Küçük Mustafa ("Mustafa the Small" or "Mustafa the Little" or "Mustafa the Young"; 1409 – 1422) was an Ottoman prince ( tr, şehzade) who fought to gain control of the throne of the

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 ...

in 1422. It was used by the Ottoman chroniclers to distinguish him from his uncle

Mustafa Çelebi Mustafa Çelebi (d. May 1422), also called Mustafa the Impostor ( tr, Düzmece Mustafa or ''Düzme Mustafa''), was an Ottoman prince who struggled to gain the throne of the Ottoman Empire in the early 15th century. He was the Sultan of Rumelia ...

, who also fought for the throne.

Background

Mustafa was born in 1408 or 1409. He was the second son of

Mehmed I Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayezid ...

. In the early years of the Ottoman Empire, all princes were required to work as provincial (

sanjak Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province" ...

) governors as a part of their training. Young princes were accompanied by experienced statesmen. Mustafa's sanjak was Hamideli (roughly modern

Isparta Isparta is a city in western Turkey and the capital of Isparta Province. The city's population was 222,556 in 2010 and its elevation is 1035 m. It is known as the "City of Roses". Isparta is well-connected to other parts of Turkey via roads. An ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

). But after the death of his father, fearing for his life at the hands of his elder brother, he escaped to the rival Turkish beylik Karamanid territory. In Karaman, he was encouraged by an Ottoman

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignita ...

named Şaraptar İlyas to rebel against his elder brother, new sultan

Murad II Murad II ( ota, مراد ثانى, Murād-ı sānī, tr, II. Murad, 16 June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1444 and again from 1446 to 1451. Murad II's reign was a period of important economic deve ...

. Mustafa was supported by 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 ...

and married into the imperial family. In 1421 or 1422 he married Zampia Palaiologina Doria, daughter of Zampia Palaiologina who in turn was an illegitimate daughter of Emperor

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. Biography John V was the son of E ...

().

The rebellion

Immediately after his coronation, Murat was occupied with the rebellion of his uncle

. After defeating Mustafa, Murat laid siege to the Byzantine capital Constantinople (modern

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

) to punish the Byzantine Empire for supporting Mustafa. Küçük Mustafa saw his chance to rebel. Supported with troops from Karaman, he began capturing the Anatolian territories of the Ottoman Empire. The Byzantine emperor, seeing this rebellion as a chance for relief from the siege, also supported the rebellion. Although unsuccessful in the siege of

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

, the co-capital of the empire, Küçük Mustafa captured

İznik İznik is a town and an administrative district in the Province of Bursa, Turkey. It was historically known as Nicaea ( el, Νίκαια, ''Níkaia''), from which its modern name also derives. The town lies in a fertile basin at the eastern end ...

(

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and s ...

of antiquity), another important city in the Anatolia.

End of the rebellion

After hearing the news of the rebellion, Murat lifted the siege on Constantinople and returned to Anatolia. He also corresponded with Şaraptar İlyas secretly. İlyas betrayed Küçük Mustafa and changed sides, and İznik was easily captured by Murat's forces. Although Mustafa tried to escape, he was soon arrested and executed.Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye Tarihi ''Cilt II, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 pp 97-98

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafa 15th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 1422 deaths Executed people from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman princes Year of birth uncertain 15th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire Pretenders to the Ottoman throne