Gazi Evrenos

Gazi Hadji Evrenos Bey
Nickname(s)	Gazi Baba
Born	Karasid Emirate
Died	17 November 1417 Yenice-i Vardar
Buried at	Yenice-i Vardar
Allegiance	Ottoman Empire
Battles/wars	Battle of Kosovo (1389) Battle of Nicopolis (1396) Evrenos conquered Keşan, İpsala, Komotini, Feres, Xanthi, Maroneia, Serres, Monastir, and, in 1397, Corinth

Evrenos or Evrenuz (Gazi Hadji Evrenos Bey; d. at 17 November 1417 in Yenice-i Vardar) was an Ottoman military commander, with an unlikely long-lived career and lifetime. He served as general under Süleyman Pasha, Murad I, Bayezid I, Süleyman Çelebi and Mehmed I.

Byzantine sources mention him as Εβρενός, Ἀβρανέζης, Βρανέζης, Βρανεύς (?), Βρενέζ, Βρενέζης, Βρενές. A persistent Greek legend maintains that Evrenos' father was a certain Ornos, renegade Byzantine governor of Prusa who defected to the forces of Osmanli, and then on to Karasi, after the fall of Prusa, in 1326. He was known as Isa Bey Prangi, buried in the village of Prangi (also known as Sırcık or Kırcık in Ottoman sources), a busy ferry-place on the Evros river about 6 km (4 mi) east from Didymoteicho.Stanford J. Shaw and Joseph von Hammer regard Evrenos as a Byzantine convert to Islam.

Οriginally, Gazi Evrenos was a noble dignitary, a beg in the principality of Karasi, joining the Ottomans only after their conquest of the beylik in 1345. He led many crucial Ottoman campaigns and battles in Bulgaria, Thessaly, and Serbia. After having participated in the Ottoman conquest of Adrianopolis in 1362, Evrenos was appointed to Ucbeyi (Margrave) of Thessaly. He and his akincis fought in the Battle of Kosovo (1389) and the Battle of Nicopolis (1396). Evrenos conquered Keşan, İpsala, Komotini, Feres, Xanthi, Maroneia, Serres, Monastir, and, in 1397, Corinth. He founded the town Yenice-i Vardar, modern Giannitsa. The Greek inhabitants of Gianitsa (Ottoman: Yenice Vardar) down to this century displayed reverence for "Gazi Baba", that is "papa Gazi".

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