THE LEADER THAT I IDOL THE MOST

Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih

Portrait of Sultan Mehmet II, 1480, by Gentile Bellini (1429–1507), oil on canvas and perhaps transferred from wood, 69.9 x 52.1 cm. Now at the National Portrait Gallery in the UK.

Full name : Mehmed Bin Murad

Born        : 30 March 1432 ( Edirne, Rumelia Eyalet, Ottoman Sultanate )

1st reign  : August 1444 - September 1446

2nd reign: 3 February 1451 - 3 May 1481

Died       : 3 May 1481 (aged 49)

Burial     : Fatih Mosque,Istanbul,Turkey

Mehmed II (Ottoman Turkish), 30 March 1432 – 3 May 1481), commonly known as Muhammad al-Fatih the Conqueror (Turkish: Fatih Sultan Mehmet), was an Ottoman Sultan who ruled first for a short time from August 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to May 1481. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire. Mehmed continued his conquests in Anatolia with its reunification and in Southeast Europe as far west as Bosnia. Mehmed is considered a hero in modern-day Turkey and parts of the wider Muslim world. Among other things, Istanbul's Fatih district, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Fatih Mosque are named after him.

When Mehmed II was eleven years old he was sent to Amasya to govern and thus gain experience, as per the custom of Ottoman rulers before his time. Sultan Murad II also sent a number of teachers for him to study under.This Islamic education had a great impact in molding Mehmed's mindset and reinforcing his Muslim beliefs. He was influenced in his practice of Islamic epistemology by practitioners of science - particularly by his mentor, Molla Gürani - and he followed their approach. The influence of Akshamsaddin in Mehmed's life became predominant from a young age, especially in the imperative of fulfilling his Islamic duty to overthrow the Byzantine empire by conquering Constantinople.

After Murad II made peace with the Karamanids in Anatolia in August 1444, he abdicated the throne to his 12-year-old son Mehmed II.

In Mehmed II's first reign, he defeated the crusade led by János Hunyadi after the Hungarian incursions into his country broke the conditions of the truce Peace of Szeged. Cardinal Julian Cesarini, the representative of the Pope, had convinced the king of Hungary that breaking the truce with Muslims was not a betrayal.At this time Mehmed II asked his father Murad II to reclaim the throne, but Murad II refused. Angry at his father, who had long since retired to a contemplative life in southwestern Anatolia, Mehmed II wrote, "If you are the Sultan, come and lead your armies. If I am the Sultan I hereby order you to come and lead my armies" .It was only after receiving this letter that Murad II led the Ottoman army and won the Battle of Varnain 1444.

Murad II's return to the throne was forced by Çandarlı Halil Paşa, the grand vizier at the time, who was not fond of Mehmed II's rule, because Mehmed II's influential lala (royal teacher), Akshamsaddin, had a rivalry with Çandar


