111
c. 696–c. 761/c. 1297–c. 1360
South-western Anatolia
|
? |
Qarasï Beg b. Qalem Beg |
|
? |
‘Ajlān Beg b. Qarasï, d. c. 735/c. 1335 |
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c. 730/c. 1330 |
Demir Khān, in Balıkesir |
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Yakhshï Khān, Shujā‘ al-Dīn (? Dursun), in Bergama |
|
|
c. 747/c. 1346 |
Ottoman annexation |
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Sulaymān b. Demir Khān, in Trova and Çanakkale in 758/1357 |
This line of Begs established itself in the classical Mysia, namely the coasts and hinterland along the Asian coast of the Dardanelles and along the territory to the south, with centres at Balıkesir and Bergama. A connection of the Qarasï Begs with the Dānishmendids (see above, no. 108) is almost certainly legendary. The family probably constituted their principality in the early fourteenth century, becoming a naval power in the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora, putting pressure on Byzantium across the Dardanelles and thus paving the way for the Ottomans’ crossing into Europe. After annexation by the Ottomans – the first stage in the territorial aggrandisement of that family – at least one Qarasï Beg seems to have retained some power, perhaps as a vassal, since several of the Qarasï commanders rallied to the Ottoman side; but in the absence of any inscriptions, and with few coins, much about this short-lived dynasty remains obscure.
Khalīl Ed’hem, 274–5; Zambaur, 150; Bosworth–Merçil–İpşirli, 309–11.
EI2 ‘Karasi’ (Cl. Cahen); İA ‘Karası-Oğulları’ (İ. H. Uzunçarşılı).
İ. H. Uzunçarşılı, Anadolu beylikleri ve Akkoyunlu, Karakoyunlu devletleri, Ankara 1969, 96–103.