Kayqubad II (, , , ''ʿAlāʾ ad-Dīn Kayqubād bin Kaykhusraw,'' – 1254/1256) was the Seljuk Sultan of Rûm from 1249-1257. He was the only son of the Seljuq Sultan of Rûm Kaykhusraw II and the Georgian princess Gurju Khatun (known as Tamar). Kaykhusraw's elder sons, by different mothers, were Kaykaus II and Kilij Arslan IV, and also served as sultan after their father's death, often simultaneously. As son of the sultan’s favorite wife, he was designated heir. He had a weak constitution and was likely seven years old at the time of his father’s death in 1246.

Reign

The vizier to the sultan, Shams al-Din Isfahani, seeking to defend a degree of Seljuk sovereignty 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 ...

from the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

, put Kayqubad II on the throne together with his two elder brothers, Kaykaus II and Kilij Arslan IV. In 1254 the Mongols asked that Kaykaus II, then nineteen years old, come in person to Möngke, the Great Khan. The brothers, at a conference 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 ...

, decided that Kayqubad II should go to in his stead. The voyage to Möngke’s capital at Karakhorum would be arduous. Kayqubad delayed his trip until at least 1256. He witnessed Bayju assembling his horsemen for the migration to

and sent messages advising his brothers to comply with the Mongol’s demands. One day on the road Kayqubad was found dead. The

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 ...

Baba Tughra’i, who had joined the embassy en route, was accused but nothing came of it. Kayqubad was buried somewhere in the wastes between

and

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

References

Sources

*Claude Cahen, ''Pre-Ottoman Turkey: a general survey of the material and spiritual culture and history'', trans. J. Jones-Williams, (New York: Taplinger, 1968) 271-277. *Wolff, Robert L. and Hazard, H. W., ''A History of the Crusades: Volume Two, The Later Crusades 1187-1311'', The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1977, pg. 726

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kayqubad 02 1230s births 1250s deaths 13th-century sultans of Rum