Germiyanids

Germiyan
1300–1429
Beylik of Germiyan (light red) in 1300.
Capital	Kütahya
Common languages	Old Anatolian Turkish
Religion	Muslim
Government	Monarchy
Bey
• 1300–1340	Yaʿqūb I
• 1340–1361	Muḥammad Chakhshādan
• 1361–1387	Sulaymān Shāh
• 1387–1429	Yaʿqūb II
Historical era	Late Medieval
• Established	1300
• Disestablished	1429
Preceded by Succeeded by Sultanate of Rûm Ottoman Empire

The Germiyanids (Old Anatolian Turkish: كرميان; Turkish: Germiyanoğulları Beyliği or Germiyan Beyliği) was a prominent Anatolian beylik established by the Oghuz Turkish tribes^[1] (probably the Afshar tribe)^[2] after the decline of Sultanate of Rûm. However, while the beylik was always mentioned as Turkoman or Oghuz Turkish, the population consisted of Turks and Yezidi Kurds, brought by the Seljuks from the east of Malatya to western Anatolia as militia guards against the threatening Turkish tribesmen.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Origins

According to Agoston and Masters Germiyanoğulları were Turkomans who had immigrated to the west because of Mongol pressure in the second half of the 13th century.^[8] The Germiyanids were of Afshar branch of Oghuz Turks.^[9] Germiyanids likely came from Kerman or Fars Province, perhaps headed west with Khwarazmshahs. After the death of Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, they remailed in Malatya area for a while, then moved to Kütahya, where they established the beylik.^[9]

According to Middle East historian Petry, the Germiyans were a Turco-Kurdish dynasty.^[6] However, cultural historian Cemal Kafadar states the ethnic makeup of the dynasty is too complex for a simple straightforward interpretation.^[10]

History

For a brief period in the second half of the 14th century, Germiyan Dynasty was second only to Karamanid Dynasty in its rising power. But they were later taken over by the neighboring Osmanoğlu dynasty, who were to found the Ottoman Empire later.

Germiyans played a crucial role in settling Turkish populations along the coastal regions of the Aegean Sea, the founders of the Beyliks of Aydin, Sarukhan, İnançoğlu and Menteşe having started out as Germiyan commanders.

They rebelled against the central power in 1283, upon the execution of the sultan Kaykhusraw III by the Mongols, and placing of Mesud II on the Seljuq throne. The struggle between combined Mongol-Seljuq forces based in Konya and the rebel forces of Germiyan continued until 1290. An agreement could only be reached in 1299, upon which the Germiyan Dynasty also entered into possession of Ankara. When the Ilkhanid governor Emir Çoban took over Anatolia in 1314, they declared allegiance and concentrated on raids towards the regions to their west.

Their western offshoots that were the Beyliks of Menteşe, Aydin, Ladik, Sarukhan and Karasi were all subject to the Germiyan in the early periods of their foundation, while the Beyliks of Sâhib Ata and Hamidids to the south had to rely on them for protection against attacks from the Karamanids. As for the northern regions of Anatolia, Byzantine sources record Umur Bey, a commander and son-in-law to the Germiyan family, to be the possessor of Paphlagonia, where Jandarid dynasty was to rule only after Germiyan power weakened.

Their strong political entity was eventually surrounded by newer states established by their own former commanders, leaving the Germiyan no outlet to the coastline or to Byzantine territory. Their powerful Karamanid neighbors exerting constant pressure from the east, Germiyan gradually fell under the rising influence of the Ottomans. Bayezid I married with Sultan Hatun, a Germiyanid princess, and acquired the eastern portion of Germiyan as a concession in order to border the Ottoman rival, the Karamanids.^[11]

Legacy

The actual Turkish province of Kütahya was called the sub-province (sanjak) and later province (vilayet) of Germiyan until the early years of the Republic of Turkey, when it was renamed after its central town.

The founding dynasty of the beylik produced illustrious descendants either under the Ottoman Empire or in present-day Turkey, a notable one among these being the 19th century grand vizier Abdurrahman Nureddin Pasha.

