Ala al-Dawla Bozkurt

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Bozkurt Beg
  • Sultan
  • Malik al-Adil
  • Nur al-Dawla
  • Ghawth al-Millah
  • Husam al-Din
  • Emir al-Muminin[1]
Bozkurt Beg in a miniature by Mo'en Mosavver in Tarikh-e Alam-ara-ye Shah Ismail (1676)
Reign1480–1515
PredecessorShah Budak
SuccessorAli
Died13 June 1515
ConsortShamsa Khatun (d. 1509)
IssueShāhrukh
Turak
Suleiman
Ayshe
Beglu (or Benlu)
Erdivane
Saru Kaplan
Mehmed
Ahmed
Wife of a Mamluk commander's son
Royal houseDulkadir
FatherSuleiman
ReligionIslam

Ala al-Dawla Bozkurt Beg (Turkish: Alaüddevle Bozkurt Bey; died June 13, 1515)[a] was the ruler of the Dulkadirids from 1480 to 1515.

Early life and background[edit]

Bozkurt was the son of Suleiman, the sixth ruler of the principality of Dulkadir.[3]

First Ottoman–Mamluk War[edit]

Shortly after Bozkurt's rise to power, Mehmed II passed away unexpectedly, possibly amidst the preparations for a campaign against the Mamluk Sultanate. To avoid clashes with the Mamluks, Bozkurt pledged allegiance to the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay (r. 1468–96), who then imprisoned Shah Budak in the Citadel of Damascus. Bozkurt attempted to simultaneously maintain amicable relations with the new Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512). While trying to extinguish the revolt led by his claimant brother, Cem Sultan, in Konya, Bayezid II requested Bozkurt to find Cem, who potentially passed through Bozkurt's realm. Bozkurt was unsuccessful in catching Cem, who managed to escape to Egypt. Cem later returned to Anatolia and allied himself with Kasım of Karaman to overthrow Bayezid II. Bozkurt started pursuing him once again in June 1482, accompanied by Iskender Pasha. Bozkurt met with Bayezid II in Laranda informing him of the failure to restrain Cem, who found refuge with the Knights of Rhodes. Bozkurt thus returned to his country in July.[4] Following Cem's escape, a population of Muslims and Christians from Karaman, governed by Bayezid's son Abdullah, migrated to the Dulkadirid domains causing a dispute over taxation with the Ottomans. It is known that Bayezid II intervened in the issue, although the exact outcome is unknown but presumably preserved peace between the two sides.[5]

In response to the attack against the Ottomans by Cem Sultan, who was being harbored by the Mamluks, Bozkurt laid siege to Malatya in July 1483. Qaitbay sent the Mamluk forces from Syria to capture Bozkurt, who vanquished them near Elbistan in February 1484. Qaitbay mobilized the military in Egypt, which marched north in May 1484 with emir al-silah Timraz as its leader. Bozkurt demanded help from Bayezid II, who tasked Yakub Pasha to deal with the Mamluks, who had pillaged Marash and were approaching Elbistan.[5] A bloody battle took place there on 23 September 1484 resulting in an Ottoman–Dulkadirid victory. Varbash, the governor of Aleppo, was beheaded by Bozkurt, Almas, the governor of Safed, died in battle, and Aynal and Korkmaz, the governors of Tripoli and Tarsus, respectively, were both captured. Bozkurt persuaded Yakub Pasha to attempt to seize Malatya. There, the Ottoman forces were flanked by Timraz, with many casualties, although Yakub Pasha and Bozkurt were able to flee. The Mamluks celebrated the victory in Aleppo by presenting the Ottoman prisoners in Aleppo, while Bozkurt attempted to provoke fear in the Mamluk realm by releasing the Mamluk prisoners he had kept along after having their fingers cut.[6]

Second Ottoman–Mamluk War[edit]

