Mehmed I
fifth Ottoman Sultan (1413–1421)
Mehmed I (Turkish: I. Mehmed; c. 1386/87 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi (Ottoman Turkish: چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi (Greek: Κυριτζής, romanized: Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. Son of Sultan Bayezid I and his concubine Devlet Hatun, he fought with his brothers over control of the Ottoman realm in the Ottoman Interregnum (1402–1413). Starting from the province of Rûm he managed to bring first Anatolia and then the European territories (Rumelia) under his control, reuniting the Ottoman state by 1413, and ruling it until his death in 1421. Called "The Restorer", he reestablished central authority in Anatolia, and he expanded the Ottoman presence in Europe through the conquest of Dobruja in 1419. Venice destroyed his fleet off Gallipoli in 1416 when the Ottomans lost a naval war.
Early life
Mehmed was born in 1386 or 1387 as the fourth son of Sultan Bayezid I (r. 1389–1402) and one of his consorts, the slave girl Devlet Hatun. Following Ottoman custom, when he reached adolescence in 1399, he was sent to gain experience as provincial governor over the Rûm Eyalet (central northern Anatolia), recently conquered from its Eretnid rulers.
On 20 July 1402, his father Bayezid was defeated in the Battle of Ankara by the Turko-Mongol conqueror and ruler Timur. The brothers (with the exception of Mustafa, who was captured and taken along with Bayezid to Samarkand) were rescued from the battlefield, Mehmed being saved by Bayezid Pasha, who took him to his hometown of Amasya. Mehmed later made Bayezid Pasha his grand vizier (1413–1421).
“Mehmed I” enters the record as fifth Ottoman Sultan (1413–1421). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Mehmed, fifth and Ottoman can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q168769. VIAF identifies the subject as 263937854. The Library of Congress control number is no2014069515. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1386, 1421, 1413 and 1402.
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