Malkoçoğlu family

The Malkoçoğlu family (Turkish: Malkoçoğulları, Malkoçoğlu ailesi) (Serbian: Malković) or Yahyali was one of the ghazi families of Serbian origin that led the akıncı corps in the Ottoman Empire between the 14th-16th centuries. They served mainly in the Balkan conquest of the empire. The members of the family usually served as beys, sanjak-beys, beylerbeys, pashas, and castle commanders. Later on, they joined the ranks of the Ottoman Army in various missions, and one of the descendants became a Grand Vizier.

Malkoçoğulları
Country	Ottoman Empire
Founded	14th century
Titles	ghazi ("warrior") akıncı ("raider")
Dissolution	1604

History

The Battle of Maritsa (1371) was a disaster for the Serbian Empire, which resulted in several Serbian and Bulgarian lords becoming Ottoman vassals.^[1] The Malkoçoğlu was a warrior family of Christian Serb origin, which became Muslim.^[1][2] Malkoç, the eponymous founder, is alleged to have been one of the commanders of Sultan Murad I and Bayezid I, fighting at Kosovo (1389) and at Nicopolis (1396).

The further Ottoman expansion to the European frontiers was shared with semi-independent warriors, with the most notable being the four families of Evrenosoğulları, Mihaloğulları, both of which were of Anatolian Christian origin, Turahanoğulları of Turkish origin, and the Malkoçoğulları.^[1] These four families made up the gazi (warrior) nobility.^[3] Unpaid they lived and operated as raiders on the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, subsisting totally on plunder.

Members

Genealogy known

• Hamza
  • Malkoçoğlu Yahya Paşa bin Hamza (died 1507), married to a daughter of Bayezid II.^[4]
    • Mehmed (fl. 1511), Rumelian commander, supported Selim I during the throne struggle.^[4]
  • Balı (died 1514), commander, had two sons, Ali and Tur Ali, all three died at Chaldiran.^[4][5]
    • Ali (died 1514)
    • Tur Ali (died 1514)

Genealogy unknown

• Balı bin Yahya Paşa (died 1548)^[6]
• Malkoçoğlu Bali Bey (1495–1554), gazi commander.^[7] Probably one of the commanders under Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha that participated in the Safavid Campaign (1554–55).^[8]
• Malkoč-beg (died 1565)
• Ahmed-paša Dugalić
• Malkoç-oğlu Bâlibey of Semendire^[9]
• Yavuz Ali Paşa, Grand Vizier from October 16, 1603 to July 26, 1604.

Legacy

There is a Bosnian Muslim epic tradition about an Ottoman hero named Malkoč-bey.

• Malkoçoğlu Cem Sultan, 1969 Turkish action film