istoryworld
Events relating to the turks
Turkish tribes, northern neighbours of the Muslims in central Asia, begin to adopt Islam as their religion
The earliest two Turkish states are the confederation of Gök Türk and the empire of the Khazars
The caliphs in Baghdad begin to employ Turkish slaves, or Mamelukes, in their armies
Turks from Ghazni, raiding into northwest India, renew the pressure of Islam on the subcontinent
The Seljuk Turks win a victory at Dandanqan, which gives them a base in the north of Iran and Afghanistan
The campaigns of Alp Arslan, culminating in 1071, give the Seljuk Turks a lasting presence in Anatolia
The Seljuk Turks and the Byzantines meet in battle at Manzikert, with victory going to the Turks
Konya, in central Turkey, becomes the capital of the Seljuk Turks, who call themselves sultans of Rum
The leader of a Turkish army establishes an independent sultanate in Delhi, beginning many centuries of Muslim rule in north India
Osman inherits the leadership of the tribal group later known by a version of his name, as the Ottoman Turks
Turkish tribes, besieging Genoese merchants in Caffa, lob the corpses of plague victims over the town walls and thus spread the Black Death
Gallipoli is taken by the Ottoman Turks, giving them their first foothold in Europe
Victory at Kosovo gives the Ottoman Turks control over Serbia, which becomes a vassal state
The Ottoman sultan Bayazid I brings the Slav kingdom of Bulgaria under his control
The Ottoman sultan Bayazid is defeated and captured near Ankara by Timur, who keeps the sultan in captivity until his death the following year
Skanderbeg, Albania's national hero, begins his long campaign of successes against the Turks
The Hungarian general Janos Hunyadi takes Sofia from the Turks and in the next few months liberates most of Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania
A Turkish army routs the Hungarians at Varna on the Black Sea, beginning a process which brings the Turks to the gates of Belgrade by 1456
Christian boys, trained as slaves in the personal service of the Turkish sultan, acquire considerable power as the elite corps of janissaries
The Turks terrify Constantinople by lobbing vast stones at the city from a 19-ton bombard of cast iron
Constantinople falls to a 21-year-old Muslim conqueror, Mehmed II, bringing the Ottoman Turks their capital city
The Christian emperor Constantine XI dies in the fighting in Constantinople, as the Greek Byzantine empire yields to that of the Ottoman Turks
The Turks, besieging Belgrade, are dispersed by a peasant army inspired by the preaching of a Franciscan friar, St John of Capistrano
The Turks complete the occupation of Greece, which remains within the Ottoman empire until the nineteenth century
Mehmed II and the Ottoman Turks conquer Bosnia, where a large number of noble families convert to Islam
