Kasım of Karaman (died 1493) was the last
bey of the
Karaman Beylik, 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 15th century. He was son of
Ibrahim II of Karaman and Ilaldi Sultan Hatun, daughter of Ottoman Sultan
Mehmed I.
After a brief reign, his brother
Pir Ahmet Bey lost most his beylik (principality) to the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, and both brothers escaped to
Akkoyunlu Turkmen's territory. With Akkoyunlu support they tried to regain their former possessions. Although they weren't able to regain their losses, Kasım allied himself with
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
, and with the help of a Venetian navy, he was briefly able to keep
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.
...
and 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 of the beylik. However, following the campaigns of
Gedik Ahmed Pasha of the Ottoman Empire, he lost all of his possessions in 1475.
Nevertheless, during the
Ottoman Interregnum following the death of the Ottoman sultan
Mehmed II
Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481.
In Mehmed II's first reign, ...
, Kasım allied himself with the pretender
Cem and almost reconstructed the former Karaman beylik. However Cem was defeated by his brother
Bayazıt II. After Cem escaped and took refuge with the
Knights of Rhodes, Kasım acknowledged Ottoman suzerainty. He continued as an Ottoman governor in Silike until his death in 1493.
[Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye tarihi'' Cilt I, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 pp 257-259]
References
15th-century Karamanid rulers
1493 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Ethnic Afshar people
{{Turkey-bio-stub