of the empire, and for the next 300 years, sultans would regularly be seen in battle. This was the Ottoman equivalent of being anointed and crowned in the west and was a reminder to all of the 36 sultans who followed that their power and status came from this legendary warrior and that they were martial rulers. It was on the coronation day of OsmanвЂ™s successor that the tradition of wearing OsmanвЂ™s sword, girded by his belt, began. He was very much a warrior in the mould of other great cavalry officers of the Middle Ages (like Genghis Khan before he won an empire).

The Seljuks had arrived from the Asiatic steppes in the 11th century AD and had been in Anatolia for generations, while Osman had ruled a tiny Anatolian territory at the end of the 13th century and the early 14th century. Osman, a Seljuk Turk, is the man who is seen as the founder of the empire (his name is sometimes spelt Ottman or Othman, hence the term вЂOttomanвЂ™).

Empire total war ottoman