KARAMANOğLU

(Redirected from Karamanid)

'Beylik of Karaman' or of 'Karamanoğlu' (''Karamanoğulları'' in Turkish plural), also called the 'Karamanid Dynasty' or the 'Karamanids', was an Anatolian Turkish Beylik state centered in south-central Anatolia, around the present-day Karaman Province. From the 13th century until its fall in 1467, Karamanoğlu was one of the most powerful fiefdoms in Anatolia. They were the earliest and strongest in the beginning, and second only to the Ottomans later on.
Karamanoğlu Dynasty is also notable by one of its members, Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey, who officially proclaimed the Turkish language as the state language, forbidding, for a time, the use of any others for official purposes.

Contents

Name

History

Power of Karamanid in Anatolia

Karamanid architecture

List of rulers

Notes and references

Name

Named after Karaman, the son of an Armenian convert to Islam, who married a daughter of Ala ad-Din Kay Qubadh I. ^[1]

History

The house of Karamanoğlu can be traced back to ancestors named Hoca Sadeddin and his son Nûre Sufî, who had established Turkish control over the mountainous parts of Cilicia in the first half of the 13th century and to whom the city of Ereğli was given by the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Alâeddin Keykubad I (1219- 1237).
After his death, Kerimeddin Karaman Bey took over control of the house. He expanded his land by capturing castles in Ermenek, Mut, Gülnar, Mer, and Silifke. As a reward for this expansion of Seljuk territory, the sultan Kılıç Arslan IV gave Larende (now Karaman in honor of the dynasty) to Karamanoğlu. In the meantime, Bunsuz, brother of Karaman Bey, was chosen as a bodyguard (Candar) for Kılıç Arslan IV. Their power rose as a result of the unification of Turkish clans that had long lived in the mountainous regions of Cilicia with the new Turkish elements transferred there by Alâeddin Keykubad.
Good relations between the Seljuks and the Karamanids did not last. In 1261, on the pretext of supporting Kaykaus I who had fled to Constantinople as a result of the intrigues of the chancellor Pervâne, Karaman Bey and his two brothers, Zeynül-Hac and Bunsuz, marched toward Konya, the capital of Seljuks, with 20,000 men. A combined Seljuk and Mongol army, led by the chancellor Muînüddin Pervâne, defeated the Karamanoğlu war and captured Karaman Bey's two brothers.
After Karaman Bey died in 1262, his older son, Şemseddin Mehmet I, became the head of the house. He immediately negotiated alliances with other Turkmen clans to raise an army against the Seljuks. During the 1276 revolt of Hatıroğlu Şemseddin Bey against Mongol domination in Anatolia, Karamanoğlu also defeated several Mongol-Seljuk armies. In the Battle of Göksu in 1277 in particular, the central power of the Seljuks were dealt a severe blow and taking advantage of the general confusion, Mehmed Bey captured Konya on 12 May and placed a pretendant who claimed to be the son of Keykâvus to the throne. But in the end, they were again defeated by Seljuk and Mongol forces the same year, and had Mehmed Bey and some among his brothers executed.

