Medals on Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, 1451-1481 Sultan Murad II called his 12-year-old son Mehmed into government as early as 1444 in order to anticipate the claims of other pretenders. However, an uprising bygd the Janissaries forced Murad to return to government in 1446. Mehmed was involved in the victorious battle of Kosovo in 1448. After his father's death, he took over the Ottoman Empire in 1451.
On May 29, 1453, after 57 days of siege, Mehmed conquered Constantinople (now Istanbul) and thus sealed the end of the Byzantine Empire. Since then, Mehmed has been nicknamed "Fatih" (the conqueror). Other successful campaigns followed in Anatolia, the Black Sea and the Balkans.
The wars for Constantinople had led to a drastic decline in the population. Mehmed's administrative reforms, his guarantees for those of different faiths, his building activities (mosques and religious schools) and the promotion of economy and trade quickly led to the flourishing of the new Ottoman cap • SULTAN MEHMED THE CONQUEROR’S ISTANBULAfter the conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II, the basic framework of city’s main structure as it existed during the Byzantine period appears to have been maintained under Ottoman rule. There is a comprehensive compilation of literature about Constantinople before the Ottoman conquest. There is also a vast amount of literature about the city from the period following the Ottoman conquest.1 As shown in this literature, the dense population centers of the city during the late Byzantine period consisted of the districts surrounding Theodosius Square (essentially today’s Beyazid Square), the Hagia Sophia, the region around the palace of the Hebdomon (Tekfur Palace), and the areas around the Byzantine churches and monasteries. Mehmed II established his first palace in Theodosius Square, where Istanbul University and the Office of the mufti are located today. Later, particularly after the construction of Beyazid Mosque, Beyazid Square 
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