Mihaloğlu Mehmed Bey

Mihaloğlu Mehmed Bey was a member of the Mihaloğulları family and one of the most important frontier warlords (uc beğleri) of the Ottoman Balkans during the last phase of the civil war of the Ottoman Interregnum (1403–1413), and during the early years of Murad II's reign.

According to Franz Babinger, Mihaloğlu Mehmed was a son of Köse Mihal, a contemporary and companion of the founder of the Ottoman emirate, Osman I. Mehmed had four brothers, Yahşi or Bahşı, Aziz, Hızır, and Yusuf. Of them, only Yahşi, who died in 1413, is somewhat known.

When Musa Çelebi moved against his brother Süleyman Çelebi, Mihaloğlu Mehmed joined the former, and led the attack against Edirne that resulted in the capture of the city and the overthrow and death of Süleyman in late 1410/early 1411. As a reward, Musa appointed Mihaloğlu as beylerbey (commander in chief and governor-general) for Rumelia, possibly as a counterweight to two other powerful uc beğleri, Evrenos and Pasha Yiğit Bey, who had been major figures in Süleyman's regime. Mihaloğlu was a close friend of Sheikh Bedreddin.

Despite this high favour, Mihaloğlu soon defected to another of Musa's brothers, Mehmed Çelebi, who ruled over Anatolia. The date of his defection is unclear; the Serbian historian Konstantin the Philosopher places it during Musa's siege of the Byzantine city of Selymbria in August/September 1411, while the anonymous Ottoman chronicle Aḥvāl-i Sulṭān Meḥemmed ("Affairs of Sultan Mehmed") places it somewhat later, during the Battle of İnceğiz. Other Ottoman sources do not mention his defection at all. According to Konstantin, Mihaloğlu had aided the escape of the Serbian ruler Đurađ Branković to Constantinople, and feared Musa's wrath; more likely, Mihaloğlu was worried that Musa might perceive him as a threat and eliminate him. Thus, while Musa was preoccupied with Selymbria, Mihaloğlu took charge of "the most select troops", ostensibly for an attack against Mehmed. Instead, he too went to Constantinople, where the Byzantines welcomed him and ferried him over to Anatolia.

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