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Beylik of Karaman | |||||||||
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1250–1487 | |||||||||
![]() The Karamanidbeylik and other eastern Mediterranean states in 1450 | |||||||||
Status | Beylik | ||||||||
Capital | Larende Ermenek Konya (1307–1468) Mut Ereğli[1] | ||||||||
Common languages | Persian,Old Anatolian Turkish[a] | ||||||||
Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
Bey | |||||||||
• 1256? | Karaman Bey | ||||||||
• 1483–1487 | Mahmud Bey | ||||||||
Historical era | Late Medieval | ||||||||
• Established | 1250 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1487 | ||||||||
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TheKaramanids (Turkish:Karamanoğulları orKaramanoğulları Beyliği), also known as theEmirate of Karaman andBeylik of Karaman (Turkish:Karamanoğulları Beyliği), was anAnatolian beylik ofSalur tribe origin, centered in South-CentralAnatolia around the present-dayKaraman Province. From the mid 14th century until its fall in 1487, the Karamanid dynasty was one of the most powerfulbeyliks in Anatolia.[3]
The Karamanids traced their ancestry from Hodja Sad al-Din and his sonNure Sufi Bey, who emigrated fromArran (roughly encompassing modern-dayAzerbaijan) toSivas because ofthe Mongol invasion in 1230.
The Karamanids were members of theSalur tribe ofOghuz Turks.[4] According to others, they were members of theAfshar tribe,[5] which participated in therevolt led byBaba Ishak and afterwards moved to the westernTaurus Mountains, near the town ofLarende, where they came to serve theSeljuks.Nure Sofi worked there as a woodcutter. His son,Kerîmeddin Karaman Bey, gained tenuous control over the mountainous parts ofCilicia in the middle of the 13th century. A persistent but spurious legend, however, claims that theSeljuq Sultan of Rum,Kayqubad I, instead established a Karamanid dynasty in these lands.[5]
Karaman Bey expanded his territories by capturing castles inErmenek,Mut,Ereğli,Gülnar, andSilifke. The year of the conquests is reported as 1225,[6] during the reign ofAla al-Din Kaykubadh I (1220–1237), which seems excessively early. Karaman Bey's conquests were mainly at the expense of theKingdom of Lesser Armenia (and perhaps at the expense ofRukn al-Din Kilij Arslan IV, 1248–1265); in any case it is certain that he fought against the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia (and probably even died in this fight) to such extent that KingHethum I (1226–1269) had to place himself voluntarily under the sovereignty of the greatKhan, in order to protect his kingdom fromMamluks andSeljuks (1244).
The rivalry betweenKilij Arslan IV andIzz al-Din Kaykaus II allowed the tribes in the border areas to live virtually independently. Karaman Bey helped Kaykaus, but Arslan had the support of both the Mongols andPervâne Sulayman Muin al-Din (who had the real power in the sultanate).
TheMongolian governor and generalBaiju was dismissed from office in 1256 because he had failed to conquer new territories. Still, he continued to serve as a general and appeared, the same year, fightingthe Sultan of Rum, who had not paid the tax, and he managed to defeat the sultan a second time. Rukn al-Din Kilidj Arslan IV got rid of almost all hostilebegs andamirs except Karaman Bey, to whom he gave the town ofLarende (nowKaraman, in honour of the dynasty) and Ermenek (c. 1260) in order to win him to his side. In the meantime, Bunsuz, brother of Karaman Bey, was chosen as aCandar, or bodyguard, forKilij Arslan IV. Their power rose as a result of the unification of Turkish clans that lived in the mountainous regions of Cilicia with the new Turkish population transferred there by Kayqubad.
Good relations between theSeljuqs and the Karamanids did not last. In 1261, on the pretext of supportingKaykaus II, who had fled to Constantinople as a result of the intrigues of the chancellorMu'in al-Din Suleyman, the Pervane, Karaman Bey and his two brothers, Zeynül-Hac and Bunsuz, marched towardKonya, the Seljuq capital, with 20,000 men. A combinedSeljuq andMongol army, led by the Pervane, defeated the Karamanid army and captured Karaman Bey's two brothers.
After Karaman Bey died in 1262, his older son,Mehmet I of Karaman, became the head of the house. He immediately negotiated alliances with otherTurkmen clans to raise an army against theSeljuqs andIlkhanids. During the 1276 revolt of Hatıroğlu Şemseddin Bey against Mongol domination in Anatolia, Karamanids also defeated several Mongol-Seljuq armies. In theBattle of Göksu in 1277 in particular, the central power of the Seljuq was dealt a severe blow. Taking advantage of the general confusion,Mehmed Bey capturedKonya on 12 May and placed on the throne a pretender calledJimri, who claimed to be the son ofKaykaus. In the end, however, Mehmed was defeated by Seljuq and Mongol forces and executed with some of his brothers in 1278.
