Emir Gazi or known as Emir Melikgazi was the third ruler of

Danishmendids The Danishmendids or Danishmends ( fa, دودمان دانشمند; tr, Dânişmendliler) was a Turkish beylik that ruled in north-central and eastern Anatolia from 1071/1075 to 1178. The dynasty centered originally around Sivas, Tokat, and N ...

and the elder son of

Gazi Gümüshtigin Gümüshtigin Gazi (died 1104), also known as Melikgazi Gümüshtigin was the second ruler of the Danishmendids which his father Danishmend Gazi had founded in central-eastern Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. He succeeded his father when ...

Life

After

's death, the country was divided into two. Emir Gazi ruled Sivas and surrounding, while his brother Sungur took

Malatya Malatya ( hy, Մալաթիա, translit=Malat'ya; Syro-Aramaic ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ku, Meletî; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city ha ...

. Sungur, later joined

Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = By ...

which was under control of

Kilij Arslan I Kilij Arslan ibn Suleiman ( 1ca, قِلِج اَرسلان; fa, , Qilij Arslān; tr, I. Kılıç Arslan or ''Kılıcarslan'', "Sword Lion") (‎1079–1107) was the Seljuq Sultan of Rum from 1092 until his death in 1107. He ruled the Sultan ...

. Emir Gazi was the father-in-law of

Mesud I Rukn al-Dīn Mesud ibn Kilij Arslan or Mesud I (Modern tr, I. Rükneddin Mesud or ''Masud'' () was the sultan of the Sultanate of Rûm from 1116 until his death in 1156. Reign Following the defeat and death of his father Kilij Arslan fighting a ...

, son of

. After Kilij's death, in 1107, he supported Mesud, which resulted with him taking the throne in 1116. After this Emir Gazi expanded his powers. He supported Mesud against Mesud's brother Melik Arab. In 1127, Melik Arab ambushed Emir Gazi's son

Melik Mehmed Gazi Melik Mehmed or Muhammad Ghazi, (died 1142) was the fourth ruler of Danishmendids. Life Not much is known about his life. Melik Mehmet Gazi was Mummy, mummified. His Gonbad, Kümbet is in Melikgazi, Kayseri. His mummy was Vandalism, vandalized ...

and took him as prisoner. Later Melik Arab marched on Emir Gazi which was resulted in heavy losses. Later he took refuge to Byzantines. In 1130, he allied with

Leo I, Prince of Armenia Leo I ( hy, Լևոն Ա), also Levon I or Leon I, (unknown – Constantinople, February 14, 1140) was the fifth King of Cilicia, lord of Armenian Cilicia or “Lord of the Mountains” (1129/1130-1137). He learned to exploit the open, yet restra ...

against the

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

Bohemond II of Antioch Bohemond II (1107/1108 – February 1130) was Prince of Taranto from 1111 to 1128 and Prince of Antioch from 1111/1119 to 1130. He was the son of Bohemond I of Antioch, Bohemond I, who in 1108 was forced to submit to the authority of the Byzantin ...

, who was killed in the subsequent battle; Bohemond's head was embalmed and sent to the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. Emir Gazi may have been able to conquer more territory in the

Principality of Antioch The Principality of Antioch was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It extende ...

if not for the intervention of

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs ho Komnēnos; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he ...

, who wished to exert his own influence in Antioch. In 1131, he besieged the castle of Kaysun (today near the village of Çakırhüyük) in the

County of Edessa The County of Edessa (Latin: ''Comitatus Edessanus'') was one of the Crusader states in the 12th century. Ferdinandi, Sergio (2017). La Contea Franca di Edessa. Fondazione e Profilo Storico del Primo Principato Crociato nel Levante (1098-115 ...

, but retreated upon the arrival of Count Joscelin, whom Melikgazi believed had already died. As of 1134, Emir Gazi, ''

Melik Мelik (also transliterated as ''Meliq'') ( ''melikʿ''; from ar, ملك '' malik'' (king)) was a hereditary Armenian noble title, in various Eastern Armenian principalities known as ''melikdom''s encompassing modern Yerevan, Kars, Nakhic ...

'' (''the King'') bestowed in recognition of their military successes by the

Al-Mustarshid Abu Mansur al-Faḍl ibn Ahmad al-Mustazhir ( ar, أبو منصور الفضل بن أحمد المستظهر; 1092 – 29 August 1135) better known by his regnal name Al-Mustarshid Billah ( ar, المسترشد بالله) was the Abbasid calip ...

.Claude Cahen cited in
Emir Gazi died at Pazarören,

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is a ...

in 1134, and the Danishmend state began to collapse under pressure from the Byzantines and the

Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = By ...

References

{{Anatolian Beys Muslims of the First Crusade 1134 deaths Year of birth unknown 12th-century rulers in Asia 12th-century Turkic people Danishmends