Ulubatlı Hasan
Ulubatlı Hasan | |
|---|---|
| الوباطلى حسن (Ottoman Turkish) | |
A section from a miniature drawn by Philippe de Mazerolles in 1460 for the chronicle written for the French King Charles VII, showing Sekbanbaşı Ulubatlı Hasan Ağa, with his chamberlain Hamza bin Hızır and the Eighteen Sekbans, as he ascends the San Romano (Topkapı) bastion, holding a white banner embroidered with gold thread. Jean J. Cartier, La Cronicque du temps de tres chrestien roy Charles, septisme de ce nom, roy de France, Paris Bibliothèque Nationale, Français, no. 2691, fol. 254v. | |
| Born | c. 1390 |
| Died | 29 May 1453 (aged 63) |
| Burial place | Fatih İskenderpaşa Neighborhood, Fatih, Istanbul |
| Citizenship | Ottoman |
| Occupation | Sekbanbaşı |
Ulubatlı Hasan (Ottoman Turkish: الوباطلى حسن), also known as Baba Hasan Ağa the Standard Bearer (Ottoman Turkish: سنجاقدار بابا حسن آغا) or Baba Hasan-ı ‘Alemî (Ottoman Turkish: بابا حسنِ عَلَمِى) (c. 1390, Ulubat, Karacabey, Bursa – 29 May 1453, Istanbul), was the sekbanbaşı who erected the first standard on the Byzantine walls during the Conquest of Constantinople.
He was born in a small village called Ulubat (near Karacabey) in the province of Bursa and was 63 years old when he was present at the Siege of Constantinople, under the command of Sultan Mehmed II.
On the early morning of the last day of the siege, May 29, after the morning prayer, the Ottoman military band started to play one of their songs before the city was stormed. Ulubatlı Hasan was among the first to climb the walls of Constantinople, followed closely by thirty of his friends. He carried only an Ottoman kilij, a small shield and the Ottoman flag. He climbed the wall, under showers of arrows, stones, spears and bullets, reaching the top and placing the flag, which he defended until his 12 remaining friends arrived. After that he collapsed with 27 arrows still in his body. Seeing the Ottoman flag inspired the other Ottoman troops and kept their spirits up – and conversely, disheartened the Greek defenders – until the Ottomans finally conquered Constantinople.