Shown below are the campaign lead by Muhammad al-Fatih the Conqueror

#	Campaign	Campaign dates	Notes
1	Karaman	1451	The Karamanids attacked Ottoman territory after Mehmed became sultan. In response sultan Mehmed made his first campaign against Karaman. The Karamanids were defeated and İbrahim II of Karaman promised not to attack the Ottomans again and so peace was restored.
2	Constantinople	1453	While sultan Mehmed was on his campaign against Karaman, the Byzantine emperor Constantine XI demanded an increase of the annual allowance to an Ottoman pretender in Constantinople. Mehmed refused and prepared to besiege Constantinople. He ordered the construction of the Rumeli Hisar after which the siege of the city began. The city was conquered following a siege lasting 53 days. The Byzantine Empire ceased to exist and the city became the new capital of the Ottoman Empire.
3	Serbia	1454-55	Mehmed led a campaign against Serbia because the Serbian ruler Đurađ Branković refused to send tribute and made an alliance with the Kingdom of Hungary. The Ottoman army conquered the important mining city of Novo Brdo.
4	Serbia	1456	Mehmed continued his campaign in Serbia, numerous castles were captured but the Siege of Belgrade (1456) was unsuccessful and the Ottoman army retreated.
5	Serbia	1458-59	After the death of the Serbian ruler Đurađ Branković a succession war broke out and the sultan who was related to the Serbian kings invaded the area, Smederevo was captured and the Serbian Despotate ended and was annexed to the Ottoman Empire. (See History of the Serbian–Turkish wars)
6	Morea	1458-59	The Despotate of Morea refused to pay its annual tribute and revolted. In response Mehmed led a campaign into Morea. The inhabitants were defeated and their territories were annexed into the Ottoman Empire.
7	Amasra	1460	Amasra, the most important fortress of the Genoese on the Black Sea coast, was besieged and captured.
8	Sinop	1461	Mehmed led a campaign against Trebizond and on the way annexed the entire Black Sea coast to the Ottoman Empire ending the reign of the Jandarids peacefully.
9	Trebizond	1461	After the emperor of the Empire of Trebizond refused to pay tribute and made an alliance with the Akkoyunlu Mehmed led a campaign against Trebizond by land and sea. After a siege of more than 32 days, Trebizond and the emperor surrendered and the Empire came to an end.
10	Wallachia	1462	Vlad the Impaler who with Ottoman help had become the Ottoman vassal ruler of Wallachia, refused to pay tribute after some years and invaded Ottoman territory in northern Bulgaria. At that point Mehmed, with the main Ottoman army, was on the Trebizond campaign in Asia. When Mehmed returned from his Trebizond campaign he led a campaign against Wallachia. Vlad fled after some resistance to Hungary. Mehmed first made Wallachia an Ottoman eyalet but then appointed Vlad's brother Raduas a vassal ruler.
11	Lesbos	1462	The island of Lesbos was captured following a siege of its capital, Mytilene, and annexed.
12	Bosnia	1463-64	Mehmed led a campaign against the Kingdom of Bosnia and annexed it to the Ottoman Empire
13	Morea	1463	Mehmed led a campaign in the Morea, which ended with the annexation of the Despotate of Morea.
14	Albania	1466-67	Mehmed led a campaign against Albania and besieged Krujë,but Albanian soldiers under Skanderbeg resisted successfully.
15	Karaman	1468	After the death of the ruler of Karamanids a civil war began among his sons in which Uzun Hasan, ruler of the Akkoyunlu, also became involved. After some time Mehmed marched into the area and annexed the Karamanids to the Ottoman Empire.
16	Negroponte	1470	During the long Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479). Mehmed led a campaign against the Venetian colony of Negroponte and after a siege annexed the region to the Ottoman Empire
17	Eastern Anatolia	1473	After many years of hostility Mehmed invaded the lands of the Akkoyunlu and defeated their ruler, Uzun Hasan, in the Battle of Otlukbeli, after which they did not pose a threat against the Ottomans anymore.
18	Moldavia	1476	Stephen III of Moldavia attacked Wallachia, an Ottoman vassal, and refused to pay the annual tribute. An Ottoman army was defeated and Mehmed led a personal campaign against Moldavia. He defeated the Moldavians in the Battle of Valea Alba, after that they accepted to pay the tribute and the peace was restored.
19	Albania	1478	During the long Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) Mehmed invaded Albania and besieged the Venetian fortress of Shkodra. The war ended in Venetian defeat and Shkodra was surrendered to the Ottomans in accordance with the Treaty of Constantinople (1479).

In Europe   : 2,3,4,5,6,10,12,13,14,15,16,18,19

In Anatolia : 1,7,8,9,11,17

What inspired me the most to the legendary Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih is :

The magnificient strategy of the Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih leading his army lays out 70 of his light ships, on a hill at a distance of almost 5 kilometers to anchor in the Golden Horn without going through the Byzantine chain.This happen at Galata Hill located at the northern shore of The Golden Horn the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of the old Constantinople . Who can even think at that time to carry an army of ship across hills ? Except Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih . 

In 1453 Mehmed commenced the siege of Constantinople with an army between 80,000 and 200,000 troops, an artillery train of over seventy large field pieces,and a navy of 320 vessels, the bulk of them transports and storeships. The city was surrounded by sea and land; the fleet at the entrance of the Bosphorus stretched from shore to shore in the form of a crescent, to intercept or repel any assistance for Constantinople from the sea.In early April, the Siege of Constantinople began. At first, the city's walls held off the Turks, even though Mehmed's army used the new bombard designed by Orban, a giant cannon similar to the Dardanelles Gun. The harbor of the Golden Horn was blocked by a boom chain and defended by twenty-eight warships.

On 22 April, Mehmed transported his lighter warships overland, around the Genoese colony of Galata, and into the Golden Horn's northern shore; eighty galleys were transported from the Bosphorus after paving a route, little over one mile, with wood. Thus the Byzantines stretched their troops over a longer portion of the walls. About a month later, Constantinople fell, on 29 May, following a fifty-seven-day siege.After this conquest, Mehmed moved the Ottoman capital from Adrianople to Constantinople.

Source : WIKIPEDIA , steemit beta