Alexander (son of Ivan Shishman)
Encyclopedia
Alexander subsequently Iskender (Ottoman Turkish
: اسكندر) (d. 1418), was the eldest son of Bulgarian tsar Ivan Shishman
(r. 1371–1395). Alexander was possibly made co-emperor by his father before the Ottoman conquest of the Tarnovo Tsardom
in 1395. After the subjugation of Ivan Shishman's realm and his execution, Alexander converted to Islam
to avoid his father's fate. He was made governor of Samsun
, where he remained until 1402. From 1413 to 1418, when he was killed in a battle against a local rebel, Alexander was in charge of Smyrna
(İzmir
).
, or to his second wife, a daughter of Prince Lazar of Serbia
(r. 1371–1389).
Due to Alexander's first-born status, Bulgarian historian Petar Nikov conjectures that at some point before 1395, Alexander was made co-ruler by his father Ivan Shishman. This would have been in line with a custom that dates to the reign of Ivan Alexander
(r. 1331–1371), Ivan Shishman's own father. Alexander had a younger brother, Fruzhin
, who, in contrast to Alexander, was a staunch opponent of the Ottomans and a Hungarian
subject. In addition to Fruzhin, Alexander had other brothers and sisters, of whom practically nothing is known.
The Fall of Tarnovo in 1393 and the subsequent subjugation of the entire Tarnovo Tsardom in 1395 resulted in the execution of Ivan Shishman by Sultan Bayezid I
(r. 1389–1402). Though his successor Alexander was spared by the Ottomans, he was forced into accepting Islam and was exiled to Asia Minor
so as to keep him far from his father's previous domains. Alexander, subsequently referred to as Iskender in Ottoman sources, was installed as governor of Samsun
and the neighbouring territories (“the land of Canik
”). These lands lay along the southern Black Sea
coast, between Sinope
and Trebizond, and had been recently conquered by Bayezid. Alexander possibly remained governor of Samsun until 1402, when this region was conquered by the Timurids in the wake of the Battle of Ankara
on 20 July of that year. After the Timurid victory, the Samsun region came under the rule of the Seljuk prince İsfendiyar.
Alexander's subsequent fate is unknown until the end of the Ottoman Interregnum
in 1413, when Mehmed I
(r. 1413–1421) had established himself as ruler of the Ottoman Empire and had retaken the region of Smyrna on the eastern Aegean
coast. Until then, Smyrna had been ruled by Cüneyt
, the bey
of Aydin, who was exiled as governor of the previously Bulgarian city of Nikopol
on the Danube
. Alexander was installed as the ruler of Smyrna in Cüneyt's place. He remained in charge of the city until 1418, when he attempted to suppress a rebellion to the south of Smyrna headed by Sheikh Bedrettin's follower Börklüce Mustafa. However, Alexander's forces proved insufficient for the purpose. His army was ambushed in a mountain gorge and suffered a great defeat, during which Alexander was killed.
According to the theory of Bulgarian historian Plamen Pavlov, during his time as governor of Smyrna, Alexander may have been in active contact with his possible half-brother, the future Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople
. From 1393 to 1416, Joseph was the metropolitan bishop of Ephesus
, another city on the eastern Aegean coast located not far from Smyrna. Pavlov conjectures that Joseph's selection as patriarch may have been influenced by his ties to Mehmed I via Alexander. In Pavlov's opinion, it is also possible that titular Bulgarian tsar Constantine II
's support for Mehmed was in some way related to his relative Alexander's position as an Ottoman governor.
Ottoman Turkish language
The Ottoman Turkish language or Ottoman language is the variety of the Turkish language that was used for administrative and literary purposes in the Ottoman Empire. It borrows extensively from Arabic and Persian, and was written in a variant of the Perso-Arabic script...
: اسكندر) (d. 1418), was the eldest son of Bulgarian tsar Ivan Shishman
Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria
Ivan Shishman ruled as emperor of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 July 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire. His indecisive and inconsistent policy did little to prevent the fall of his country under Ottoman rule. In 1393 the Ottoman...
(r. 1371–1395). Alexander was possibly made co-emperor by his father before the Ottoman conquest of the Tarnovo Tsardom
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
in 1395. After the subjugation of Ivan Shishman's realm and his execution, Alexander converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
to avoid his father's fate. He was made governor of Samsun
Samsun
Samsun is a city of about half a million people on the north coast of Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Samsun Province and a major Black Sea port.-Name:...
, where he remained until 1402. From 1413 to 1418, when he was killed in a battle against a local rebel, Alexander was in charge of Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
(İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
).
Biography
There is no information about Alexander's early life in the contemporary sources. Indeed, the only hint as to his existence in a Bulgarian source is an anonymous reference in Ephraim's Prayer Canon to the Tsar, where he is only mentioned as “the son of the tsar”. It is uncertain whether Alexander was born to Ivan Shishman's first wife, Kira MariaKira Maria
Kira Maria , or only Maria, was a Bulgarian empress consort, first wife of Ivan Shishman . There are almost no historical sources about her. Her name is mentioned in the Boril obituary in the following manner:...
, or to his second wife, a daughter of Prince Lazar of Serbia
Lazar of Serbia
Lazar Hrebeljanović , was a medieval nobleman that emerged as the most powerful Serbian ruler after the death of the previous, childless, Emperor Uroš the Weak, which resulted in years of instability in the Serbian realm. As Stefan Lazar, he was Prince of Serbia from 1371 to 1389, ruling what is...
(r. 1371–1389).
Due to Alexander's first-born status, Bulgarian historian Petar Nikov conjectures that at some point before 1395, Alexander was made co-ruler by his father Ivan Shishman. This would have been in line with a custom that dates to the reign of Ivan Alexander
Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
Ivan Alexander , also known as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history...
