Anatolian Turkish Beyliks
Anatolian beyliks (
Anadolu beylikleri also
Turkmen beyliks,
Tevâif-i mülûk (in
Ottoman Turkish)) were small
Turkish emirates or muslim
principalities (beylik) governed by tribal
beys, which were founded in several locations of
Anatolia as of the end of the
13th century.
Following the
Battle of Malazgirt or Manzikert (1071 Seljuq triumph over the Byzantine empire) and the conquest of
Anatolia by the
Seljuqs,
Oghuz clans - fighting for the Seljuqs - began settling in present-day
Turkey. The
Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate's central power established in
Konya employed these clans especially in border areas, in order to ensure safety against the
Byzantines, under
Beys called
uj begi (uj is a Turkish term for a border territory, compare
marches). These clans led by beys would receive military and financial aid from the Seljuks in return for their services, and acted as if owing full allegiance to their sovereignty. However, during the end days of the reign of Ala ad-Din
Kay Qubadh I, especially with the
Mongol invasions from the east, the Seljuk power deteriorated and instead
Ilkhanate commanders in Anatolia gained strength and authority, which encouraged the beys openly to declare sovereignty. Many of them, following the fall of the Seljuk empire, joined forces with the dispersed Seljuk elite. Many religious Muslim leaders and warriors from
Persia and
Turkistan who fled the Mongols also settled in these small states. Their assaults on the Byzantines reached even further with the help of these warriors (cmpare
ghazw), and the power sphere of the beyliks expanded.
When the Byzantine empire weakened, their cities in
Asia Minor could resist the assaults of the beyliks less and less, and eventually many Turks settled in western parts of what now was known as
Anatolia. As a result, many more beyliks were founded in these newly conquered western regions. However, power struggles and conflicts arose between them.
In the beginning, the most powerful states were the
Karamanoğlu (or Karamanid) and the
Germiyan, whereas the Osmanoglu (who were to found the
Ottoman Empire, and ensure Anatolian Turkish unity) were relatively quite weak. But with their annexation of the Beylik of Karesi and their advance into
Roumelia, they became the main rivals of Karamanoğlu, who were then thought to be the strongest. The Ottomans advanced further into Anatolia by acquiring towns, either by buying them off or through marriage alliances. Meanwhile the Karamanoğlu assaulted the Ottomans many times with the help of other beyliks,
Mamluks,
Ak Koyunlu (
White Sheep)
Turkmens, Byzantines,
Pontics and
Hungarians, failing and losing power every time. The early Ottoman leaders conquered large parts of land from Karamanoğlu and other less prominent beyliks, which were restored to them after the Ottoman defeat suffered against
Tamerlane in
1402 in the
Battle of Ankara.
But the Ottoman state quickly collected itself under
Mehmed I and his son
Murad II re-incorporated most of these beyliks into Ottoman territory in a space of around 25 years. The final blow for the
Karamanoğlu was struck by
Mehmed II who conquered their lands and re-assured a homogeneous rule in Anatolia. The further steps were towards a single rule by the Ottomans were taken by
Selim I who conquered Ramazanoğlu and Dulkadir territories in 1515 during his campaign against the
Mamluks, and his son Süleyman the Magnificent who more or less completely united the present territories of Turkey (and much more) in his 1534
Irakeyn ('the two Iraks', i.e. Arab and Persian).
Many of the former Anatolian beyliks became the basis for
administrative subdivisions in the Ottoman Empire.
In the list below, a distinction should be made between the beyliks that were founded immediately after the
Battle of Malazgirt (
1071), mostly situated towards the Eastern Anatolia, and who were vassals (or sometimes at war) to the centralized power of
Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate based in
Konya, and between those beyliks that emerged as a result of the weakening of this central state under the
Mongol blow with the
Battle of Kösedağ in 1275. toward the end of the
13th century, extending the
Turkish aire in Western Anatolia. For one specific case (
Çakabey's
Beylik of İzmir), it should be remembered that, immediately after the
Battle of Malazgirt, Turkish forces had spread as far as the western tip of
Anatolia, in immediate vicinity of the
Byzantine capital, and had established their capital in
İznik for 20 years (
1077-
1097), before ebbing back to the inland. A parallel offshoot of this first foray had been the Beylik of İzmir.
