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Anatolian beyliks (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.

History

Following the Battle of Malazgirt or Manzikert (1071 Seljuk triumph over the Byzantine empire) and the conquest of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks, Oghuz clans 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.

List of the Anatolian beyliks

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

Founded after the Battle of Kösedağ


  • 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

Art

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.

See also

References

  • 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 German

External links

Anatolian Turkish Beyliks

Beylik | Anadolu Beylikleri

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Anatolian Turkish Beyliks".

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