III. The Beginnings of Transformation

BEGINNINGS OF TRANSFORMATION
Asia Minor. Finally, Anatolia was much closer to the center ofthe Byzan­
tine Empire than had been the provinces occupied by the Arabs and so
was capable of greater resistance. As the state depended primarily on
Anatolia for its resources and for much of its manpower, it could not and
did not quietly acquiesce in the Turkish occupation. The loss of Asia
Minor was tantamount to the destruction of the empire. The Byzantines,
therefore, made serious efforts, in proportion to their sadly declining
strength, first to reconquer and then to hold on to parts of Anatolia down
to the period when Michael Palaeologus reconquered Constantinople in
1261.
Related to the long-term, piecemeal nature of the Turkish conquest
was the disappearance of political unity and stability from Anatolia for
significant periods of time. Prior to the appearance of the Turks, the
Anatolian peninsula had enjoyed a political unity under Constantinople
which had ensured comparative stability (at least for the regions west ofa
line running through Trebizond, Caesareia, Tarsus; but also to a certain
degree for the regions to the east as far as Antioch, Melitene, and Ani).
Society was obliged to support only one ruler, one administration, and one
army. The invasions and prolonged period of active subjugation by the
newcomers changed this situation abruptly and radically as the invasions
resulted in a bewildering proliferation of political entities on Anatolian
soil. This generalization should, ofcourse, be qualified. These conditions
w.ere not as exacerbated in the first half of the thirteenth century when
there was stability for much of Anatolia as the result of developments at
Konya and Nicaea. But this was an isolated situation in the period between
the eleventh century and the Ottoman unification of Anatolia in the
fifteenth century. In the period down to the mid-thirteenth century, there
arose on Anatolian soil Greek states on the Aegean and Black Sea coasts,
an Armenian state in Cilicia, and a number ofTurkish principalities in the
central and eastern regions—Seljuk, Danishmendid, Saltukid, Menguche-
kid, Artukid. With the collapse in the relative and ephemeral stability
of the Seljuks and Nicaea in the late thirteenth century, the appearance
of the emirates throughout Anatolia brought a reversion to periods of
anarchy and chaos until the emirates began to consolidate. The dis­
appearance of political unity attendant upon the Turkish invasions not
only brought considerable upheaval but often placed the Anatolian
populations under the onerous burden of supporting a large array of
courts, administrations, and armies.
The effects of the invasions down to the late twelfth century were most
dramatically manifested in the pillaging and partial destruction of many
urban and rural areas. Though no documentary materials survive which
describe the process systematically, the existing chronicles give a clear
overall picture of the upheaval. The most striking feature of this first
period of Turkish conquest was the sacking of towns and villages in many
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