Sultan Murat I
Murad I (1319 (or 1326) – 1389; nick-named Hüdavendiğar, the God-like one) was the ruler of the Ottoman Empire from 1359 to 1389. He was the son of Orhan I and the Byzantine princess Helen (Nilofer) and became the ruler following his father's death in 1389. He established the Empire by building up a society and government in the newly conquered city of Adrianople (Edirne in Turkish) and by expanding the realm in Europe, bringing most of the Balkan under Ottoman rule and forcing the Byzantine emperor to pay him tribute. It was Murad who established the former Osmanli tribe into an empire. He established the title of sultan in 1383 and the corps of the Janissaries and the devşirm recruiting system. He also organised the government of the Divan, the system of timars and timar-holders (timariots) and the military judge, the kaziasker. He also established the two provinces of Anadolu (Anatolia) and Rumili (Europe).
Murad fought against the powerful emirate of Karamanid in Anatolia and against the Serbs, Bulgarians and Hungarians in Europe. His moves in the Balkans brought together a Christian coalition under the king of Hungary, but they were defeated at the Battle of Maritsa on September 26, 1371 by Murad's capable second lieutenant Lalaşahin , the first governor (Beylerbey) of Rumili. In 1366 the Serbian king was forced to pay tribute to the Sultan and in 1385 Sofia fell to the Ottomans. Murad was assassinated by Miloš Obilic, a Serbian noble, during the Battle of Kosovo. See the conquests of Murad I.