History of Islam Vol 3 of 3 by Akbar Shah Najeebabadi

Ottoman Empire
377
Orkhan, Murad ascended the throne in 761 A.H. at the age of 40 years.
He had a strong desire to expand hia territory in Europe but revolt in
the Turk Seljuk State of Karaman engaged his attention and he was
preoccupied with the affairs of Asia Minor. However, he descended
on the European shores, conquered Adrianople and renamed it Edime
and made it his capital and from 763 A.H. to the conquest of
Constantinople by Sultan Muhammad II the capital remained at
Edime. In the wake of the conquest of Adrianople the people of
Bulgaria and Serbia grew anxious. The Caesar of Constantinople sent
his message to the Archbishop of Rome to deliver sermons on the
Crusade and dispatch reinforcements from all over Europe. The
Christian kings of Serbia and Bulgaria also became alert. Thus, the
united Christian forces moved towards Andrianople in 765 A.H.
Murad I sent his commander, Lala Shahin at the head of 20 thousand
soldiers. The Muslim force took on several hundred thousand
Christian troops two stages ahead of Adrianople. This handful of
Muslim soldiers gave a smashing defeat to the huge Christian army.
They fled the battlefield leaving behind a large number of dead and
many captives. Lala Shahin moved forward and conquered large
tracts of enemy territory.
When the
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Christians witnessed that Sultan Murad I had consolidated
his position in Adrianople, they made another attempt in 778 A.H. to
end the Muslim occupation of European land. Thus, the united forces
from Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Bosnia, Poland, Constantinople and
the Pope of Rome marched ahead to wipe out Murad I and the
Ottoman Empire. The Muslim army was traditionally less than one*
fourth of the Christians' joint command but the result was the same
and the huge Christian forces had to taste an ignominious defeat. The
king of Serbia bought peace with an annual payment in silver the
availability one thousand horsemen at the time of war for the service
of Murad I, while the ruler of Bulgaria saved himself by offering his
daughter in marriage and promising allegiance. Caesar of
Constantinople
presented three beautiful daughters one to be married
to Murad I himself while the other two were to become wives of his
two sons. Caesar now cast out of his mind the idea of driving Sultan
Murad I out of Europe. Overtly he was now making all-out efforts to
n^aintain good relations with the Sultan instead. While covertly, he