History of Islam Vol 3 of 3 by Akbar Shah Najeebabadi

376 The History of Islam
found his
capital under threat, he sought immediate help from Orkhan.
Sultan Orkhan wrote to his son, Sulaiman to leave the fort in return for a
substantial amount of money. Sulaiman was on the verge of acting
upon the order of his father when a violent earthquake erupted and the
city wall of Gallipoli fell to the ground creating greater terror and panic
among the citizens. Assuming it a support from destiny the two
commanders Azdi Beg and Ghazi Fazil, accompanying Sulaiman
crossed the broken
city-wall and captured Gallipoli. Immediately after
the seizure Sulaiman, had the walls repaired
and deployed a strong
Turkish detachment there. Caesar lodged a complaint with Orkhan
against the occupation of Gallipoli Fort. Orkhan wrote back that his son
with sword did not conquer Gallipoli.
place by an accident of
However, he would write to him to
The possession of the city took
the city wall falling because of the earthquake.
vacate the occupation. But, since
Caesar was constantly in need of military help from Sultan Orkhan and
was himself involved in family feuds, he did not put further pressure
for the return of Gallipoli and Sulaiman continued the occupation. The
occupation of Gallipoli was very necessary to Sulaiman because it kept
safe the western coast of Asia Minor from being usurped by Venice.
Two years after this event, Sulaiman suffered a fall from his horse and
died in 759 A.H. while hunting a falcon.
Sulaiman was a very promising, brave and wise young leader. Orkhan
felt terribly shocked at his tragic death. Had he lived he would have
succeeded
his father Orkhan. It was, in fact, a severe blow for a father
like him who succumbed to his frustration in 761 A.H. at the age of 75
years, after reigning marvelously for 38 years.
Orkhan put his father's will and policy into practice with courage and
caution and extended his borders up to the European coasts. Orkhan
was wholly and solely interested in European campaigns. The reason
he buried his son at the Danube pass instead of Bursa was that he
didn’t want the Turks to ever think of deserting the European coasts.
Murad I
In the wake of his elder son, Sulaiman's death Orkhan declared his
younger son, Murad as the crown prince. Following the death of