Mehmed II (Ottoman Turkish: محمد ثانى, Meḥmed-i s̠ānī; Turkish: Mehmet; also known as el-Fātiḥ, الفاتح, "the Conqueror" in Ottoman Turkish; in modern Turkish, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Han; also called Mahomet II in early modern Europe), also known as Muhammed bin Murad, Mehmed the Conqueror, Grand Turk, Kayser-i Rûm (Caesar of Rome) and Turcarum Imperator, and Fatih Sultan Mehmed, was an Ottoman sultan who ruled first for a short time from August 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to May 1481. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire. |