Despite these blows, the Karamanids continued to increase their power and influence, largely aided by theMamluks ofEgypt, especially during the reign ofBaybars. Karamanids captured Konya on two more occasions at the beginning of the 14th century but were driven out the first time by emirChupan, theIlkhanid governor of Anatolia, and the second time by Chupan's son and successorTimurtash. An expansion of Karamanoğlu power occurred after the fall of the Ilkhanids in the 1330s. A second expansion coincided withKaramanoğlu Alâeddin Ali Bey's marriage toNefise Hatun, the daughter of the Ottoman sultanMurat I, the first important contact between the two dynasties.
As Ottoman power expanded into theBalkans, Aleaddin Ali Bey captured the city ofBeyşehir, which had been an Ottoman city. However, it did not take much time for theOttomans to react and march on Konya, the Karamanoğlu capital city. A treaty between the two kingdoms was formed, and peace existed until the reign ofBayezid I.
Timur gave control of the Karamanid lands to Mehmet Bey, the oldest son of Aleaddin Ali Bey. AfterBayezid I died in 1403, the Ottoman Empire went into a political crisis as theOttoman family fell prey to internecine strife. It was an opportunity not only for Karamanids but also for all of the Anatolianbeyliks. Mehmet Bey assembled an army to march onBursa. He captured the city and damaged it; this would not be the last Karamanid invasion ofOttoman lands. However, Mehmet Bey was captured by Bayezid Pasha and sent to prison. He apologized for what he had done and was forgiven by the Ottoman ruler.
Ramazanoğlu Ali Bey capturedTarsus while Mehmet Bey was in prison. Mustafa Bey, son of Mehmet Bey, retook the city during a conflict between the Emirs ofSham andEgypt. After that, the Egyptian sultanSayf ad-Din Inal sent an army to retake Tarsus from the Karamanids. TheEgyptian Mamluks damagedKonya after defeating the Karamanids, and Mehmet Bey retreated fromKonya. Ramazanoğlu Ali Bey pursued and captured him; according to an agreement between the two leaders, Mehmet Bey was exiled to Egypt for the rest of his life.
During theCrusade of Varna against the Ottomans in 1443–44, Karamanidİbrahim Bey marched onAnkara andKütahya, destroying both cities. In the meantime, the Ottoman sultanMurad II was returning fromRumelia with a victory against theHungarian Crusaders. Like all other Islamic emirates in Anatolia, the Karamanids were accused of treason. Hence, İbrahim Bey accepted all Ottoman terms. The Karamanid state was eventually terminated by the Ottomans in 1487, as the power of their Mameluke allies was declining. Some were resettled in various parts of Anatolia. Large groups were accommodated in northern Iran on the territory of present-dayAzerbaijan. The main part was brought to the newly conquered territories in north-eastern Bulgaria – theLudogorie region, another group – to what is now northern Greece and southern Bulgaria— present-dayKardzhali region andMacedonia. Ottomans foundedKaraman Eyalet from former territories of Karamanids.
According to Mesâlik-ül-Ebsâr, written by Şehâbeddin Ömer, the Karamanid army had 25,000 riders and 25,000saracens. They could also rely on some Turkmen tribes and their warriors.
Their economic activities depended mostly on control of strategic commercial areas such asKonya,Karaman and the ports of Lamos,Silifke,Anamur, andManavgat.
66mosques, 8hammams, 2caravanserais and 3medreses built by the Karamanids survived to the present day. Notable examples of Karamanid architecture include:
No. | Name | Reign start | Reign end |
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1. | Nure Sofi | 1250 | 1256 |
2. | Karim al-Din Karaman | 1256 | 1263 |
3. | Mehmed I | 1263 | 1277 |
4. | Güneri Beg | 1277 | 1300 |
5.. | Badr al-Din Mahmud | 1300 | 1311 |
6. | Yahsi Han Bey | 1311 | 1312 |
7. | Haci Sufi Musa | 1st:1312 2nd:1352 | 1st:1318 2nd:1356 |
8. | Ibrahim I | 1st:1318 2nd:1340 | 1st:1332 2nd:1349 |
9. | Alaeddin Halil | 1332 | 1340 |
10. | Ahmed I | 1349 | 1350 |
11 | Şemseddin Beg | 1350 | 1352 |
12. | Süleyman | 1356 | 1361 |
13. | Alaattin Ali | 1361 | 1398 |
14. | Mehmed II | 1st:1398 2nd:1421 | 1st:1420 2nd:1423 |
15. | Alaatin Ali II | 1420 | 1421 |
16. | Ibrahim II | 1423 | 1464 |
17. | Ishak Beg | 1464 | 1465 |
18. | Pir Ahmed II | 1465 | 1466 |
19. | Kasım Beg | 1466 | 1483 |
20. | Turgutoglu Mahmut II | 1483 | `1487 |
21. | Mustafa Beg | 1487 | 1501 |
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His ally the Qaramanid Muhammad (r. 660–77/1261–78) did capture Konya in 675/1276 and attempted to replace Persian with Turkish as the official government language.