TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

eign of Shah Ismail, married the sister of the shah, and died in the battle of Gujduwan
with Necm-i Sāni. 903
However, a fifteenth century Anatolian source shows Bayram Beg and his oymaq
as a branch of Karamanoğulları, which ruled central and southern Anatolia for nearly
two centuries. We learn from Şikârî’s Karaman-nâme that when Karamanoğlu Kasım
Bey was killed and the Karaman rule in the central Anatolia had ended by the Ottomans
in 1483, 904 most of former Karaman begs entered into the service of the Ottoman
dynasty. However, Kasım Bey’s commander in-chief (çeri-başı) Pir Bayram and two
other prominent Karaman generals, namely Kökezoğlu and Esed Çelebi, refused the
Ottoman suzerainty. They, with a group of warriors, became brigands conducting
banditry in several regions including Maraş, Halep, Amid, and Humus. 905 On the other
hand, says Şikârî, Shah Ismail rose up with claim of temporal power, also arguing the
revenge of his father and grand-father. He gathered an army of 4.000 men from artisans
and craftsmen. However, one of his wise counselors opposed him arguing that these men
could not be soldiers and it was impossible to avenge for Shaykh Haydar with them. The
soldier must be experienced in battle and cut off heads. 906 Acknowledging his counselor
903 Tarīh-i Kızılbaşān, pp. 37-8.
904 Kasım Bey was the son of Qaramanoğlu Đbrahim Bey. Following the death of Đbrahim Bey in 1464,
taking advantage of internal struggle between Qaraman princes, Ottoma troops invaded Qaraman
territories, mortally demaging the Qaraman rule in the region. During the civil war between Prince Cem
and Bayezid II, Kasım Bey fought in the ranks of Cem against Bayezid II’s troops. Following Cem’s
defeat he made a deal with Bayezid II and governed Đçel region as a vassal of Bayezid II. His death in
1483 marked the end of Qaraman rule in Anatolia. According to Şikârî, he, with his three sons, was
poisoned by Bayezid II. See Şihâbeddin Tekindağ, “Qaramanlılar”, IA, vol. 6, pp. 326-7. Also consider
Faruk Sümer, “Karāmān-oghullari”, EI2.
905 Şikârî, Şikâri’nin Qaramanoğulları Tarihi, haz. Mes’ud Koman, Konya: Yeni Kitab Basımevi, 1946, p.
206. A more carefully prepared edition of Qaraman-nâme was recently published by Metin Sözen and
Necdet Sakaoğlu. However, the ebove cited part, which constituted the last paragraphs of Qaraman-nâme,
does not exist in the manuscript they used. See Şikârî, Qaramannâme, [Zamanın Kahramanı
Qaramanîlerin Tarihi], Metin Sözen-Necdet Sakaoğlu, eds., Đstanbul, 2005.
906 “... Böyle asker ile Şayh Hayder’in kanın alamazsın. Asker cenk görmüş, baş kesmiş bahadır gerekdir”.
See Şikârî, p. 207.
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