Conquest of Constantinople

Muslims waited for more than eight centuries for the prophetic good news of the conquest of Constantinople to be fulfilled. It was a cherished dream and a dear hope that haunted leaders and conquerors, and its flames did not fade with the passage of time and years. It remained a burning goal, stirring in people an overwhelming desire to achieve it, so that the one who conquered would be the object of the Prophet’s praise when he said: “Constantinople will surely be conquered. What an excellent leader it will be, and what an excellent army that army will be.”

The status of Constantinople
Constantinople is one of the most important cities in the world. It was founded in 330 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine I. It had a unique global position, so much so that it was said of it: "If the world were a single kingdom, Constantinople would be the most suitable city to be its capital."
Constantinople occupies a fortified position, blessed by nature with the most wonderful qualities of a great city. It is bordered to the east by the Bosphorus, and to the west and south by the Sea of Marmara, each of which is bordered by a single wall. The western side connects to the European continent and is protected by two walls, four miles long, extending from the shores of the Sea of Marmara to the shores of the Golden Horn. The inner wall is about forty feet high and is supported by towers sixty feet high, with the distance between each tower being about one hundred and eighty feet.
The outer wall was twenty-five feet high and was also fortified with towers similar to those of the first wall. Between the two walls was a space between fifty and sixty feet wide. The waters of the Golden Horn, which protected the northeastern side of the city, were closed off by a massive iron chain, the two ends of which extended at its entrance between the Galata Wall and the Constantinople Wall. Ottoman historians mention that the number of defenders of the besieged city reached forty thousand fighters.

Preparation of the Army of Conquest
After the death of his father, Sultan Mehmed II began preparing to complete the conquest of the remaining Balkan lands and the city of Constantinople so that all his possessions would be connected, without any attacking enemy or hypocritical friend. He initially made great efforts to strengthen the Ottoman army with manpower until its number reached nearly a quarter of a million soldiers, which is a large number compared to the armies of countries at that time. He also paid special attention to training those groups in various fighting arts and with various types of weapons that would qualify them for the great invasion that was expected. The conqueror also took care to prepare them with strong moral preparation and instill the spirit of jihad in them, and remind them of the praise of the Prophet Muhammad for the army that would conquer Constantinople, and he hoped that they would be the army intended in the prophetic hadith. It was mentioned in the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Shaybah told us, and I heard it from Abdullah ibn Muhammad Ibn Abi Shaybah said: Zayd ibn al-Hubab narrated to us, al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah al-Ma'afiri narrated to me, Abdullah ibn Bishr al-Khath'ami narrated to me, on the authority of his father, that he heard the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, say: "Constantinople will be conquered, and what an excellent commander its commander will be, and what an excellent army that army will be." Knowledge of this hadith gave them unparalleled moral strength and courage, and the spread of scholars among the soldiers had a great impact in strengthening their resolve.

Rumeli Hisarı Fortress
Before conquering Constantinople, the Sultan wanted to fortify the Bosphorus Strait to prevent reinforcements from the Kingdom of Trebizond. He did so by building a castle on the shore of the strait, at its narrowest point on the European side, opposite the castle built during the reign of Sultan Bayezid on the Asian side. When the Byzantine Emperor heard of this, he sent an ambassador to the Sultan offering to pay him the tribute he would decide. The conqueror rejected the request and insisted on building, aware of the site's military importance. A high, fortified castle was finally completed, reaching a height of 82 meters. It was named "Rumelihisarı Castle." The two castles were now opposite each other, separated by only 660 meters. They controlled the passage of ships from the eastern side of the Bosphorus to its western side, and their cannons could prevent any ship from reaching Constantinople from areas to the east, such as the Kingdom of Trebizond and other locations capable of supporting the city when needed. The Sultan also imposed a toll on every ship that passed within range of the Ottoman cannons installed in the fortress. When one of the Venetian ships refused to stop after the Ottomans gave it several signals, it was sunk with just one cannon shot.

