Emirate of Kilis () was a Kurdish emirate which ruled the

Kilis Kilis is a city in south-central Turkey, near the border with Syria, and the administrative centre of Kilis Province. History Although there aren't any definite information related to its foundation, today's Kilis mainly developed and became ...

and Aleppo regions up until the disintegration of the Ayyubid dynasty in 1264. The rulers of this principality were descendants of Sheikh Fakhraddin, who is one of the greatest

Yezidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The ma ...

philosophers and one of the most important saint figures. The main religion of this principality was

Yazidism Yazidism , alternatively Sharfadin is a monotheistic ethnic religion that has roots in a western Iranic pre-Zoroastrian religion directly derived from the Indo-Iranian tradition. It is followed by the mainly Kurmanji-speaking Yazidis and i ...

History

Origin

The rulers of Kilis were descendants of

Sheikh Mend Sheikh Mand or Sheikh Mend () was a 13th-century Yazidi saint. He is the son of Şêx Fexredîn and thus belongs to the Şemsanî lineage of sheikhs. His sister was Khatuna Fekhra Khatuna Fekhra () was a 12th-century Yazidi female saint ...

, who was the son of Sheikh Fakhraddin. At the beginning of the 13th century. Due to the good relations with the Ayyubid dynasty under

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

, who was himself a Kurd, Sheikh Mand was appointed as the rulers of the principality that stretched from Aleppo and Damascus to

, Maraş in today's

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. Sheikh Mend was later known as the “Prince of Princes."

Rule

When the Ayyubid dynasty collapsed around 1260, the Mamluks appointed Mend Kasim as the ruler of the emirate. The Mamluks ultimately changed their support to İzzeddin, but he with Mamluk support failed at removing Kasım from power. When Ottoman Sultan

Selim I Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite las ...

expanded his empire and conquered the area, he received support from Mend Kasım. However, while visiting

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, Kasım was executed by the Sultan after the latter had received a report from Karaca Beg, the Governor of Aleppo, and İzzeddin on the possible disorder in the case of Kasım's return to Kilis. After years of servitude to the Sultan, Kasım's son, Canpolat succeeded in obtaining the right to govern Kilis in 1515 and governed until his death in 1572. His son Hüseyin was able to expand the emirate towards Aleppo but was executed by the local

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitar ...

after being accused of murder. The emirate was subsequently governed by Hüseyin's nephew Ali who went on a revenge campaign against his rivals for the death of his uncle. The Ottomans thus sent an army to remove Ali who had to flee to Constantinople where he was executed in 1610. Despite a paucity of information, the followers of Ali remained in the region and were a source of trouble between 1613 and the 1690s, notably the Okçu İzzeddinli tribe which was involved in

banditry Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...

The Canbolatoğulları

The descendants of Canbolat are named 'Canbolatoğulları' and fled to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

in 1630. The Druze

Jumblatt family The Jumblatt family (, originally , meaning "steel-bodied" or "soul of steel"), also transliterated as Joumblatt and Junblat) is a prominent Druze family based in the Chouf area of Mount Lebanon that has dominated Druze politics since the 18th centu ...

are descendants of this family. The Jumblatt family is an important family in Lebanese history and is still involved in Lebanese politics.

History

Origin

Rule

The Canbolatoğulları

See also

References

Further reading