Ertugrul was a 13th century Turkic Muslim nomad warrior from Central Asia.
Ertugrul Gazi was a 13th century bey, who was the father of Osman I. Little is known about Ertugrul's life. According to Ottoman tradition, he was the son of Suleyman Shah, the leader of the Kayı tribe of the Oghuz Turks, who fled from western Central Asia to Anatolia to escape the Mongol conquests, but he may instead have been the son of Gunduz Alp. According to this legend, after the death of his father, Ertugrul and his followers entered the service of the Sultanate of Rum, for which he was rewarded with dominion over the town of Sogut on the frontier with the Byzantine Empire. This set off the chain of events that would ultimately lead to the founding of the Ottoman Empire.