Ali of Karaman (also known as Bengi Ali) was the bey of

Karamanids The Karamanids ( tr, Karamanoğulları or ), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman ( tr, Karamanoğulları Beyliği), was one of the Anatolian beyliks, centered in South-Central Anatolia around the present-day Karaman Pr ...

in what is now modern

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 the 15th century .

Karamanids

Karamanid was a Turkmen state in central

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 ...

after the disintegration of

Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchy Triarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = B ...

. The capital of Karamanid state was usually

Karaman Karaman, historically known as Laranda ( Greek: Λάρανδα), is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. Accordin ...

(ancient Larende, renamed by the Karamanids) and sometimes

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

and other cities as well. It was the main rival of the rising

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

Background

Ali was the younger brother of Mehmed II of Karaman. In 1398,

Bayezid I Bayezid I ( ota, بايزيد اول, tr, I. Bayezid), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt ( ota, link=no, یلدیرم بايزيد, tr, Yıldırım Bayezid, link=no; – 8 March 1403) was the Ottoman Sultan from 1389 to 1402. He adopted ...

of the Ottoman Empire conquered the Karamanid state and jailed Mehmed and Ali. But in 1402, Bayezid himself was defeated by

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

in the battle of Ankara and the two brothers were set free with a permission from Timur to reign on former Karamanid territory. Timur also gave them a few forts in addition to their former possessions. While Mehmed acquired most of Karamanid territory, Ali had to deal with

Niğde Niğde (; grc, Νίγδη; Hittite: Nahita, Naxita) is a city and the capital of Niğde province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey at an elevation of 1,299 m. In 2017 the city population was 141,010 people. The city is small with plenty ...

, a city at the east of Karamanid territory. Although Ali was a vassal of his brother, soon he began acting independently. But he was no match for his brother and in 1415 he escaped to

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16t ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

First reign

In 1420 Mehmed tried to capture the city of

Kayseri Kayseri (; el, Καισάρεια) is a large industrialised city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri province. The Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality area is composed of five districts: the two central districts of Kocasina ...

from the

Dulkadirids The Anatolian beylik of Dulkadir (Modern Turkish: ''Dulkadiroğulları Beyliği''), was one of the frontier principalities established by the Turkoman clans Bayat, Afshar and Begdili after the decline of Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. Capitals T ...

, which was a vassal of Mamluk Sultanate. Mamluks intervened and Mehmed was defeated. Mamluks arrested Mehmed and supported Ali to gain the possessions of his brother. Ali began reigning on the Karamanid territory with the exception of Konya, the most important city of Karamanids. However Ali's reign was short. Because in 1421 Mehmed was released by the new Mamluk sultan Seyfettin Tatar. Mehmed returned to Anatolia and conquered his former possessions. Ali returned to Niğde.

Second reign

In 1423 Mehmed died during the siege of

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

. This gave Ali a second chance to reign. The second reign was also short. Mehmed's son

Ibrahim Ibrahim ( ar, إبراهيم, links=no ') is the Arabic name for Abraham, a Biblical patriarch and prophet in Islam. For the Islamic view of Ibrahim, see Abraham in Islam. Ibrahim may also refer to: * Ibrahim (name), a name (and list of people w ...

who was supported by the Ottomans defeated his uncle in 1424. However İbrahim chose to make peace with his uncle by giving him extra possession as iqta in addition to Niğde.Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye tarihi'' Cilt I, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 pp 251-252

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bengi Ali of Karaman Karamanids 15th-century monarchs in the Middle East Ethnic Afshar people