Kara Isa Beg better Known as Karasi Bey (; died ), attested as Carases by

Nicephorus Gregoras Nicephorus Gregoras (; Greek: , ''Nikēphoros Grēgoras''; c. 1295 – 1360) was a Byzantine Greek astronomer, historian, and theologian. His 37-volume ''Roman History'', a work of erudition, constitutes a primary documentary source for th ...

, was the eponymous

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

of the

Karasids The Karasids or Karasid dynasty (; ), also known as the Principality of Karasi and Beylik of Karasi (''Karasi Beyliği'' or ''Karesi Beyliği'' ), was a Turkish Anatolian beylik (principality) in the area of classical Mysia (modern Balıkesir and ...

in northwestern

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 ...

. Karasi and his father Kalam are thought to have seized the frontier of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

near the ancient

Mysia Mysia (UK , US or ; ; ; ) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on the east, Phrygia on the southeast, Lyd ...

, excluding coastal regions, at an uncertain date. Karasi is absent from the chronicles of contemporary authors other than Gregoras. Later Ottoman sources described him as a (vassal) of

Sultanate of Rum The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. ...

, during the first reign of

Mesud II Ghiyath al-Dīn Me’sud ibn Kaykaus or Mesud II (, ''Ghiyāth ad-Dīn Mas'ūd bin Kaykāwūs''; , ) bore the title of Sultan of Rûm at various times between 1284 and 1308. He was a vassal of the Mongols under Mahmud Ghazan and exercised no re ...

(). Karasi likely died before 1328, when his son Demir Khan is known to have signed an agreement with the Byzantine Empire.

Life

The father of Karasi (or Carases as attested by

) was Kalam (referred to as Calames by Gregoras), who was the son of Yaghdi Bey. The epitaphs of members of the Karasi family in

Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

, Kutlu Melek and his son Mustafa Chelebi, tie their ancestry to the

Danishmendids The Danishmendids or Danishmends () were a Turkish dynasty. These terms also refer to the Turkish state in Anatolia. It existed from 1071/1075 to 1178 and is also known as the Danishmendid Beylik (). The dynasty was centered originally around Siv ...

, a dynasty who ruled over northeastern Anatolia during the 11–12th centuries. Modern historian

Claude Cahen Claude Cahen (26 February 1909 – 18 November 1991) was a 20th-century French Marxist orientalist and historian. He specialized in the studies of the Islamic Middle Ages, Muslim sources about the Crusades, and social history of the medieval Isla ...

holds that the homonymy between the central Anatolian family and the dynasty in northwestern Anatolia may not be a sufficient evidence for a connection.

Clifford Edmund Bosworth Clifford Edmund Bosworth FBA (29 December 1928 – 28 February 2015) was an English historian and Orientalist, specialising in Arabic and Iranian studies. Life Bosworth was born on 29 December 1928 in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire (now ...

described the theory connecting the dynasty to the Danishmendids as "almost certainly legendary". Later Ottoman sources referred to Karasi as a (vassal) during the first reign of

(), the

Sultan of Rum The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. T ...

. Kalam and Karasi Bey are thought to have taken over the region around

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Balıkesir Province, which is also a Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality. As of 2022, the population of Balıkesir Province ...

during Mesud's reign and claimed independence at an unknown date. Fifteenth century

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

historian

Doukas The House of Doukas ( pl. Doukai; , pl. , feminine form Doukaina; ), Latinized as Ducas, was a Byzantine Greek noble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to the Byzantine Empire in the 9th–11th centuries. A mat ...

wrote that they appeared in the region during the rule of the

Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Andronikos II (). It corresponded to the ancient region of

, excluding the towns of Artaki, Pegae, Adramytion,

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; ), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north s ...

, and Dardanellia. However, Cahen proposes that the state appeared much later as medieval writers

Ramon Muntaner Ramon Muntaner () (1265 – 1336) was a Catalan mercenary and writer who wrote the '' Crònica'', a chronicle of his life, including his adventures as a commander in the Catalan Company. He was born at Peralada. Biography The Catalan Com ...

and

George Pachymeres George Pachymeres (; 1242 – 1310) was a Byzantine Greek historian, philosopher, music theorist and miscellaneous writer. Biography Pachymeres was born at Nicaea, in Bithynia, where his father had taken refuge after the capture of Constantinop ...

do not mention the Karasids. Cahen disputes historian Mordtmann's connection of the mentioned by Pachymeres and the Calames (Karasi's father Kalam) of

. Following the Byzantine campaign in western Anatolia allied with

Catalan Company The Catalan Company or the Great Catalan Company (; , , , or ) was a company of mercenaries led by Roger de Flor in the early 14th century and hired by Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos to combat the increasing power of the Anatolian b ...

and

Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

between 1302 and 1308, Karasi expanded into Lesser Mysia and reached south bordering the

Sarukhanids The Sarukhanids or Sarukhanid dynasty ( Modern Turkish: ''Saruhanoğulları'', ''Saruhanoğulları Beyliği''), also known as the Principality of Saruhan and Beylik of Saruhan (''Saruhan Beyliği''), was one of the Turkish Anatolian beyliks (pri ...

. In 1311, Karasi is also known to have laid support to the Sari Saltuk tribe led by

Ece Halil Ece () is a Turkish word meaning queen and may refer to: * Umay, also known as Ece, the Turkic earth goddess Given names * Ece Ayhan Çağlar (1931–2002), Turkish poet * Ece Ege (born 1963), Turkish fashion designer * Ece Erken (born 1978), ...

who clashed with the Byzantine Empire in

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. Karasi Bey accepted troops who survived the struggle to take refuge in his realm. Karasi is thought to have died before 1328, when his son Demir Khan made an agreement with the Byzantines. Some researchers set the year as 1334 or 1336 based on later Ottoman sources, which attested to the death of a Karasid ruler, Ajlan. Although Cahen proposed Ajlan as the nickname of Karasi, these sources referred to Ajlan as the son of Karasi, whereas Karasi's son Yakhshi is also known as Ajlan. There is a ''

türbe ''Türbe'' refers to a Muslim mausoleum, tomb or grave often in the Turkish-speaking areas and for the mausolea of Ottoman sultans, nobles and notables. A typical türbe is located in the grounds of a mosque or complex, often endowed by the ...

'' (tomb) dedicated to Karasi in the Mustafa Fakih neighborhood of the town of Balıkesir, in proximity to the Pasha Mosque. The tomb houses five additional graves, along with Karasi's, reputed to be of his sons. Karasi's sarcophagus is ornamented with inscriptions in the

Kufic The Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script, that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts ...

script.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karasi Bey 13th-century births 1320s deaths Karasids