Cannon manufacturing and fleet building
The Sultan paid special attention to assembling the weapons necessary for the conquest of Constantinople, most importantly cannons, which received special attention. He brought in a Hungarian engineer named Urban, who was a master of cannon construction. Urban welcomed him warmly, providing him with all necessary financial, material, and human resources. This engineer was able to design and manufacture several massive cannons, most notably the famous "Sultan's Cannon," which reportedly weighed hundreds of tons and required hundreds of powerful oxen to move. The Sultan himself oversaw the construction and testing of these cannons.
In addition to this preparation, the conqueror paid special attention to the Ottoman fleet, strengthening it and supplying it with various ships to enable it to carry out its role in the attack on Constantinople, that maritime city whose siege could not be completed without the presence of a naval force to carry out this task. It has been reported that the ships prepared for this mission numbered one hundred and eighty ships, while others said that they numbered more than four hundred ships.

conclude treaties
Before his attack on Constantinople, the conqueror worked to conclude treaties with his various enemies in order to focus on one enemy. He concluded a treaty with the Principality of Galata, which was neighboring Constantinople to the east and separated from it by the Golden Horn. He also concluded treaties with Genoa and Venice, two neighboring European emirates. However, these treaties did not hold when the actual attack on Constantinople began, as forces from these cities and others arrived to participate in the defense of the city.

The position of the Byzantine Emperor
Meanwhile, while the Sultan was preparing for the conquest, the Byzantine Emperor was desperately trying to dissuade him from his goal, by offering him money and various gifts, and by trying to bribe some of his advisors to influence his decision. However, the Sultan was determined to carry out his plan, and these matters did not deter him from his goal. When the Byzantine Emperor saw the Sultan’s strong determination to carry out his goal, he sought assistance from various European countries and cities, headed by the Pope, the leader of the Catholic sect. At the time, the churches of the Byzantine Empire, headed by Constantinople, were affiliated with the Orthodox Church, and there was intense hostility between them. The Emperor was forced to flatter the Pope by getting close to him and showing him his willingness to work to unify the Eastern and Western churches, at a time when the Orthodox did not want this. The Pope then sent a representative to Constantinople, where he preached in the Hagia Sophia Church, called for the Pope, and announced the unification of the two churches. This angered the Orthodox masses in the city, and led them to launch a movement against this joint Catholic-imperial action. Some Orthodox leaders even said, “I would rather see Turkish turbans in Byzantine lands than Latin hats.”

Move to Constantinople
The Sultan sought to find a reason to open the door to war, and he soon found this reason in the attack of Ottoman soldiers on some Roman villages and the latter’s defense of themselves, so some were killed from both sides. The Sultan paved the way between Edirne and Constantinople to make it suitable for dragging the giant cannons through it to Constantinople. The cannons moved from Edirne to near Constantinople in a period of two months, where they were protected by the army. The Ottoman armies, led by the conqueror himself, reached the outskirts of Constantinople on Thursday, Rabi' al-Awwal 26, 857 AH / April 6, 1453 AD. He gathered the soldiers, who were about two hundred and fifty thousand soldiers, or a quarter of a million. He gave a powerful sermon to them, urging them to jihad and seeking victory or martyrdom. He reminded them of sacrifice and the truth of fighting when confronted. He read to them the verses of the Qur’an that encourage this. He also mentioned to them the hadiths of the Prophet that heralded the conquest of Constantinople and the virtue of the conquering army and its commander, and the glory of its conquest for Islam and Muslims. The army immediately began to praise, glorify, and pray.
Thus, the Sultan laid siege to the city with his soldiers on the land side and with his fleet on the sea side. He set up fourteen artillery batteries around the city, in which he placed the large cannons made by Urban, which were said to have fired large stone balls a mile away. During the siege, the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari was discovered. He was martyred when he besieged Constantinople in the year 52 AH during the caliphate of Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan al-Umawi.

Byzantine resistance
At this time, the Byzantines had blocked the entrances to the port of Constantinople with thick iron chains, preventing Ottoman ships from reaching the Golden Horn. They even destroyed any ship that tried to approach. However, the Ottoman fleet nevertheless succeeded in capturing the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara.
Emperor Constantine, the last Roman emperor, sought help from Europe. The Genoese responded, sending him five ships commanded by the Genoese commander Giustiniani, accompanied by 700 volunteer fighters from various European countries. The commander arrived with his ships and intended to enter the port of Constantinople, but Ottoman ships intercepted them, and a massive battle broke out on Rabi' al-Thani 11, 857 AH (April 21, 1453 AD). The battle ended with Giustiniani's victory, allowing him to enter the port after the besiegers removed the iron chains and then reinstalled them after the European ships had passed through. The Ottoman naval forces attempted to bypass the massive chains controlling the entrance to the Golden Horn and reach the Muslim ships. They fired at the European and Byzantine vessels, but initially failed, boosting morale among the city's defenders.

