Editing Murad II (section)

===As ghazi sultan===
[[File:II._Murat.jpg|thumb|Sultan Murad II as portrayed by [[Konstantin Kapıdağlı]]]]
When Murad ascended the throne, he sought to regain lost Ottoman territories that had reverted to autonomy following his grandfather [[Bayezid I]]'s defeat at the [[Battle of Ankara]] in 1402 at the hands of [[Timur]]. He needed the support of both the public and the nobles "who would enable him to exercise his rule", and utilized the old and potent Islamic trope of the ''ghazi king''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Osman's Dream|last=Finkel|first=Caroline|publisher=Basic Books|year=2007|location=New York and London|pages=39, 41, 46}}</ref>

In order to gain popular international support for his conquests, Murad II modeled himself after the legendary ''Ghazi'' kings of old. The Ottomans already presented themselves as [[Ghazi (warrior)|''ghazis'']], painting their origins as rising from the [[Gaza thesis|''ghazas'' of Osman, the founder of the dynasty]]. For them, ''ghaza'' was the noble championing of Islam and justice against non-Muslims and Muslims alike, if they were cruel; for example, Bayezid I labeled Timur Lang, also a Muslim, an apostate prior to the Battle of Ankara because of the violence his troops had committed upon innocent civilians and because "all you do is to break promises and vows, shed blood, and violate the honor of women."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The Ghazi Sultans and the Frontiers of Islam|last=Anooshahr|first=Ali|publisher=Routledge|year=2009|location=New York and London|pages=123, 142–143, 150–151, 164}}</ref>  Murad II only had to capitalize on this dynastic inheritance of doing ''ghaza'', which he did by actively crafting the public image of Ghazi Sultan.

After his accession, there was a flurry of translating and compiling activity where old Persian, Arab, and Anatolian epics were translated into Turkish so Murad II could uncover the ''ghazi king'' legends.<ref name=":1" />  He drew from the noble behavior of the nameless [[Caliphate|Caliphs]] in the ''Battalname'', an epic about a fictional Arab warrior who fought against the Byzantines, and modelled his actions on theirs.<ref name=":1" />  He was careful to embody the simplicity, piety, and noble sense of justice that was part of the ''ghazi king'' persona.

For example, the Caliph in ''Battalname'' saw the battle turning in his enemy's favor, and got down from his horse and prayed, after which the battle ended in a victory for him. In the [[Battle of Varna]] in 1444, Murad II saw the Hungarians gaining the upper hand, and he got down from his horse and prayed just like the Caliph. The tide soon turned in the Ottoman's favor and [[Władysław III of Poland]], [[King of Hungary]], was killed in a charge.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />  Similarly, the Caliph in the epic roused his warriors by saying "Those of you who die will be martyrs. Those of you who kill will be ghazis"; before the Battle of Varna, Murad II repeated these words to his army, saying "Those of us who kill will be ghazis; those of us who die will be martyrs."<ref name=":1" />  In another instance, since the ''ghazi king'' is meant to be just and fair, when Murad took [[Thessaloniki|Thessalonica]] in the [[Balkans]], he took care to keep the troops in check and prevented widespread looting.<ref name=":0" />  Finally, just as the fictional Caliph's ghazas were immortalized in ''Battalname'', Murad II's battles and victories were also compiled and given the title "The ''Ghazas'' of Sultan Murad" (''Gazavat- i Sultan Murad)''.<ref name=":1" />

Murad II successfully painted himself as a simple soldier who did not partake in royal excesses, and as a noble ghazi sultan who sought to consolidate Muslim power against non-Muslims such as the Venetians and Hungarians. Through this self-presentation, he got the support of the Muslim population of not only the Ottoman territories, for both himself and his extensive, expensive campaigns, but also the greater Muslim populations in the [[Divisions of the world in Islam|Dar-al-Islam]] – such as the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] and the Muslim [[Delhi Sultanate]]s of India. Murad II was basically presenting himself not only as "a ''ghazi king'' who fights caffres [non-muslims], but also serves as protector and master of lesser ''ghazis''."<ref name=":1" />