Söğüt

Sögüt was a turkish tribe in western Anatolia that later gave birth to the Ottoman Empire. It was a small but sophisticated tribe (in comparation to other turkish tribes) that extended from the Kayi branch of the Seljuk Turks that in the 11th and 12th centuries invaded Anatolia. The village of Sögüt was surrounded by three greater turkish tribes; Eskenderum in the north, Eskişehir in the east, Konyali in the south; and with the Byzantine Empire in the west. Legend has it that the bey (cheif) of the tribe in the late 11th century, Ertoğrül, bravely kept the enemies at bay so that his son, Osman, could conquer them all during his reign, 1299 to 1324. When Osman's son, Orhan, came to power after is father's death he renamed the tribe Osmanli in honour of his father. The village of Sögüt later grew into a town that served the Osmanli tribe as capitol until the capture of the Byzantine city of Bursa in 1325 when the capitol was moved to the far more luxurous palaces of the Byzantines.