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When Genghis Khan's hordes appeared in Europe, only to vanish again, and after their survivors, the Turkish Mamelukes, had settled in Egypt, newcomers, also from the high plateaus of Central Asia, appeared on the borders of the Empire of Rum. Unlike their predecessors, they were neither distinguished nor numerous so that there arrival went almost unnoticed.

At their head was valiant warrior called Ertughrul (or Tughril, 1231-1280). He was accompanied by his son Osman (or Othman, 1280-1324). His armies were only a tiny twig from the giant tree of the Turkish people. There were hardly more than two thousand of them living in four hundred tents. But these two thousand men were possessed of such drive that in a few generations they were to found one of the world's greatest empires.

As tradition has it, on crossing the Central Anatolian Plateau, Ertughrul one day spied a cloud of dust on the horizon. It had risen from the battle near Eskic;ehir - formerly Dorylaion - which a Seljuk detachment was fighting against Mongol invaders. Ertughrul took an historic decision, although probably unaware of what its consequences would be. He resolved to intervene in the battle, thus enabling the apparently losing side to win. That day the Ottomans saved the Empire of Rum.

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