Despite these blows, Karamanoğlu continued to increase their power and influence, largely aided by the Mamluks of Egypt, especially during the reign of Baybars. Karamanoğlu captured Konya on two more occasions in the beginning of the 14th century, but were driven out the first time by Emir Çoban, the Ilkhanid governor for Anatolia, and the second time by Emir Çoban's son and successor Demirtaş. The larger expansion of Karamanoğlu power occurred after the fall of the Ilkhanids. This second expansion also coincided with Karamanoğlu Alâeddin Ali Bey's marriage to Nefise Sultan, the Ottoman sultan Murad I's daughter, marking the first important contact between the two dynasties.
Through Ottoman expansion into the Balkans, Aleaddin Ali Bey captured the city of Beyşehir which had been an Ottoman city. However, it didn't take much time for the Ottomans to reach Anatolia and march toward Konya, the capital city of Karamanid. A treaty between the two kingdoms was made and peace existed until the reign of Bayezid I.
Timur gave control of Karamanid to Mehmet Bey, the oldest son of Aleaddin Ali Bey. After Bayezid died in 1403, the Ottoman Empire went into a political crisis. During this time, the Ottoman family were fought against for being kings. It was an opportunity not only for Karamanid, but also for all the Anatolian kingdoms. Mehmet Bey assembled an army to march on Bursa. He captured the city and damaged it. This would not be the last Karamanid invasion of Ottoman lands. However, Mehmet Bey was captured by Bayezid Pasha and sent to prison. He apologized for what he had done to Ottoman lands and was subsequently forgiven by the Ottoman Empire.
Ramazanoğlu Ali Bey captured Tarsus while Mehmet Bey was in prison. Mustafa Bey, son of Mehmet Bey, retook the city during a conflict between the Emirs of Sham and Egypt. After that, the Sultan of Mamluk sent an army to retake Tarsus from Karamanid. Mamluk damaged Konya after Karamanid was defeated, and Mehmet Bey retreated from Konya. Ramazanoğlu Ali Bey followed and captured him. According to an agreement between the two leaders, Mehmet Bey was exiled to Egypt for the rest of his life.
During the Crusade of Varna on the Ottoman Empire in 1443-4, Karamanid İbrahim Bey marched toward Ankara and Kütahya, destroying both cities. In the meantime, Murad Han of the Ottoman Empire was turning back from Rumelia with a victory against the Hungarian Crusaders. Like all other Islamic emirates in Anatolia, the Karamanids were accused of treason. Hence, İbrahim Bey accepted all Ottoman terms.

Power of Karamanid in Anatolia

According to Mesâlik-ül-Ebsâr, written by Şehâbeddin Ömer, the Karamanid army had 25,000 riders and 25,000 saracens. They also used the armies of some Turkmen tribes.
Their economic activities depended mostly on control of strategic commercial areas such as Konya and the ports of Lamos, Silifke, Anamur, and Manavgat.

Karamanid architecture

66 mosques, 8 hammams, 2 caravanserais and 3 medreses built by the Karamanoğlu reached our day. Some among notable works of Karamanoğlu architecture are as follows:

★ Hasbey Medrese (1241)

★ Şerafettin Mosque (XIII century)

★ İnce Minare (Dar-ül Hadis) Medrese (1258-1279)

★ Hatuniye Medrese

List of rulers

# Nûre Sûfî Bey (Capital City: Ereğli[) (1250?-1256?)
# Kerîmeddin Karaman Bey (Capital City: Ermenek) (1256?-1261)
# Şemseddin I. Mehmed Bey (1261-1283)
# Güneri Bey (1283-1300)
# Bedreddin Mahmud Bey (1300-1308)
# Yahşı Han Bey (1308-1312) (Capital City: Konya)
# Bedreddin I. İbrahim Bey (1312-1333, 1348-1349)
# Alâeddin Halil Mirza Bey (1333-1348)
# Fahreddin Ahmed Bey (1349-1350)
# Şemseddin Bey (1350-1351)
# Hacı Sûfi Burhâneddin Musa Bey (Capital City: Mut) (1351-1356)
# Seyfeddin Süleyman Bey (1356-1357)
# Damad I. Alâeddin Ali Bey (1357-1398)
# Sultanzâde Nâsıreddin II. Mehmed Bey (Gıyâseddin)(1398-1399)
# Damad Bengi II. Alâeddin Ali Bey (1418-1419, 1423-1424)
# Damad II. İbrahim Bey (1424-1464)
# Sultanzâde İshak Bey (1464)
# Sultanzâde Pîr Ahmed Bey (1464-1469)
# Kasım Bey (1469-1483)
# Turgutoğlu Mahmud Bey (1483-1487)

Notes and references

1. Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 676 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.



★ The Origins of the Ottoman Empire ISBN 0791408191, Mehmet Fuat Köprülü (translated by Gary Leiser, , , State University of New York Press, 1992, (limited preview)

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