The Saltukids or Saltuqids (
Modern Turkish: Saltuklu Beyliği) were a dynasty ruling one of the
Anatolian beyliks of the
Seljuk Empire, founded after the
Battle of Manzikert (1071) and centered on
Erzurum. The Saltukids ruled between 1071 and 1202. The beylik was founded by Emir Saltuk, one of the
Turkmen[1] commanders of the
Great SeljukAlp Arslan. The beylik fought frequently against the
Georgian Kingdom for hegemony of the
Kars region. The center of the beylik, Erzurum, was briefly re-occupied by the
Byzantine Empire between 1077 and 1079, and was besieged by the Georgian King
Giorgi III in 1184. It comprised the entirety of present-day
Erzurum and
Bayburt provinces, lands east of
Erzincan, most of
Kars, and lands north of
Ağrı and
Muş provinces during its height.
Origin
The first known Saltukid is Ali, who was ruler of Erzurum in 1103. His son and successor was Saltuk, who succeeded him sometime after 1123. Saltuk had a female relative, a daughter or sister, who married Shah-i- Armind of
Akhlat,
Sukman II.[2]
In 1132, Ali's son Izz al-Din Saltuk became malik.[3] Izz al-Din was defeated captured in 1154 by Georgians, led by Dimitri I.[3] He would be ransomed by
Sökmen of the Artuqids, who later married a daughter of Izz al-Din.[3] In 1161, Izz al-Din along with other Turkish allies besieged the Georgians at Ani, but was defeated.[3] He sent a daughter to marry Kilij Arslan II, but she was captured by the
DanishmendidYağıbasan and married off to his nephew.[3]
The Saltukid dynasty is also notable for having a woman,
Melike Mama Hatun, sister of
Nasiruddin Muhammed, directly administering its realm for an estimated nine years, between 1191 and 1200. She was later dethroned by the
Beys and replaced by her son Malik-Shah once she had started searching for a husband among the
Mamluk nobility. Mama Hatun built an impressive
caravanserai in the town of
Tercan, where her mausoleum also stands. Tercan itself used to be called "Mamahatun", and is sometimes still called as such locally.
At one point, the son of Muhammad b. Saltuq II offered to convert to Christianity in order to marry the Georgian Queen
Tamar.[5]
The name of the ruling dynasty of the beylik should not be confused with that of
Sarı Saltuk, a
Turkishmystic and
saint; who is of later date, more associated with western
Anatolia and the
Balkans (especially
Dobruja), and to whom the epic Saltuknâme is dedicated.
The last ruler of the Saltukids, Alaeddin Muhammed, was dethroned and imprisoned by the
Sultan of RumSüleymanshah II during Süleymanshah's Georgian rout in 1202, and the Saltukid beylik was subsequently annexed by the Sultanate of Rum.[1] During 30 years after this conquest, the region of Erzurum was then ruled by the two Seljuq princes
Tughril ibn Kılıç Arslan II and his son
Jahan Shah bin Tughril as an appanage, before being incorporated into the Sultanate of Rum under
Kay Qubadh I in 627/1230.[5]
^
abBosworth 1996, p. 218 Quote: "The
Saltuqids' main role in the political and military affairs of the time was in warfare with the Georgians, expanding southwards from the time of their king
David the Restorer (1089–1125), often as allies of the
Shah-i Armanids (see above, no. 97); but in a curious episode,
Muhammad b. Saltuq II's son offered to convert to Christianity in order to marry the celebrated
Queen T'amar of Georgia. The last years of the family are unclear, but in 598/1202 the Rum Seljuq
Sulayman II, while en route for a campaign against the Georgians, put an end to the Saltuqids; and for some thirty years after this, Erzurum was to be ruled by two Seljuq princes as an appanage before Kay Qubadh I in 627/1230 incorporated it into his sultanate."
(Book cover) Oktay Aslanapa (1991). Anadolu'da ilk Türk mimarisi: Başlangıcı ve gelişmesi [Early Turkish architecture in Anatolia: Beginnings and development] (in Turkish). AKM Publications,
Ankara.
ISBN975-16-0264-5.
Cahen, Claude (1968). Pre-Ottoman Turkey: A General Survey of the Material and Spiritual Culture and History C. 1071-1330. Sidgwick and Jackson.
Leiser, G. (1995). "Saltuk Oghullari". In Bosworth, C.E.; Van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P.; Lecomte, G. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. VIII:Ned-Sam. E.J. Brill.