Beylik of Karasi: Map & History
The Karasids were a Turkoman dynasty that ruled the region of Mysia in northwestern Anatolia during the first half of the 14th century.
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The Karasids were a Turkoman dynasty that ruled the region of Mysia in northwestern Anatolia during the first half of the 14th century. While legendary lineages link the family to the Danishmendids, an 11–12th-century dynasty in central Anatolia, the earliest Karasid rulers the eponymous Karasi Bey and his father Kalam Shah are thought to have taken over the region around Balıkesir during the reign of Mesud II of the Sultanate of Rum claiming independence. Following the death of Karasi Bey, the dynasty ended up ruling two separate emirates, headed by Demir Khan and Yakhshi Khan. Demir Khan is known to have harassed the town of Cyzicus and settlements in Thrace through his naval forces and thus signed a truce with the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III in 1328. In 1333, he met with Ibn Battuta, who wrote unfavorably about him. Suleiman Bey, the latest Karasid ruler attested to by Byzantine sources, was married to the daughter of John Vatatzes and meddled with the internal strife within the Byzantine domains. Byzantine sources ceased mentioning the Karasids after that point.
Modern Countries Once Part of Beylik of Karasi
At its mapped extent, Beylik of Karasi covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Beylik of Karasi's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Beylik of Karasi in Depth
History
The epitaphs of members of a certain Karasi family in Tokat dated 1415, Kutlu Melek and his son Mustafa Chelebi, tie their ancestry to the Danishmendids, a dynasty that ruled over northeastern Anatolia during the 11–12th centuries. Modern historians such as İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı relayed the connection between the Danishmendids and the Karasids in their works. Claude Cahen held that the homonymy between the central Anatolian family and the dynasty in northwestern Anatolia may not be sufficient evidence for a connection. Clifford Edmund Bosworth described the theory connecting the dynasty to the Danishmendids as "almost certainly legendary".
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Karasids (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Beylik of Karasi: Key Facts
| Capital | Balıkesir |
|---|---|
| Official language | Turkic |
| Form of government | monarchy |
| Founded | 1297 |
| Dissolved | 1361 |
Facts from Wikidata Q941887 (CC0).
Beylik of Karasi Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 30,226 km² in 1338 CE.
Beylik of Karasi: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Beylik of Karasi exist?
Beylik of Karasi is dated to 1305 CE – 1343 CE, in the High & Late Middle Ages era.
What was the capital of Beylik of Karasi?
The capital of Beylik of Karasi was Balıkesir, Bergama.
How large was Beylik of Karasi at its peak?
At its peak in 1338 AD Beylik of Karasi covered about 30,226 km².
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