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Danishmend
← 1071–1178 →
Anatolia in 1097, before the Siege of Nicaea
Capital	Sivas Niksar
Language(s)	Turkish
Religion	Islam
Government	Monarchy
Bey, Melik
- 1071–1104	Danishmend Gazi
- 1175–1178	Nasreddin Muhammed
Historical era	High Medieval
- Established	1071
- Disestablished	1178

The Danishmend dynasty was a Turcoman dynasty that ruled in north-central and eastern Anatolia in the 11th and 12th centuries. The dynasty centered originally around Sivas, Tokat, and Niksar in central-northeastern Anatolia, they extended as far west as Ankara and Kastamonu for a time, and as far south as Malatya, which they captured in 1103. In early 12th century, Danishmends were rivals of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm, which controlled much of the territory surrounding the Danishmend lands, and they fought extensively with the Crusaders.

Founder[link]

The dynasty was established by Danishmend Gazi for whom historical information is rather scarce and was generally written long after his death.

His title or name, Dānishmand or more accurately Dāneshmand, means "learned man" in Persian: دانشمند‎ . As of 1134, Danishmend dynasty leaders also held the title Melik (the King) bestowed in recognition of their military successes by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mustarshid, although the Beys (Emirs) of Danishmend prior to 1134 may also be retrospectively referred to as Melik. Danishmend Gazi himself was alternatively called "Danishmend Taylu".^[1]

The dynasty[link]

Danishmends established themselves in Anatolia in the aftermath of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, in which the Seljuks defeated the Byzantine Empire and captured most of Anatolia. Gazi took advantage of the dynastic struggles of the Seljuks upon the death of the Sultan Suleyman I of Rûm in 1086 to establish his own dynasty in central Anatolia. The capital was likely first established in Amasia.^[2]

In 1100, Gazi's son, Emir Gazi Gümüshtigin. captured Bohemond I of Antioch, who remained in their captivity until 1103. A Seljuk-Danishmend alliance was also responsible for defeating the Crusade of 1101.

In 1116, the Danishmends helped Mesud I become the Seljuk sultan.^[3]

In 1130 Bohemond II of Antioch was killed in a battle with Gazi Gümüshtigin, after coming to the aid of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, which Gümüshtigin had invaded. Gümüshtigin died in 1134 and his son and successor Mehmed did not have the martial spirit of his father and grandfather. He is nevertheless considered the first builder of Kayseri as a Turkish city, despite his relatively short period of reign.

When Mehmed died in 1142, the Danishmend lands were divided between his two brothers, Melik Yaghibasan, who maintained the title of "Melik" and ruled from Sivas, and Ayn el-Devle, who ruled from Malatya.

In 1155, Seljuk Sultan Kilij Arslan II attacked Melik Yaghibasan, who sought help from Nur ad-Din, the Zengid emir of Mosul. However, when Nur ad-Din died in 1174, the Sivas lands were incorporated into the Sultanate. Four years later, the Malatya Danishmends were defeated and also incorporated, marking the end of Danishmend rule.

Danishmends in folklore[link]

Danishmend Gazi, the founder of the dynasty, is the central figure of a posthumous romance epic, Danishmendnâme, in which he is mis-identified with an 8th century Arab warrior, Sidi Battal Gazi, and their exploits intertwined.

Virtually all Danishmend rulers entered the traditions of the Turkish folk literature, where they are all referred to as "Melik Gazi".^[4] Hence, there are "tombs of Melik Gazi", many of which are much visited shrines and belong in fact to different Danishmend rulers, in the cities of Niksar, Bünyan, Kırşehir, along the River Zamantı near the castle of the same name (Zamantı) and elsewhere in Anatolia, and Melikgazi is also the name of one of the central districts of the city of Kayseri. The same uniformity in appellations in popular parlance may also apply to other edifices built by Danishmends.

