1259-1326. Turkish ruler from 1299. He began
his career in the service of the Seljuk
Turks, but in 1299 he set up a kingdom of his
own in Bithynia, NW Asia and assumed the
title of sultan. He conquered a great part of
Anatolia, so founding a Turkish empire. His
successors were known as `sons of Osman',
from which the term Ottoman Empire is
derived.