Fleet transferred overland and the blockade was completed.
The Sultan began to think of a way to bring his ships into the port to complete the siege by land and sea. A strange idea came to his mind, which was to transport the ships on land so that they could pass through the chains placed to prevent them. This strange thing was done by leveling the ground in a few hours, and wooden planks were brought, smeared with oil and grease, and then placed on the paved road in a way that would facilitate the ships’ sliding and pulling. In this way, it was possible to transport about seventy ships and land them in the Golden Horn, catching the Byzantines off guard.
The city's residents awoke on the morning of April 22 to find Ottoman ships controlling the waterway. There was no longer a water barrier between the defenders of Constantinople and the Ottoman soldiers. A Byzantine historian expressed their amazement at this feat, saying, "We have never seen or heard of such a miraculous thing before. Mehmed the Conqueror turns the earth into seas, and his ships sail over mountaintops instead of waves. In this feat, Mehmed II surpassed Alexander the Great." The besieged realized that Ottoman victory was inevitable, but their resolve was not dampened. Instead, they grew more determined to defend their city to the death. On the 15th of Jumada al-Ula in the year 857 AH / May 24, 1453 AD, Sultan Mehmed sent a letter to Emperor Constantine in which he called on him to surrender the city without bloodshed. He offered to ensure that he, his family, his aides, and all the city’s residents who wished to go wherever they wanted safely, and that the bloodshed in the city would be spared and that they would not be exposed to any harm. He gave them the choice of staying in the city or leaving it. When the letter reached the emperor, he gathered his advisors and presented the matter to them. Some of them were inclined to surrender, while others insisted on continuing to defend the city until death. The emperor was inclined to the opinion of those who advocated fighting until the last moment. The emperor responded to the conqueror’s messenger with a letter in which he said: “He thanks God that the sultan has inclined towards peace and that he is satisfied to pay him tribute. As for Constantinople, he has sworn to defend it until his last breath. He either preserves his throne or is buried under its walls.” When the letter reached the conqueror, he said: “Very well, soon I will have a throne in Constantinople or a grave there.”

Conquest of Constantinople
At dawn on Tuesday, the 20th of Jumada al-Ula 857 AH / May 29, 1453 AD, the Ottoman Sultan had made his final preparations, distributing his forces and amassing approximately 100,000 fighters in front of the Golden Gate. He mobilized 50,000 on the left flank, and the Sultan was stationed in the center with the Janissary soldiers. 70 ships were gathered in the port, and the attack began by land and sea. The flames of the battle intensified, and the sound of the cannons pierced the sky, causing panic in the souls. The soldiers’ shouts of Allahu Akbar shook the place, and their echo could be heard from miles away. The city’s defenders were giving everything they had to defend the city. It was only an hour before the large trench in front of the outer wall was filled with thousands of dead.
During this frenzied attack, Justinian was wounded in his arm and thigh, and bled profusely. He withdrew for treatment despite the emperor's pleas to stay, owing to his bravery and outstanding skill in defending the city. The Ottomans redoubled their efforts and rushed their ladders towards the walls, unconcerned with the death that was reaping them. A group of Janissaries leapt to the top of the wall, followed by fighters, their arrows piercing them. But it was to no avail, as the Ottomans managed to pour into the city. The Ottoman fleet succeeded in lifting the iron chains that had been placed at the entrance to the bay. The Ottomans poured into the city, which was gripped by panic, and its defenders fled from every direction. Only three hours after the start of the attack, the mighty city was at the feet of the conquerors. The Sultan entered the city at noon and found the soldiers busy looting and other activities. He issued orders to prevent any aggression, and security immediately prevailed.

Muhammad al-Fatih in Medina
When Mehmed the Conqueror entered the city victorious, he dismounted from his horse and prostrated himself in gratitude to God for his victory and success. He then headed to the Hagia Sophia Church, where the Byzantine people and monks had gathered. When he approached its gates, the Christians inside were extremely afraid. One of the monks opened the gates for him, so he asked the monk to calm the people down and reassure them and return to their homes safely. The people were reassured, and some of the monks were hiding in the church basements. When they saw the Conqueror's tolerance and forgiveness, they came out and declared their conversion to Islam. The Conqueror then ordered the call to prayer to be made in the church, declaring it a mosque. The Sultan gave the Christians the freedom to perform religious rites and choose their religious leaders, who had the right to rule in civil cases. He also gave this right to the churchmen in other provinces, but at the same time he imposed the jizya on everyone. He then gathered Christian clergy to elect a patriarch. They chose Georgios Curtisius Scholarius, and gave them half of the city's churches, while designating the other half as mosques for Muslims. Once the city was fully conquered, Sultan Mehmed moved the capital to the city, renaming it "Istanbul," meaning "the throne of Islam" or "the city of Islam." After this conquest, Sultan Mehmed was given the title Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.

Why We Were Great
From the book Unforgettable Days by Tamer Badr