The Mamluks were not entirely successful in their latest victory as they had failed to eliminate Bozkurt. Aiming to politically isolate Bozkurt, Qaitbay sent Bayezid an embassy with a manshur (diploma) from Caliph Al-Mutawakkil II proposing to recognize Bayezid as a legitimate sultan in the lands he ruled over and those he could conquer from the non-Muslims in the future. Al-Mutawakkil called for the two Islamic rulers to cease the ongoing conflicts. Before Qaitbay could receive a response from the Ottoman sultan, he sent the Mamluk army on Bozkurt from Cairo in 1485. Shah Budak was promptly released from the prison in Damascus but was put back to jail as he was not trusted. Qaitbay's embassy arrived in the capital with the news that they weren't welcomed in Constantinople, the Ottoman capital. By that time, the Ottoman forces commanded by Mahmud Pasha, the beylerbey of Karaman, and Karagoz Pasha occupied Gülek Castle upon the complaints of the Turkmen magnates about the Mamluk rule. The Mamluk army led by commander Uzbek and various other Syrian Mamluk emirs thus changed its destination to Adana and Tarsus. The Ottoman and the Mamluk forces were stationed on the opposite banks of the Seyhan River on 12 March 1485. Karagoz Pasha accepted Bozkurt's request for him to postpone the combat by two days for the Dulkadirid aid to arrive. However, Bozkurt did not send aid to the Ottomans as he claimed he would, which contributed to the defeat of the Ottomans, leading to the restoration of the Mamluk rule in the Cilician Plain.[7]

Bozkurt shifted his stance and offered peace to the Mamluks, which Qaitbay declined. Bozkurt tried to avoid the conflict that he created between the two major states. When Bayezid called for his support in the efforts to reclaim the Cilician Plain, Bozkurt intentionally sent his forces late, which resulted in another Ottoman defeat in February 1486 and the capture of the Ottoman commander Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha. Bozkurt sent Qaitbay another request for a truce, which was rejected. Bayezid assigned Koca Davud Pasha to deal with the Mamluks and wanted Bozkurt to join the Ottoman forces. Bozkurt maintained that he was far from the region and his army was composed of highlanders who could not fight in coastal areas. When Davud Pasha marched on the Turgud and Varsak tribes in the region of Taşeli, Bozkurt reversed his decision and met with him in Kocakale, on the Anti-Taurus Mountains. He convinced Davud Pasha to pursue the Karamanid prince Mahmud, who indirectly helped the Mamluks by inciting the tribes in the region to rebel. When Mahmud escaped to Aleppo and the seasonal conditions worsened, Davud Pasha traveled to Vize, where the Ottoman sultan resided, and Bozkurt went to Marash.[8]

War against Shah Budak[edit]

On 26 September 1487, Shah Budak managed to break away from prison with the help of his wife and slaves, who often visited his chambers. Shah Budak traveled to the Bagras Mountains, where allied Turkmen lords assisted him in passing the Taurus Mountains in the direction of the Ottoman lands. Bayezid welcomed him and appointed him as the sanjak-bey of Vize, which was a warning sign to Ala al-Dawla that the Ottomans could attempt to depose him.[9] On 14 March next year, Hadım Ali Pasha retook Adana and Tarsus. Ali Pasha restored the fortress in Adana and was preparing to return to Constantinople when the news of the incoming Mamluk forces from Aleppo broke out. Bozkurt parried the Ottomans' call for aid explaining that he would be waiting in Geben in case the Mamluks would enter the Dulkadirid realm. The Ottoman forces were dependent on the naval support from Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha, who was earlier released from the Mamluk prison. They were eventually vanquished by Uzbek's troops and the allied tribes of Varsak and Turgud on 16 August 1488 near Ağaçayırı. Bozkurt strengthened his ties with the Mamluks by marrying his daughter to the victorious commander Uzbek. Shortly after, Hadım Ali Pasha reported Bozkurt's disloyalty to the sultan.[10]