Rulers[link]

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See also[link]

• Sultanate of Rûm
• Anatolian beyliks

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

v t e History of Turkey Pre-14th century Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm 1060–1327 (Seljuk Turks) Anatolian Beyliks Ottoman Empire-related topics Ottoman Empire (1299–1922) periods Rise (1299–1453) Osman's Dream Interregnum Growth (1453–1606) Fall of Constantinople Stagnation (1606–1699) Sultanate of Women Köprülü era Decline (1699–1792) Tulip period Dissolution (1792–1922) Tanzimat era 1st Constitutional Era Second Constitutional Era Partitioning wars European Russian Serbian Byzantine Croatian Austrian Persian Greek Hungarian Polish Venetian Near Eastern Republic of Turkey (since 1923) periods War of Independence 1919–1922 (chronology) Single-party period (1923–1945) Multi-party period (since 1945) topics Constitution Economy Military See also Ancient kingdoms of Anatolia Medieval states in Anatolia Timeline of the Turks (500-1300)

1208-built (extended 1511) Külliye of Battal Gazi in Seyitgazi near Eskişehir is a blend of Seljuk and Ottoman styles

Battal Gazi or Seyyid Battal Ghazi was an Arab Muslim, saintly figure and warrior based in Anatolia (associated primarily with Malatya, where his father, Hüseyin Gazi, was the ruler ^[1]) during the late Umayyad period (8th century) whose attributed legends, which also form the bulk of the information available on the historic personality, later became an important part in Turkish folk literature.

His title Seyyid, as well as being an Arabic honorific, may refer, in the form "Seyyid", to family ties to the Prophet Muhammad.

The legends[link]

Sources available on the historic personality consist of legends often written in the mesnevi style, and which may comport historically correct elements or points that support each other, as well as contradictions. For example, he is cited as having participated in his twenties to the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 718, and the legends name his Byzantine enemy as Leon, which could be no other than Leo III the Isaurian, the Emperor during the siege. On the basis of this information, his date of birth is reckoned to be around 690-695 and there is a consensus among historians for accepting 740 as the year of his death, at the Battle of Akroinon. One the other hand, in one story Battal Gazi raids the Maiden's Tower and rides away from Üsküdar, on the city's Asian side, with the Emperor's treasures and daughter, an event that is not confirmed by any historical record.^[2] Battal Gazi was revendicated as an ancestor of Danishmend Gazi in the romanced epic on the Turkish Bey, Danishmendnâme, in which stories relating to the two figures are blended, possibly with a view to stress the presence of Islam in Anatolia even before the main Turkish advance following the Battle of Manzikert (modern Malazgirt). The verses that compose Danishmendnâme were compiled from Turkish folk literature for a first time by order of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Alâeddin Keykubad, a century after Danishmend's death, and the final form that reached our day is a compendium that was put together under the instructions of the early 15th century Ottoman sultan Murad II.

Battal Gazi remains a very vivacious figure in Turkey's modern day urban culture. This is partly due to a series of films in which Battal Gazi was incarnated by and immortalized anew under the chiselled features of the Turkish film star Cüneyt Arkın. These modern references sometimes involve touches of indirect humor.^[3]

The tombs[link]

Battal Gazi is buried in Seyitgazi, a town named after him and where he is believed to have been martyred (possibly during a siege of the nearby Amorium), in Eskişehir Province, Turkey. Upon the initiative as of 1207 of Ümmühan Hatun, wife of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev I and mother of Alâeddin Keykubad I, Battal Gazi's tomb was extended into a complex containing a mosque, a medrese, cells and ceremonial rooms for dervishes as well as benevolent services for the community such as kitchens and a bakery, and it was later renovated in length under the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II's reign. As such, Seyyid Battal Gazi Complex in Seyitgazi remains a much visited shrine.

On the other hand, many other localities across Turkey also put forth claims as burial places either for Battal Gazi, or for his father Hüseyin Gazi. A tomb in Divriği and another one in Ankara on top of a hill named after Hüseyin Gazi are the most famous among the shrines thought to contain the father's remains.

The district center of Battalgazi in Turkey's Malatya Province, formerly Eskimalatya (Old Malatya) and the previous location of Malatya city, at a distance of 20 km from the modern day urban center, was re-named in honor of Battal Gazi. Battal Gazi's wife and two children are buried in the town.

Battal Gazi films[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Pictures of Seyyid Battal Gazi Kulliye