Founded after the Battle of Malazgirt
*
Artuklu (three different branches with different durations covering
Diyarbakır,
Hasankeyf,
Mardin,
Silvan,
Harput)
*
Danishmend (covering
Sivas,
Malatya,
Kayseri,
Tokat,
Amasya;
1071-
1178)
*
Dilmachoglu (covering
Bitlis and
Erzurum;
1085-
1192)
*
İnaloglu (short-lived; centered in
Diyarbakır)
*
Mengüdjek (covering
Erzincan,
Kemah,
Divriği;
1071 - mid
13th century)
*
Saltuklu (centered in
Erzurum;
1092-
1202)
Founded after the Battle of Kösedağ
*
Alaiye (vassals to
Karamanoğlu; centered in
Alanya;
1293-
1471)
*
Aydinoglu (covering
Aydın and
İzmir; around
1300-
1425)
*
Candaroglu (also called Isfendiyaroglu; centered in
Kastamonu;
13th century)
*
Chobanoglu (also centered in
Kastamonu)
*
Dulkadir (centered in
Maraş;
1348-
1507)
*
Eretna (covering
Sivas and
Kayseri;
14th century)
*
Eshrefoglu (covering
Beyşehir and
Seydişehir;
13th century)
*
Germiyan (centered in
Kütahya;
1300-
1429)
*
Hamidoglu (centered in
Isparta and
Eğirdir; around
1300-
1391)
*
Karamanoğlu (centered in
Karaman; 13th century -
1487)
*
Karesi (centered in
Balıkesir;
1303-
1345)
*
Kadı Burhaneddin (centered in Kayseri;
1381-
1398)
*
Ladik (also called
İnanchoglu; centered in
Denizli;
13th century -
14th century)
*
Menteshe - (centered in
Milas;
1261-
1414)
*
Osmanoglu (
Ottomans) (first centered in
Söğüt, then
Bursa)
*
Pervaneoglu (centered in
Sinop)
*
Ramazanoğlu (centered in
Adana;
1352-
1517)
*
Sahipata (centered in
Afyonkarahisar;
1275-
1341)
*
Saruhan (centered in
Manisa; around
1300-
1410)
*
Sökmenli (also called
Ahlatshah; centered in
Ahlat;
1100-
1207)
*
Teke (centered in
Antalya;
1321-
1423)
* only three Anatolian regions remained christian until their defeat and Ottoman conquest :
**the kingdom of Little Armenia, in Cilicia (with ancient Tarsus and the Sis patriarchal seat) till 1375
** the Trapezunt = Trebizonde byzantine (1204) break-away 'empire' on the south eastern Black Sea coast
** Philadelphia - knights * - Ottoman in 1390
In spite of their limited sources and the political climate of their era, art during the Anatolian beyliks flourished, probably building the basis for
Ottoman art. Although the artistic style of the Anatolian beyliks can be considered as representatives of a transition period between
Seljuks and Ottomans, new trends were also acquired. Especially wandering traditional
crafts artists and
architects helped spread these new trends and localized styles to several beyliks across Anatolia, which resulted in innovative and original works particularly in
architecture.
Wood and stone carving, clay
tiles and other similar decorative arts of the Seljuks were still used, however with the influence of the pursuit for new spaces and its reflections in other arts as well.
Some representative examples of the Anatolian beyliks' architecture are
İlyas Mosque at
Balat (Milet) (1404),
İsabey Mosque at
Selçuk (1375),
Ulucami Mosque at
Birgi (1312) built by the Aydın beylik. The above mosques, although being successors of Seljuk architecture, differ greatly in the increase of decorations in the interior and exterior spaces and the different placement of the
courtyards and
minarets. Karaman beylik also left noteworthy architectural works, such as
Ulucami Mosque in
Ermenek (1302),
Hatuniye Madrassa in Karaman (1382),
Akmedrese Madrassa in
Niğde (1409), all of which respect a new
style that considers and incorporates the exterior surroundings also. One of the first examples of the Anatolian beylik architecture hinting at the forming of the
Ottoman architecture that aims at uniting the interior space beneath one big
dome and forming a
monumental architectural structure is
Ulucami Mosque in
Manisa (1374) built by the Saruhan beylik. Also worth noting is the increase in constructions of madrassas that points at the beyliks' attaching greater importance to sciences.
*
Islamic architecture*Kılıçlıoğlu, Safa; Araz, Nezihe; Devrim, Hakkı; (eds.) (1969). ANADOLU Beylikleri. In
Meydan-Larousse Büyük Lügat ve Ansiklopedisi, Vol. 1; pp.483-484. Meydan Yayınevi, Istanbul.
*Koprulu, M. Fuat; Leiser, Gary (1992).
The Origins of the Ottoman Empire (Suny Series in the Social and Economic History of the Middle East). State University of New York Press. ISBN 0791408191.
* Westermann
Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte [in German]
*
http://www.osmanlimedeniyeti.com Articles about the Anatolian Beyliks (Anadolu Beylikleri) in Turkish
*
Beyliks chapter of Turkish history
