Turahan Bey
| Turahan Bey | |
|---|---|
| Died | ca. August 1456 |
| Buried at | Larissa |
| Allegiance | Ottoman Empire |
| Years of service | ca. 1413–1456 |
| Wars and campaigns | |
| Relations |
Pasha Yiğit Bey (father) Turahanoğlu Ahmed Bey and Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey (sons) |
Turahan Bey or Turakhan Beg (Turkish: Turahan Bey/Beğ; Albanian: Turhan Bej; Greek: Τουραχάνης, Τουραχάν μπέης or Τουραχάμπεης; died in 1456) was a prominent Ottoman military commander and governor of Thessaly from 1423 until his death in 1456. He participated in many Ottoman campaigns of the second quarter of the 15th century, fighting against the Byzantines as well as against the Crusade of Varna. His repeated raids into the Morea transformed the local Byzantine despotate into an Ottoman dependency and opened the way for its conquest. At the same time, his administration of Thessaly, where he settled new peoples, founded the town of Tyrnavos and revitalized the economy, set the groundwork for Ottoman rule in the area for centuries to come.
Nothing is known of his birth date or early life, except that he was the son of Pasha Yiğit Bey, who conquered Skopje in 1392 and was the first Ottoman governor of Bosansko Krajište.
He is first mentioned in 1413 as governor of Vidin, and then again in 1422, when he fought against the Byzantine governor of Lamia, Kantakouzenos Strabomytes. He was one of the supporters of Mustafa Çelebi during the latter's struggle against Mehmed I and Murad II. He became governor of Thessaly in early 1423, and led his first major expedition in May–June of the same year, against the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. His cavalry breached the recently rebuilt Hexamilion wall on 21/22 May and ravaged the interior of the peninsula unopposed. He attacked some Byzantine towns and settlements like Mystras, Leontari, Gardiki and Dabia. Aside from the plunder, the expedition was also probably a reconnaissance mission ultimately aimed against Venetian possessions in the area, as Venice was the main driving force behind attempts to unite the various Christian rulers of Greece against the Ottoman advance. Soon after, the Byzantine historian Doukas reports Turahan's presence on the shores of the Black Sea. At about the same time, he also campaigned in Epirus, defeated local Albanian tribes and made them tributary to the Ottoman state. In the 1430s along with Ali Bey and Ishak Bey he participated in the campaigns that suppressed an Albanian revolt, led by Gjergj Arianiti and Andrew Thopia.
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