View source for Alexander (son of Ivan Shishman)

{{short description|Bulgarian prince}}
'''Alexander''' ({{langx|bg|Александър}}), subsequently '''Iskender''' ([[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]]: اسكندر) (died 1418), was the eldest son of [[List of Bulgarian monarchs|Bulgarian tsar]] [[Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria|Ivan Shishman]] (r. 1371–1395). Alexander was possibly made co-emperor by his father before the Ottoman conquest of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Tarnovo Tsardom]] in 1395. After the subjugation of Ivan Shishman's realm and his execution, Alexander converted to [[Islam]] to avoid his father's fate. He was made governor of [[Samsun]], where he remained until 1402. From 1413 to 1418, when he was killed in a battle against a local rebel, Alexander was in charge of [[Smyrna]] ([[İzmir]]).
==Biography==
There is no information about Alexander's early life in the contemporary sources. Indeed, the only hint as to his existence in a Bulgarian source is an anonymous reference in Ephraim's ''Prayer Canon to the Tsar'', where he is only mentioned as “the son of the tsar”. It is uncertain whether Alexander was born to Ivan Shishman's first wife, [[Kira Maria]], or to his second wife, a daughter of [[List of Serbian monarchs|Prince]] [[Lazar of Serbia]] (r. 1371–1389).<ref name="bozhilov229,241">Божилов, pp. 229, 241</ref>
Due to Alexander's first-born status, Bulgarian historian Petar Nikov conjectures that at some point before 1395, Alexander was made co-ruler by his father Ivan Shishman. This would have been in line with a custom that dates to the reign of [[Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria|Ivan Alexander]] (r. 1331–1371), Ivan Shishman's own father.<ref name="bozhilov241">Божилов, p. 241</ref><ref name="andreev10">Андреев, p. 10</ref> Alexander had a younger brother, [[Fruzhin]], who, in contrast to Alexander, was a staunch opponent of the Ottomans and a [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungarian]] subject.<ref name="bozhilov242-244">Божилов, pp. 242–244</ref><ref name="bakalov100">Бакалов, p. 100</ref> In addition to Fruzhin, Alexander had other brothers and sisters, of whom practically nothing is known.<ref name="bozhilov245-246">Божилов, pp. 245–246</ref>
The [[Fall of Tarnovo]] in 1393 and the subsequent subjugation of the entire Tarnovo Tsardom in 1395 resulted in the execution of Ivan Shishman by [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan]] [[Bayezid I]] (r. 1389–1402). Though his successor Alexander was spared by the Ottomans, he was forced into accepting Islam and was exiled to [[Asia Minor]] so as to keep him far from his father's previous domains. Alexander, subsequently referred to as Iskender in Ottoman sources, was installed as governor of [[Samsun]] and the neighbouring territories (“the [[Beyliks of Canik|land of Canik]]”). These lands lay along the southern [[Black Sea]] coast, between [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]] and [[Trabzon|Trebizond]], and had been recently conquered by Bayezid.<ref name="andreev10"/> Alexander possibly remained governor of Samsun until 1402, when this region was conquered by the [[Timurid Empire|Timurids]] in the wake of the [[Battle of Ankara]] on 20 July of that year. After the Timurid victory, the Samsun region came under the rule of the [[Seljuks|Seljuk]] prince İsfendiyar.<ref name="bozhilov242">Божилов, p. 242</ref>
Alexander's subsequent fate is unknown until the end of the [[Ottoman Interregnum]] in 1413, when [[Mehmed I]] (r. 1413–1421) had established himself as ruler of the Ottoman Empire and had retaken the region of Smyrna on the eastern [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] coast. Until then, Smyrna had been ruled by [[Cüneyt Bey of Aydın|Cüneyt]], the [[bey]] of [[Aydinids|Aydin]], who was exiled as governor of the previously Bulgarian city of [[Nikopol, Bulgaria|Nikopol]] on the [[Danube]]. Alexander was installed as the ruler of Smyrna in Cüneyt's place. He remained in charge of the city until 1418, when he attempted to suppress a rebellion to the south of Smyrna headed by [[Sheikh Bedrettin]]'s follower [[Börklüce Mustafa]]. However, Alexander's forces proved insufficient for the purpose. His army was ambushed in a mountain gorge and suffered a great defeat, during which Alexander was killed.<ref name="bakalov100"/><ref name="bozhilov242"/><ref name="andreev10-11">Андреев, pp. 10–11</ref>
According to the theory of Bulgarian historian Plamen Pavlov, during his time as governor of Smyrna, Alexander may have been in active contact with his possible half-brother, the future [[Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople]]. From 1393 to 1416, Joseph was the metropolitan bishop of [[Ephesus]], another city on the eastern Aegean coast located not far from Smyrna. Pavlov conjectures that Joseph's selection as patriarch may have been influenced by his ties to Mehmed I via Alexander. In Pavlov's opinion, it is also possible that titular Bulgarian tsar [[Constantine II of Bulgaria|Constantine II]]'s support for Mehmed was in some way related to his relative Alexander's position as an Ottoman governor.<ref>Павлов, pp. 235–236</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==Sources==
* {{cite book|last1=Андреев|first1=Йордан|last2=Лазаров|first2=Иван|last3=Павлов|first3=Пламен|title=Кой кой е в средновековна България|trans-title=Who is Who in Medieval Bulgaria|year=1999|publisher=Петър Берон|language=Bulgarian|isbn=978-954-402-047-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Бакалов|first=Георги|title=История на българите: В 8 тома. Късно средновековие и Възраждане|trans-title=History of the Bulgarians: In 8 Volumes. Late Middle Ages and National Revival|publisher=Труд|location=София|year=2003|isbn=978-954-528-467-0|language=Bulgarian}}
* {{cite book|last=Божилов|first=Иван|year=1994|title=Фамилията на Асеневци (1186–1460). Генеалогия и просопография|location=София|publisher=Издателство на Българската академия на науките|trans-title=The Family of the Asens (1186–1460). Genealogy and Prosopography|language=Bulgarian|isbn=954-430-264-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Павлов|first=Пламен|title=Българското средновековие. Познато и непознато|trans-title=The Bulgarian Middle Ages. Familiar and Unknown|year=2008|publisher=Абагар|location=Велико Търново|isbn=978-954-427-796-3|language=Bulgarian}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander}}
[[Category:14th-century births]]
[[Category:1418 deaths]]
[[Category:14th-century Bulgarian people]]
[[Category:15th-century Bulgarian people]]
[[Category:Bulgarian people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Bulgarian princes]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam from Eastern Orthodoxy]]
[[Category:Former Bulgarian Orthodox Christians]]
[[Category:Sratsimir dynasty]]
[[Category:Ottoman İzmir/Smyrna]]
[[Category:People from the Ottoman Empire of Bulgarian descent]]
[[Category:Sons of emperors]]