Murad I (Serbian

Serbian language

Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

: Мурат 1. / Murat I) (March or June 29, 1326, Sogut

Sögüt

Söğüt is a town and district of Bilecik Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. Söğüt has an area of and borders Bilecik to the west, Gölpazarı to the north, İnhisar to the northeast, Eskişehir to the southeast, and Bozüyük to the southwest. The 2000 census put the population at 21,012 citizens,...

 or Bursa – June 15, 1389, Battle of Kosovo Polje) was the Sultan

Sultan

Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...

 of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

, from 1361 to 1389. He was the son of Orhan I

Orhan I

Orhan I or Orhan Bey was the second bey of the nascent Ottoman Empire from 1326 to 1359...

 and the Valide Sultan Nilüfer Hatun

Nilüfer Hatun

Nilüfer was a Valide Sultan; the wife of Orhan I, the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire. She was mother of the next sultan, Murad I. Her other son was Kasim...

 and became the ruler following his father's death in 1361.
He established the Empire by building up a society and government in the newly conquered city of Adrianople (Edirne

Edirne

Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...

 in Turkish) and by expanding the realm in Europe, bringing most of the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

 under Ottoman rule and forcing the Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 emperor to pay him tribute.