Bayezid thus declared Shah Budak as the legitimate ruler of Dulkadir by granting him a diploma and providing him with the assistance of Hiziroghlu Mehmed Pasha and Mihaloghlu Iskender Bey, the sanjak-beys of Little Rum (Amasya and Sivas) and Kayseri, respectively. Shah Budak first arrived in Kırşehir, where he caught the town's garrison's leader Shahruh, who was the son of Ala al-Dawla. Shah Budak blinded Shahruh in retribution for the treatment his son Feyyaz had received in 1484. Shah Budak succeeded in occupying a portion of the Dulkadirid domains, which elicited powerful opposition from his brother. Qaitbay learned of the conflict in March 1489.[11] Bozkurt forged Shah Budak's letter to Mahmud Pasha as if his brother instead reported total victory on the battlefield. On the other hand, due to his liking of Bozkurt, Mehmed Pasha was purposefully late to the skirmish, which left Shah Budak helpless apart from about 1000 troops under Iskender Bey. Shah Budak fled the scene. Iskender Bey and his son were captured, and the Ottomans had approximately 200 casualties. Shah Budak took his son Feyyaz with him and escaped to Syria and later to Cairo, where he begged Qaitbay for forgiveness. Qaitbay instead exiled him to a place in Upper Egypt in November 1489.[12]

Upon the rumors of a new Ottoman expedition, Qaitbay sent an embassy to the Ottoman capital asking for peace. Bayezid instead imprisoned the Mamluk representative, and the Mamluk army stationed in Aleppo under Uzbek remobilized for Cilicia in May 1490. Uzbek laid siege to Kayseri heeding Bozkurt's recommendation. When the Ottoman troops appeared close to the city, Uzbek halted the siege and returned south after ransacking Niğde, Ereğli, and Karaman, while Bozkurt retreated to his country. In response to the damage caused by the Mamluks, Bayezid initiated the preparations for a major war. Uzbek ordered Bozkurt to meet with his emir-i ahur in Pazarcık. Although Bozkurt wanted to travel there, his son Saru Kaplan and loyal chieftains persuaded him not to. When Uzbek insisted, Bozkurt maintained his neutrality aware of the warfare that was to come. With the intervention of the Tunisian embassy, the Ottomans and the Mamluks agreed to sign a truce without a skirmish, and Bozkurt successfully sought pardon from the Ottoman sultan. Qaitbay died in 1492.[13]

Domains of Ala al-Dawla (Aladulia) located between Natolia, Caramania, Armenia, and Turcomania, as depicted by English cartographer John Seller in 1690

The Dulkadirids faced great diplomatic challenges during Bozkurt's rule, who married his daughter Ayshe to the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II but also declared allegiance to the Mamluk Sultanate, recognizing Sultan Qansuh's sovereignty within his domain.[14] Despite his ties with the Ottomans, Bozkurt rarely acted as a full vassal to Bayezid. In order to prevent Mamluk campaign in Dulkadirid lands in 1484, Bozkurt released the Mamluk governors of Tripoli and Tarsus, who he had imprisoned in an earlier clash in the border region with the Mamluks. In 1486, Bozkurt did not merge his forces with the Ottomans, who were at war with the Mamluks, although the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay had declined Bozkurt's earlier request for peace in December 1485, when the Mamluk forces reached Cilicia.[9] Scholars popularly link Bozkurt's actions to the deterioraton of Ottoman-Mamluk relations, though some regard this view as belittling Bayezid's own share in this diplomatic struggle.[15] Even when the Dulkadirid army finally joined the Ottoman expedition into Cilicia in 1487, Bozkurt contested a direct attack on the Mamluks.[9]

Bozkurt was initially successful in ruling an equidistant buffer state between the Mamluks and the Ottomans, but the political atmosphere of the region became even more complicated with the emergence of Safavid Iran. A decade into his reign, Shah Ismail of the Safavids destroyed the Dulkadirid capital of Elbistan in 1508, which was a threat to Ottoman dominance in Anatolia. Frustrated by Bayezid's inaction against Safavid expansion, Selim I aggressively rose to the Ottoman throne, overthrowing his father, Bayezid, executing three of his brothers along with their children, and defeating Ismail in the Battle of Chaldiran. Threatened by Selim's actions, Bozkurt refused to support the Ottomans in the battle, which was used against him and led to his downfall.[14]

Downfall and death[edit]

Bozkurt died in the Battle of Turnadağ with the Ottoman Sultan Selim I on the Göksun highlands, where up to 40 thousand Turkmen soldiers were killed.[16] Selim sent Bozkurt's severed head, along with 70 of Bozkurt's allied chiefs,[16] to the Mamluk Sultan Qansuh, which was a threat and hint at the impending downfall of the Mamluks.[17]

