Devshirme

Koprulu Mehmed Pasha (c. 1575-1661) became Ottoman grand vizier in 1656 on the condition of unrestricted authority. He broke the factions of the capital by mass execution, cleared the Venetian blockade of the Dardanelles, and founded a family that supplied five grand viziers.

Mimar Sinan (1489-1588) was chief architect of the Ottoman imperial household for half a century, from 1538 until his death. Trained as a military engineer, he built the Şehzade, Süleymaniye and Selimiye complexes, and the inventories of his own period record hundreds of buildings in his name.

Murad I (1326-1389) ruled the Ottoman state for some twenty-seven years, moving its capital to Edirne in Europe, reducing the Balkan principalities to vassalage, and developing the institutions of Ottoman government. He was killed at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389.