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Osman I was born in 1258 in the town of Sogut. His father was Ertugrul Gazi. His mother was Hayme Sultan.
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When his father died, Osman became the chief, or the Bey. He was only twenty three years old when he became the leader of the Kayi Clan.
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Many Ottomans' favorite topic to write about around this time was Mal Hatun. They wrote of how their great Sultan wooed his fair maiden. Poets loved to write about the dreamlike existence of their emperor.
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Osman symbolically declared independence in 1299. He stopped paying the tribute payment to the Mongol Emperor. He had created an independent state.
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In order to have their own land, the Ottomans had to conquer lands. He wanted the land west of the Sakarya River, south to Eskishehir and northwest to Mount Olympus and the Sea of Marmara. Osman and his men succesfully conquered many crucial forts and cities.
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The Ottomans captured many cities and landmarks. Some were more important than others. Yenishehir is where Osman established the new Ottoman capital. When the Ottomans captured the Sakarya River and the Sea of Marmara, he had started the capture of the city of Bursa by isolating it.
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Osman and his troops wished to capture the city of Bursa because it was an important Byzantine center at the foot of Mount Olympus. Bursa had a high wall around it and had many forts and covered a large amount of land. Osman's troops could not take the city by force so Osman tried to put Bursa under siege to force them to surrender. After many years of this, the city finally fell and surrendered April 6th 1326.
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Since Bursa was such a big city, it was difficult to completely isolate the whole city with the Ottomans. Bursa still had communication and supplies coming in and out of the city through the port of Mudanya. In 1321, the Ottomans finally captured and took control of the port, therefore completely isolating the city from outside sources.
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Osman died because of age and illness. He left his empire to his son Orhan. Osman lived just long enough to hear from his son that Bursa had finally surrendered after all of those years.
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Right before Osman's death, he gave his son some advice to use during his rule. He told him that the most important issues to deal with are reigious. He advised him that scholars, virtuous men, artists and literary men are the power of the state structure and to honor them. Toward the end of his speech, he told him to depend on God's help in the esteem of justice and fairness.
