In the 9 th century, a Turcoman tribe (the
Oğuz Turks), ruled by Oğuz ,
lived in Central Asia north of the Aral
Sea. Under the leadership of Seljuk,
these Turks developed a highly effective
fighting force and started to migrate south.
Through their contacts with Persian court
life in Khorasan and Transoxania, they attracted
a body of able administrators. They embraced
Sunni Islam and
defended it with an irresistible power.
In 1055, Tuğrul Bey, grandson
of Seljuk, entered Bagdad and freed the
Abbasid caliph from the Shi'ite pressure
of the Buwayhid dynasty, thus becoming the
protector of the Caliphate under the nominal
authority of the Abbasid caliph who bestow
ed on him the title Sultan of the
Seljuks. Tuğrul Bey (1025-1063)
and his successor Alp Arslan
(son of Tuğrul Bey's brother Çağrı, 1064-1072),
founded and administered the Great
Seljuk Empire with Ray
(Tehran) as the capital .
In 1071, Alp Arslan defeated the Byzantine
Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes at
the Battle of Manzikert
(Malazgirt) in the north of Van.
This victory caused the Byzantines
to lose their Anatolian provinces and as
a result, Alp Arslan allowed his Turcoman
generals to create small “beyliks” (emirates)
of their own in Anatolia.
Alp
Arslan
They overran Anatolia in two years, went as far
as the Aegean Sea founding many small Turcoman
emirates where, like in the central administration,
the Persian language
was used : the Saltukids (1092-1202)
established themselves in Northeastern Anatolia,
the Mengujeks (1118-1250) in
Eastern Anatolia, the Artukids
(1101-1409) in Southeastern Anatolia, the Danışmendids
(1092-1178) in Central Anatolia, and
Çaka Bey (1081-1097) established
his beylik in the Aegean region ( İzmir).
Western Anatolia was overrrun by Alp Arslan's
cousin, Süleyman Shah ( 1075-1086)
, who took Konya then Nicea,
making the latter his capital. In 1077, he established
the Anatolian Seljuk State and
in a short period of time spread his rule all
over Anatolia . After a short period of interregnum,
under the reign of his son, Kılıç Arslan
I (1092-1107), Nicea was seized by the
Crusaders and given
back to the Byzantines. Konya
then became the capital of the Sultanate
of Rum (or Sultanate of Konya). The
first schooling institutions, which are the medreses
or Moslem theological schools, appeared in Anatolia
during the time of Kılıç Arslan.
Under the reign of Malik Shah (1072-1092)
who moved the capital to Isfahan,
the Great Seljuk Empire was at its peak
and experienced its most successful period
in the fields of science, literature, politics
and military field. At that time, the Empire
comprised Khorezm, Transoxiana, Khorasan,
Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Irak,
Syria and Anatolia.
In 1092, Malik Shah's death led to internal
conflicts among the young heirs, and to
the fragmentation of the central authority
into smaller Seljuk states in Syria and
Anatolia. The new leaders were now unable
to unite the Muslim world against another
force, the Crusaders,
appeared in 1096 in the Middle East. Due
to endless struggles for the control of
the throne and rebellions, the Great Seljuk
Empire finally collapsed in 1157, breaking
into about fifteen independent states, the
most important being the Anatolian
Seljuk State.
Malik Shah
In Anatolia, Sultan Kılıç Arslan I (1092-1107),
established in Konya, started a war of attrition
against the Crusaders
who, however, succeeded in taking command of Antioche
and Edessa
before they continued on their way to the Holy
Places. The efforts to unify Anatolia were also
continued during the reign of his successors ,
who little by little, amalgamated the emirates
with the Anatolian Seljuk State. Mesut
I (1116-1155) repelled the Byzantine
army headed for Konya and defeated the Crusaders
at the Battle of Dorylaeum (near Eskişehir).
He also reduced the Danışmendids to the state
of vassals. In 1176, at Myriokephalon (near Denizli),
Kılıç Arslan II (1155-1192)
inflicted a heavy defeat on the
Byzantine army led by the Emperor Manuel
Comnenus I who had made an alliance with
the Atabey of Mosul. Following this victory, the
influence of the Byzantine Empire over Anatolia
was completely lost. Kılıç Arslan II finally dissolved
the Danışmendid State with the annexation of Sivas,
Niksar and Tokat
in 1178. Giyaseddin Keyhüsrev I
(1192-1196) was succeeded by Süleyman
II (1196-1204) who brought the Saltukid
rule of Erzurum
to an end in 1201. Upon his death in 1204, his
throne was left to his son Kılıç Arslan
III (1204-1205) who was still a child.
When the Franks took Constantinople
during the Fourth Crusade
in 1204, Giyaseddin Keyhüsrev I dethroned his
nephew and reestablished himself sultan for the
second time (1205-1211) but died during a batlle
against Theodorus Laskaris in
1211.
