the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

İnalcık 357 . Quite possibly, this might explain some of the Ottomans' successes in
the year 1352, when Süleyman Pasha conquered a number of fortresses on the
European side of the Dardanelles. Aşıkpaşazade's narrative asserts that:
Süleyman Pasha sent word to his father saying 'o fortunate one, with your
miraculous care now Rumeli has been conquered by us. The infidels here
became extremely weak. So, let it be known that we need here many men
of Muslim faith to make secure and prosperous the lands and fortresses
which have been conquered ... Orkhan Ghâzi agreed and sent those dark
skinned Arab nomad families (Kara göçer Arab-evleri), which had
previously migrated over to Karesi-ili. These Arabs stayed for some time in
the environs of Gelibolu. Süleyman Pasha then continued his onslaught and
reached the coasts of Tekvur-Daghı, on the way he took the abovementioned
fortresses... In the mean time, new settlers arrived day after day
from Karesi-ili" 358
By locating "Arab" settlements on the Asiatic side of the Dardanels in early
Ottoman history, İnalcık 359 argues convincingly that this statement was not a flight
of fancy from Aşıkpaşazade, but that it reflected a historical reality. Süleyman
Pasha's claim that "the infidels became extremely weak" seems justified, not only
in the light of his military achievements, but also of the loss in population that the
region had suffered in 1347-1348. Aşıkpaşazade emphasises that the Arab nomads
were summoned from Karesi-ili, where they had previously migrated, thus
indicating that they had moved into its fertile rural areas quite recently and most
likely after the region had been depopulated by the Black Death.
Moreover, the plague outbreak was used by the Byzantines to condemn
their emperor's foreign policy with regard to the Ottomans, which was a bone of
contention that deeply divided the population. An unidentified source seemingly
referred to the participation of Cantacuzenos in battle as a support to the
Ottomans, when it believed the plague to be "a special punishment from God on
357 İnalcık, The Question of the Emergence of the Ottoman State`, 74.
358 İnalcık, Essays in Ottoman History, 393
359 İnalcık, Essays in Ottoman History, 393-394
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