Sökmen (also called Muineddin Sokman, Muʿīn ad-Dīn Soqman or Soqman ibn Ortoq) was a Turkmen bey of the Seljuk Empire in the early 12th century.

Origin

His father was Artuk, a commander in the Seljuk Empire. He supported Tutush I, a member of the

Seljukid The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

house whose province was Greater

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. Tutush appointed him as the governor of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. After his death in 1091, Sökmen and his brother Ilghazi became the co-governors of the city. However, Sökmen lost his position when Jerusalem was taken by the Fatimids in 1098. Sökmen abandoned the city and moved to north.

In Anatolia and Syria

Even before the loss of Jerusalem, Sökmen spent much of his time in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

and Syria. After Tutush's death in 1095, Sökmen took service with Ridwan of Aleppo, Tutush's son. Sökmen made use of the fight between Ridwan and his brother

Duqaq Dukak or Duqaq may refer to: * Tuqaq (died c. 924 AD), the father of Seljuq, eponymous founder of the Seljuk dynasty * Duqaq (Seljuk ruler of Damascus) Abu Nasr Shams al-Muluk Duqaq (died June 8, 1104) was the Seljuq ruler of Damascus from 1095 ...

to a gain a territory of his own around Suruç (now a district center in Şanlıurfa Province of

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 1098, the Seljuk Empire formed an army under the command of Kerbogha of Musul to assist Yağısıyan during the

siege of Antioch The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Seljuk Empire, ...

. Sökmen took part in this army. But the campaign was a failure and the army arrived a few days after Aleppo surrendered. In 1101, Baldwin I of Jerusalem captured Suruç.

Sökmen’s beylik

Kerbogha died in 1102 and during the ensuing struggle to control Musul, Sökmen supported Musa, the viceroy of Musul. For his services, Musa granted the city Hasankeyf to Sökmen. Sökmen founded a small beylik around Hasankeyf. This beylik is now considered one of the three Arkukid beyliks. (The other two were İlghazi's Mardin beylik and Harput beylik.) The Hasankeyf beylik survived through 1231. After being a bey, he supported his brother Ilghazi who had recently been dismissed from his post as a Seljukid shihna in

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 ...

. In 1104, in the battle of Harran he defeated a Crusader army. In this battle he took

Baldwin II of Jerusalem Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq or Bourg (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied his cousins Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to th ...

and Joscelin I captive.

Death

Toghtekin, the ruler of Damascus asked Sökmen to support him against the Crusaders. Sökmen agreed; but on the way to Damascus, at

al-Qaryatayn Al-Qaryatayn ( ar, ٱلْقَرْيَتَين, syr, ܩܪܝܬܝܢ), also spelled Karyatayn, Qaratin or Cariatein, is a town in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate located southeast of Homs. It is situated on an oasis in t ...

, he died of a pertussis in October 1104.Güray

Citations

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sokmen of Artukids 11th-century births 1104 deaths Artuqids Turkic rulers Medieval Jerusalem Muslims of the First Crusade Hasankeyf District Deaths from whooping cough Government officials of the Seljuk Empire 11th-century Turkic people