Background
Khizr was born in the 1470s on the island of Lesbos in the village Palaiokipos to his father Yakup Ağa and to his mother Katerina. Sources refer to Khizr as a Greek, as a Turk, or as an Albanian by origin. His mother was referred as a local Christian Greek woman from Mytilene, the widow of an Orthodox priest. His father Yakup was referred as a Greek renegade from Mytilene or Turkish as well as a former Sipahi from Yenice-i Vardar (modern Yannitsa) and took part in the Ottoman conquest of Lesbos from the Genoese in 1462, and as a reward, was granted the fief of the Bonova village in the island. Yakup and Katerina were married and had two daughters and four sons: Ishak, Aruj, Khizr and Ilyas. Yakup became an established potter and purchased a boat to trade his products. The four sons helped their father with his business, but not much is known about the daughters. At first Aruj helped with the boat, while Khizr helped with pottery.
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