The Egyptian National Library and Archives keeps a copy of Qabus-Nama in Old Anatolian Turkish, written during the reign of Süleyman of Germiyan.^[12]

Part of a series on the
History of Turkey
Prehistory Prehistory of Anatolia Palaeolithic Anatolia c. 500,000–  10,000 BC Mesolithic Anatolia c. 11,000–  9,000 BC Neolithic Anatolia c. 8,000–  5,500 BC
Bronze Age Troy 3000–700 BC Hattians 2500–2000 BC Akkadian Empire 2400–2150 BC Luwians 2300–1400 BC Assyria 1950–1750 BC Kussara 1780–1680 BC Achaeans (Homer) 1700–1300 BC Kizzuwatna 1650–1450 BC Hittites 1680–1220 BC Arzawa 1500–1320 BC Mitanni 1500–1300 BC Hayasa-Azzi 1500–1290 BC Lycia 1450–350 BC Assuwa 1300–1250 BC Diauehi 1200–800 BC Neo-Hittites 1200–800 BC Phrygia 1200–700 BC Caria 1150–547 BC Tuwanuwa 1000–700 BC Ionia 1000–545 BC Urartu 859–595/585 BC
Iron Age Diauehi 1200–800 BC Neo-Hittites 1200–800 BC Phrygia 1200–700 BC Caria 1150–547 BC Doris 1100–560 BC Aeolis 1000–560 BC Tuwanuwa 1000–700 BC Ionia 1000–545 BC Urartu 859–595/585 BC Median Empire 678–549 BC Lydia 685–547 BC
Classical Age Classical Anatolia Classical Thrace Achaemenid Empire 559–331 BC Kingdom of Alexander the Great 334–301 BC Kingdom of Cappadocia 322–130 BC Antigonids 306–168 BC Seleucid Empire 305–64 BC Ptolemaic Kingdom 305–30 BC Kingdom of Pontus 302–64 BC Bithynia 297–74 BC Attalid kingdom 282–129 BC Galatia 281–64 BC Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD Armenian Empire 190 BC–428 AD Roman Republic 133–27 BC Commagene 163 BC–72 AD Ancient Rome 133 BC-27 BC–330 AD Sasanian Empire 224–651 AD (briefly in Anatolia)
Medieval Age Medieval Anatolia Eastern Roman Empire (330–1453; 1204-1261 in exile as Empire of Nicaea) Rashidun Caliphate (637–656) Great Seljuk State (1037–1194) Danishmends (1071–1178) Sultanate of Rum (1077–1307) Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (1078–1375) Anatolian beyliks (1081–1423) County of Edessa (1098–1150) Artuqids (1101–1409) Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461) Latin Empire (1204–1261) Karamanids (1250–1487) Ilkhanate (1256–1335) Kara Koyunlu (1375–1468) Ak Koyunlu (1378–1501)
Ottoman Era Periods of Ottoman Empire Rise (1299–1453) Classical Age (1453–1566) Transformation (1566–1703) Old Regime (1703–1789) Decline and modernization (1789–1908) Defeat and dissolution (1908–1922)
Republic of Turkey Periods of Turkey War of Independence (1919–1922) Provisional government (1920–1923) One-party period (1923–1930) (1930–1945) Multi-party period (1945–present)
By topic Agriculture Anatolian peoples Christianity Genetic history Migration of Turks into Anatolia Constitutional history Diplomatic history Economic history LGBT history Military history Cultural history Jewish history
Timeline
Turkey portal
v t e

References

Bibliography

• Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1996). New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press.
• Kafadar, Cemal (2007). "A Rome of One's Own: Reflections on Cultural Geography and Identity in the Lands of Rum". Muqarnas. 24. Brill: 7–25.
• (limited preview) Mehmet Fuat Köprülü (1992). The Origins of the Ottoman Empire. Translated by Gary Leiser. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-0819-1.
• Varlık, Mustafa Çetin (1996). "Germiyanoğulları". TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. 14 (Geli̇bolu – Haddesenâ) (in Turkish). Istanbul: Turkiye Diyanet Foundation, Centre for Islamic Studies. pp. 33–35. ISBN 978-975-389-441-8.