Editing Osman I (section)

=== Importance of the Osmanic Beylik location ===
[[File:Osman I area map.PNG|thumb|left|Area of the Ottoman Beylik during the reign of Osman I]]

From a military point of view, the location of Osman's Beylik had a significant impact on his success as a conquering warrior. His capital Söğüt was located on a hill in a well-defended position, mediating the main road from [[Constantinople]] to Konya. The importance of this site emerged due to the political fragmentation of Anatolia that gave small states greater importance than they originally had.<ref name="taqqoush2">{{cite book|last1=Ṭaqqūsh|first1=Muḥammad Suhayl|url=https://archive.org/details/ottn_hist7|title=Tārīkh al-ʻuthmānīyīn min qiyām al-Dawlah ilá al-inqilāb ʻalá al-khilāfah|publisher=Dar al-Nafa'is|year=2013|isbn=9789953184432|edition=3rd|place=Beirut|pages=25–28|language=ar|trans-title=History of the Ottomans: from the rise of the Empire to the coup against the caliphate|access-date=28 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428194857/https://archive.org/details/ottn_hist7|archive-date=28 April 2019}}</ref> Being an Emir to a [[Anatolian beyliks|beylik]] bordering Byzantine lands, Osman had the opportunity to direct all his efforts towards war and [[Jihad]] following the footsteps of the Seljuks with intentions to conquer all Byzantine territories, and absorb them into the [[Caliphate|Islamic Caliphate]]. Encouraged by the weakness of the ancient Empire and its ongoing wars in [[Europe]], Osman had the chance to expand towards western Anatolia crossing the [[Dardanelles]] to [[Southeast Europe|southeastern Europe]].<ref name="taqqoush2"/> Commenting on these actions, some historians argue that Osman's strategy of increasing his territories at the expense of the Byzantines was due to his intention to avoid conflicts with his more powerful Turkic neighbours.<ref name="shaw2"/>

Politically, Osman showed great skills forming and applying new administrative systems in his beylik. During his reign, the Ottomans made great strides towards transitioning from the [[Nomadic tribe system]] to settling down in permanent settlements. This helped them consolidate their position and rapidly develop into a major power. Moreover, the beylik's location in northwestern Anatolia, next to [[Christendom]], imposed a military policy on the Ottomans, which gave them better chances to grow and expand compared to the beyliaks of the interior.<ref name="taqqoush2"/> Osman's beylik was also relatively far from both the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol invasions]] and the influence of the powerful Turkoman beyliks in southern and southwestern Anatolia. Add to that, its proximity to the [[Silk Road]] linking Byzantine lands in the west to areas controlled by the Mongols in the east, gave it prominent strategic and economic characteristics. Also, the Osmanic beylik was the only Islamic base facing the yet unconquered Byzantine regions, which made it a magnet to many Turkomen farmers, warriors, and Dervishes fleeing the Mongols, and aspiring to conquer new lands for economic and religious reasons.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Paul|url=https://archive.org/details/Book_195/page/n25/mode/2up|title=al-Uthmānīyūn fī Ūrūbbā|publisher=General Egyptian Book Organization|year=1993|place=Cairo|pages=26|language=ar|translator-last1=al-Shaykh|translator1-first=ʻAbd al-Raḥmān|trans-title=The Ottomans in Europe|access-date=30 March 2020}}</ref>