Shams al-Dīn Meḥmed I Beg (; died 20 June 1277 or 30 May 1279) was Beg of the Ḳarāmān from 1263 until his death. Ḳarāmān was a Turkish principality in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

in the 13th century. His father was

Karaman Bey Karim al-Dīn Ḳarāmān Beg was a Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman chieftain who ruled the Karamanids in the 13th century. Ḳarāmān Beg's emergence coincides with the defeat of the Sultanate of Rum by the Mongol Empire in 1256 and the tension b ...

Early life

Meḥmed was the eldest son of Karim al-Dīn Ḳarāmān, the soubashi of the region around

Ermenek Ermenek is a town in Karaman Province in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean region of Turkey. It is the seat of Ermenek District.

, Mut,

Silifke Silifke is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Mersin Province, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,692 km2, and its population is 132,665 (2022). It is west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of the Çukurova plain. ...

, Gülnar, and

Anamur Anamur is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,430 km2, and its population is 66,846 (2022). It is the westernmost district of that province, bordering on Antalya Province. Anamur contains Anatolia's southernm ...

. Upon Ḳarāmān's death in 1263, Sultan of Rum Kilij Arslan IV arrested his children and brother, ''emir-i jandar'' Bunsuz. When Kilij Arslan died in 1266 and Muʿīn al-Dīn Parwāna assumed full power, the latter released Ḳarāmān's children, except for ʿAlī, who was kept in

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

Reign

Meḥmed and his brothers joined Hatīroghlu Sharaf al-Dīn's revolt against the Mongols. Sharaf al-Dīn granted Meḥmed the lands his father Ḳarāmān formerly ruled over and dismissed Badr al-Dīn Ibrāhīm from that position. Meḥmed further expanded his territory towards the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coast and eliminated the Mongol force of 200 men in Ulukışla. When Sharaf al-Dīn was killed by the Mongols in 1276, Badr al-Dīn attempted to take revenge on Meḥmed but was defeated by him in Göksu Valley. Next year he allied himself with Baybars of

Mamluks Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-sold ...

. In May he captured

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. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

, the Seljuk capital. But instead of declaring himself as the sultan he supported his puppet Jimri as sultan, and in turn Jimri appointed him as

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

of the Seljuks on 12 May 1277.Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University page
/ref> As vizier Mehmet issued his famous

firman A firman (; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods such firmans were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The English word ''firman'' co ...

(decree) ordering the

Turkish language Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...

to be used instead of Persian and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

in government offices. But his service term in Konya lasted only about a month. Hearing news of the approaching Mongol army, both Mehmet and Jimri fled from Konya. But the Mongols chased him, and during a clash in Mut Mehmet and his two sons were executed in August 1277. He was succeeded by his brother Güneri.

Firman

Mehmet is known as a devotee of the

. During his brief term as a vizier, he issued a

dated 13 May 1277: , :''Şimden girü hiç kimesne kapuda ve divanda ve mecalis ve seyranda Türki dilinden gayri dil söylemeye.''Culture and Tourism Ministry Karaman page
, :''From now on nobody in the palace, in the

divan A divan or diwan (, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental cou ...

, council and on walks speak no language other than Turkish.''

Legacy

The university of

Karaman Karaman is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the seat of Karaman Province and Karaman District.(see Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University)

References

Bibliography

* * {{Authority control 1277 deaths Year of birth unknown 13th-century Karamanid rulers Ethnic Afshar people