Archer on horseback, miniature
The
reign of Izzedin Keykavuş I
(1211-1220) and most of all that of Alaeddin
Keykubat I's (1220-1237)
were the most glorious years of the Sultanate
of Rum, bringing a period of peace and
prosperity when frontiers were secured, roads
and bridges were built. Trade became very important,
and in order to meet the needs of traders, caravanserais
were built along the roads. The harbors of Trabzon,
Sinop and Alanya
at the end of the main continental arteries, became
secure shelters for Italian merchants sailing
in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Strong relations
with Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries
were also established. The finest examples in
Anatolian Seljuk
architecture were also built in the 13 th
century. In addition, hospitals (darusşifa) were
founded in Kayseri,
Sivas,
Divriği,
Tokat and
Amasya to
become centers of highly evolved medical therapy
and education.
However, Alaeddin Keykubat I's death by poisoning
created chaos in the country. The decline of the
Seljuk State began with his successor Giyaseddin
Keyhüsrev II (1237-1245), a weak figure.
The Mongols who had become a
great threat, invaded Anatolia in 1243 and, at
the Battle of Kösedağ near Erzincan,
defeated the Seljuks who became their vassals.
The Empire Genghis Khan and
his descendents carved out, enveloped the whole
of Central Asia from China to Persia, and stretched
to the west as far as the Mediterranean. When
the Empire started to desintegrate, in 1256 the
Ilkhanid Mongol State was established
in Persia, and Anatolia fell under their hegemony.
The Ilkhanid governor of Anatolia, Abaka
Khan , exterminated such a great number
of Seljuk administrators that the last sultans
Keykavuş II, Kılıç Arslan
IV (who had required help from Mameluke
Sultan Baibars
against the Mongols), Keykubad II
(the three brothers reigned between 1245 and 1262),
Keyhüsrev III (1262-1284), and
Keykubad III (1298-1301/2)
retained little authority and Anatolia little
independence. In 1308, the Seljuk dynasty ended
with the death, in Konya,
of the last Sultan Mesut II (1284-1296
/ 1301/2-1308).
As a result of the disruption of the political
unity, new beyliks (emirates) founded on the model
of the old Seljuk beyliks, were formed by the
Karamanoğulları (1250-1487 karaman,
Konya) who
were the main adversaries to the Osmanoğulları;
the Germiyanoğulları (1260-1390
/1402-1429 Kütahya)
who were the most important after the Karamanoğulları;
the Eşrefoğulları (2 nd half
of the 13 th century – 1326 Beyşehir); the Hamîdoğulları
(1280-1324 / 1327-1391 Isparta);
the Tekeoğulları (1300-1423
Antalya);
the Menteşeoğulları (1300-1425
Milas); the Aydınoğulları
(1300-1390 /1402-1425 Aydın, Aegean
Coast); the Saruhanoğulları
(1300-1390 /1402-1410 Manisa); the Karasıoğulları
(1303-1345 Balıkesir, Bergama); the İnançoğulları
(1276-1368 Denizli);
the Çobanoğulları (1227-1309
Kastamonu); the Candaroğulları (1291-1461 Kastamonu,
Sinop, Samsun, Cankırı, Zonguldak); the Pervâneoğulları
(1277 - 1322 Samsun, Sinop); the Tâceddînoğulları
(1348 - 1428 Ordu, Niksar); the Ramazanoğulları
(1352-1608 Adana);
the Dulkadıroğulları (1348-1522 Maraş,
Malatya, Adıyaman); the Ahi Dervishes
(1290-1354 Ankara);
the Karamanid Beys of Alâiye
(1293-1471 Alanya);
the Eretnaoğulları, the
main heirs of the Ilkhanids, (1327-1380 Kırşehir,
Nevşehir,
Yozgat, Tokat,
Çorum, Amasya,
Niğde, Kayseri,
Sivas,
Erzincan, Erzurum,
Tunceli, Samsun, Gümüşhane) lost their possessions
to the Karamanoğulları. The Eretnaoğulları were
overthrown by vizir Kadı Burhâneddin
(1381-1398) who succeeded in keeping Sivas. Central
and eastern Anatolia remained under the administration
of the Ilkhanids until the death of the Ilkhanid
rulerEbu Said Bahadir Khan
in 1338, following the collapse of the Ilkhanid
State in 1336.
The Akkoyunlular (the Turcoman
clan of the White Sheep) who settled in eastern
and south-eastern Anatolia in the mid 14th century,
ruled from Diyarbakır,
and their rulers married Byzantine princesses.
They were strong adversaries to the Ilkhanids
and later to the Karakoyunlular (the
Turcoman clan of the Black Sheep) who were expanding
their territory and conquered the regions of Tabriz
(Persia) and Baghdad. In 1467, the famest White
Sheep leader, Uzun Hasan, by killing Jihan
Shah who had attempted to take Diyarbakır, put
an end to the hegemony of the Black Sheep and
took hold of their territory. Uzun Hasan, himself
defeated by the Ottomans in 1473, withdrew to
Tabriz. The White Sheep dynasty, also undermined
by the Safavids, soon declined and came to an
end in 1507.
The Turcoman grandfathers of Osman,
the founder of the Osmanoğulları Travel Guide To Turkey - Turkeyvision