Miniature from Tadj ut-Tewarikh depicting the moment Bozkurt's severed head is presented to Selim I

Family[edit]

Bozkurt's sons were Shāhrukh, Turak, Suleiman, Erdivane, Saru Kaplan, Mehmed, Ahmed. His daughters included Ayshe Khatun, Beglu (or Benlu) Khatun,[3] and another daughter, who was married to the Mamluk commander Uzbek's son.[18] Shāhrukh became the lord of Kırşehir, while Suleiman was the lord of Bozok. Ayshe Khatun married the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II around 1467. Bozkurt's other daughter, Beglu married Sultan Murad of the Aq Qoyunlu after her father refused Shah Ismail's request to marry her.[3]

Bozkurt married his paternal uncle Rustam Beg's daughter Shamsa Khatun (died 1509).[19]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ referred to as Aladul by 16–18th-century European sources[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Yinanç 1989, p. 106.
  2. ^ Carrafa 1572, p. 16; Dryselius 1694, p. 101; Krusínski 1728, p. 17.
  3. ^ a b c Venzke 2017.
  4. ^ Yinanç 1989, p. 80.
  5. ^ a b Yinanç 1989, p. 81.
  6. ^ Yinanç 1989, p. 82.
  7. ^ Yinanç 1989, pp. 82–83.
  8. ^ Yinanç 1989, pp. 83–84.
  9. ^ a b c Har-El 1995, p. 194.
  10. ^ Yinanç 1989, pp. 84–85.
  11. ^ Har-El 1995, p. 195.
  12. ^ Yinanç 1989, pp. 85–86.
  13. ^ Yinanç 1989, pp. 86–87.
  14. ^ a b Peirce 2003, p. 24.
  15. ^ Muslu 2014, p. 113.
  16. ^ a b De Giorgi & Eger 2021, p. 489.
  17. ^ Melvin-Koushki 2011, p. 194.
  18. ^ Fleet & Faroqhi 2012, p. 155.
  19. ^ Yinanç 1989, p. 121.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Carrafa, Giovanni Battista (1572). Dell'historie del regno di Napoli (in Italian). Naples: Appresso Giuseppe Cacchij. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  • De Giorgi, Andrea U.; Eger, A. Asa (30 May 2021). Antioch: A History. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317540410. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  • Dryselius, Erlandus (1694). Luna Turcica, eller Turkeske Mäne, anwijsandes lika som uti an spegel (in Swedish). Jönköping.
  • Fleet, Kate; Faroqhi, Suraiya N., eds. (12 November 2012). The Cambridge History of Turkey: Volume 2, The Ottoman Empire as a World Power, 1453–1603. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316175545.
  • Har-El, Shai (1995). Struggle for Domination in the Middle East: The Ottoman-Mamluk War, 1485-91. E.J. Brill. ISBN 9004101802. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  • Krusínski, Judas Thaddeus (1728). The History of the Revolution of Persia. London: S. Aris. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  • Melvin-Koushki, Matthew (2011). "The Delicate Art of Aggression: Uzun Hasan's "Fathnama" to Qaytbay of 1469". Iranian Studies. 44 (2). Cambridge University Press: 193–214. doi:10.1080/00210862.2011.541688. JSTOR 23033324. S2CID 162248528. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  • Muslu, Cihan Yüksel (25 July 2014). The Ottomans and the Mamluks: Imperial Diplomacy and Warfare in the Islamic World. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857735805. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  • Peirce, Leslie (16 June 2003). Morality Tales: Law and Gender in the Ottoman Court of Aintab. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520228924. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  • Petry, Carl F. (26 May 2022). The Mamluk Sultanate A History. Cambridge University Press.
  • Venzke, Margaret L. (2017). "Dulkadir". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Stewart, Denis J. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. III. E. J. Brill.
  • Yinanç, Refet (1989). Dulkadir Beyliği (in Turkish). Ankara: Turkish Historical Society Press. ISBN 9751601711. OCLC 21676736.
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