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

Side (Şark Cānibi), i.e. Iran. 1062 Later sources say, he was, upon request of Bayezid II,
arrested and imprisoned by Memluk governor of Aleppo. 1063
The uprising of Mustafa Beg constituted the last confrontation of Karaman and
Ottoman forces. The Karamanid dynasty, which resisted against Ottomans for two
centuries, was totally diminished by the repression of this uprising and did not rise
again. 1064 One accomplishment of Mesih Pasha was that after suppressing the rebellion
he built a castle in Taş-ili and stationed a group of janissaries in it. The reason for this
was the idea that these soldiers would intervene and prevent similar insubordinate
activities in the region. 1065
In order to better assess the events of the year 1500, a short glimpse into the
international power relations is necessary. In 1500, when Ismail rose up, the seven-year
long struggle with Mamluks had already ended in 1491 and since then the Mamluks and
the Ottomans had been relatively friendly. The newly rising power in the east further
cemented warm relations between the two. Bayezid sent his daughter to the sultan of
Egypt for marriage in 1501. In the next year, ambassadors discussed the affairs of Persia
1062 ‘Şimdiki hālde dergāh-ı mu’allāma mektub ve ādem gönderüb
Karamanoğlı adına olan müfsid Taşili’nden çıkub Tarsus cānibine gidüb akabince Ankara Sancağı beyin
gönderüb mezbūr Karamanoğlu adına olan mesfurı Kuştemiroğlı deniz kenarından geçürmiş, Şam
tarafına veyahud Şark canibine gidüb veyahud ol yirde pinhan oldığı ma’lum olmadı diyu bildirmişsiz.
Eyle olsa gerekdür ki, bu bābda kemal-i ihtimām ve hüsn-ü ikdām zuhura getürüb ol müfsidün ne yire
varub ve ne yire iltica itdüğün temam tahkīk idüb bilmeyince olmayasız ve hakikat-ı hāl temam ma’lum
olduktan sonra yazub dergāh-ı ālem-penāhıma i’lam idesiz!’ See Ahkām Defteri, pp. 67-8, decree 240.
Ten days before, another decree had been sent Şehinshah to inform the Port on affairs concerning
Karamanoğlu. See Ahkām Defteri, p. 32, decree 111.
1063 See for example SLZ1, p. 422. Fisher deduces from contemporary Italian sources that Ismail requested
the Governor of Aleppo to free the Qaramanian leader. But the Mamluk sultan sided with Bayezid. He not
only refused Ismail’s request but also sent three thousand mamluks to Aleppo to prevent his release and to
guard frontier. See FSH, p. 92.
1064 TNSB, p. 125.
1065 “Ve ol Taş-ili içinde bir kale yaptılar, kapıkularından içinde biraz kul kodılar, artuk bir ānın gibi
haramzāde haramilik idüb kaçub Taş-iline girmesün deyu”. See APZa, p. 261. For a similar account also
consider KPZ8a, p. 212.
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