Orhan

   Ottoman sultan (qq.v.) from 1326-1362; son of Osman (q.v.), the sultan who first established the Ottomans on European soil. Orhan's conquest of Prousa in 1328, Nicaea in 1331, and Nikomedeia (qq.v.) in 1337 helped the Ottomans to consolidate their domain in northwest Asia Minor (q.v.). It also entangled them, in the process, in the internal affairs of Byzantium (q.v.). In 1346 Orhan married Theodora Kantakouzene, daughter of John VI Kantakouzenos (q.v.), who called on Orhan's help several times in the civil war that punctuated John VI's reign. As a result, Orhan and his son Suleyman Pasha were able to establish an Ottoman base in Europe at Gallipoli (q.v.) in 1354, which Orhan then used to expand into Thrace (q.v.).