The Battle of Dinboz

Donald Nicol Donald MacGillivray Nicol, (4 February 1923 – 25 September 2003) was an English Byzantinist. Life Nicol was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, to a Church of Scotland minister, and received a classical education at King Edward VII School in ...

, ''Theodore Spandounes: On the origin of the Ottoman emperors''. Cambridge University Press 1997, p. 10Colin Imber, "The Legend of Osman Gazi" in Elizabeth A. Zachariadou (ed.), ''The Ottoman Emirate (1300-1389). Halcyon Days in Crete, A Symposium Held in Rethymnon''. 1994, , p. 72 or Dimbos

Halil İnalcık Halil İnalcık (7 September 1916 – 25 July 2016) was a Turkish historian. His highly influential research centered on social and economic approaches to the Ottoman Empire. His academic career started at Ankara University, where he completed h ...

, "The Struggle Between Osman Gazi and The Byzantines For Nicaea", Isıl Akbaygil, Halil İnalcık, Oktay Aslanapa (ed.), ''İznik: Throughout History'', Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, , 2003
pp. 61-62, 70.
in İnalcık's personal website.( Turkish: Dimbos Muharebesi) was a battle between the Ottoman Beylik (later

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

) and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

in 1303.

Background

After the battle of Bapheus in 1302, Turkish gazis from all parts of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

began raiding

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

territories. Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos tried to form an alliance with the Ilkhanid Mongols against the Ottoman threat. Failing to secure frontiers by the alliance he decided to attack the Ottomans with his own army.

The battle

The battle is known only through later traditions which include semi-legendary elements, and hence probably reflects more folk tradition than actual historical events. According to

Theodore Spandounes Theodore Spandounes ( el, Θεόδωρος Σπανδούνης, it, Teodoro Spandugino) was an early 16th-century Greek historian of noble Byzantine extraction, the son of exiles fleeing the Ottoman conquest of Byzantium who had settled in Venice ...

, "Dimbos" (in Greek) or "Dinboz" (deriving from ''din bozmak'', "change of faith") was the first Byzantine town to fall to the Ottomans. The 15th-century chronicler

Aşıkpaşazade Dervish Ahmed ( tr, Derviş Ahmed; "Ahmed the Dervish; 1400–1484), better known by his pen name Âşıki or family name Aşıkpaşazade, was an Ottoman historian, a prominent representative of the early Ottoman historiography. He was a descen ...

drew on accounts of another battle near Koyunhisar ( Battle of Bapheus) from other chronicles and moved them to the vicinity Dimbos to form his account of the "Battle of Dinboz". The Anatolian army of the Byzantine Empire was composed of the forces of local garrisons like Adranos (modern Orhaneli), Bidnos, Kestel (modern village Erdoğan) and Kete (modern village of Ürünlü). In the spring of 1303, the Byzantine army advanced to Yenişehir, an important Ottoman city north east of Bursa.

Osman I Osman I or Osman Ghazi ( ota, عثمان غازى, translit= ʿOsmān Ġāzī; tr, I. Osman or ''Osman Gazi''; died 1323/4), sometimes transliterated archaically as Othman, was the founder of the Ottoman Empire (first known as the Ottoman Bey ...

defeated them near the pass of Dimbos on the way to Yenişehir. During the battle both sides suffered heavy casualties. On the Ottoman side, Osman's nephew Aydoğdu and on the Byzantine side the governors of Kestel and Dimbos were among the losses.''Studies in Ottoman history in honour of Professor V. L. Ménage'' Isis Press 1994, p. 205

Aftermath

The governor of Kete tried to escape to nearby Lopardion (modern Ulubat) fort. But Osman arrested and later executed him in front of the fort; the fort subsequently surrendered and was captured by the Ottoman Turks.

References

{{coord missing, Turkey 1300s in the Byzantine Empire Dimbos Dimbos Dimbos Dimbos History of Bursa Province Dimbos 1303 in the Ottoman Empire