(r. 1331–1371), Ivan Shishman's own father. Alexander had a younger brother, Fruzhin
Fruzhin
Fruzhin was a 15th-century Bulgarian noble who fought actively against the Ottoman conquest of the Second Bulgarian Empire. A son of one of the last Bulgarian tsars, Ivan Shishman of the Tarnovo Tsardom, Fruzhin co-organized the so-called Uprising of Konstantin and Fruzhin along with Constantine...
, who, in contrast to Alexander, was a staunch opponent of the Ottomans and a Hungarian
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
subject. In addition to Fruzhin, Alexander had other brothers and sisters, of whom practically nothing is known.
The Fall of Tarnovo in 1393 and the subsequent subjugation of the entire Tarnovo Tsardom in 1395 resulted in the execution of Ivan Shishman by Sultan Bayezid I
Bayezid I
Bayezid I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1389 to 1402. He was the son of Murad I and Valide Sultan Gülçiçek Hatun.-Biography:Bayezid was born in Edirne and spent his youth in Bursa, where he received a high-level education...
(r. 1389–1402). Though his successor Alexander was spared by the Ottomans, he was forced into accepting Islam and was exiled to Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
so as to keep him far from his father's previous domains. Alexander, subsequently referred to as Iskender in Ottoman sources, was installed as governor of Samsun
Samsun
Samsun is a city of about half a million people on the north coast of Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Samsun Province and a major Black Sea port.-Name:...
and the neighbouring territories (“the land of Canik
Beyliks of Canik
Beyliks of Canik is a name given to a group of small Turkmen principalities in northern Anatolia during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.- Background :After the battle of Kösedağ in 1243, Ilkhanid Mongols became the de facto rulers of Anatolia...
”). These lands lay along the southern Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast, between Sinope
Sinop, Turkey
Sinop is a city with a population of 36,734 on İnce Burun , by its Cape Sinop which is situated on the most northern edge of the Turkish side of Black Sea coast, in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, in modern-day northern Turkey, historically known as Sinope...
and Trebizond, and had been recently conquered by Bayezid. Alexander possibly remained governor of Samsun until 1402, when this region was conquered by the Timurids in the wake of the Battle of Ankara
Battle of Ankara
The Battle of Ankara or Battle of Angora, fought on July 20, 1402, took place at the field of Çubuk between the forces of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I and the Turko-Mongol forces of Timur, ruler of the Timurid Empire. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to a period of crisis for...
on 20 July of that year. After the Timurid victory, the Samsun region came under the rule of the Seljuk prince İsfendiyar.
Alexander's subsequent fate is unknown until the end of the Ottoman Interregnum
Ottoman Interregnum
The Ottoman Interregnum began in 20 July 1402, when chaos reigned in the Ottoman Empire following the defeat of Sultan Bayezid I by the Turco-Mongol warlord Timur...
in 1413, when Mehmed I
Mehmed I
Mehmed I Çelebi was a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. He was one of the sons of Bayezid I and Valide Sultan Devlet Hatun Mehmed I Çelebi (Ottoman: چلبی محمد, Mehmed I or Mehmed Çelebi) (1382, Bursa – May 26, 1421, Edirne, Ottoman Empire) was a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire...
(r. 1413–1421) had established himself as ruler of the Ottoman Empire and had retaken the region of Smyrna on the eastern Aegean
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
coast. Until then, Smyrna had been ruled by Cüneyt
Cüneyt Bey of Aydın
Cuneyd Bey , was the ruler of Aydinid principality in what is now modern Turkey in the early 15th century Cuneyd Bey , ( ?-1425) was the ruler of Aydinid principality in what is now modern Turkey in the early 15th century Cuneyd Bey , ( ?-1425) was the ruler of Aydinid principality in what is...
, the bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
of Aydin, who was exiled as governor of the previously Bulgarian city of Nikopol
Nikopol, Bulgaria
Nikopol is a town in northern Bulgaria, the administrative center of Nikopol municipality, part of Pleven Province, on the right bank of the Danube river, 4 km downstream from the mouth of the Osam river. It spreads at the foot of steep chalk cliffs along the Danube and up a narrow valley...
on the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. Alexander was installed as the ruler of Smyrna in Cüneyt's place. He remained in charge of the city until 1418, when he attempted to suppress a rebellion to the south of Smyrna headed by Sheikh Bedrettin's follower Börklüce Mustafa. However, Alexander's forces proved insufficient for the purpose. His army was ambushed in a mountain gorge and suffered a great defeat, during which Alexander was killed.
According to the theory of Bulgarian historian Plamen Pavlov, during his time as governor of Smyrna, Alexander may have been in active contact with his possible half-brother, the future Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople
Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople
Joseph II was Patriarch of Constantinople from 1416 to 1439.Born the son of Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria in 1360, little is known of his early life before he became a monk on Mount Athos. He became Metropolitan of Ephesus in 1393, before being elected Patriarch of Constantinople on 21 May 1416...
. From 1393 to 1416, Joseph was the metropolitan bishop of Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
, another city on the eastern Aegean coast located not far from Smyrna. Pavlov conjectures that Joseph's selection as patriarch may have been influenced by his ties to Mehmed I via Alexander. In Pavlov's opinion, it is also possible that titular Bulgarian tsar Constantine II
Constantine II of Bulgaria
Constantine II , ruled as emperor of Bulgaria in Vidin from 1397 to 1422. He was born in the early 1370s, and died in exile at the Serbian court on 17 September 1422...
's support for Mehmed was in some way related to his relative Alexander's position as an Ottoman governor.