Germiyan

:"For the place in Azerbaijan, see Germiyan, Azerbaijan."

Infobox Former Country
conventional_long_name = Germiyan
common_name = Germiyan
continent = moved from Category:Asia to the Middle East
region = the Middle East
country = Turkey
era = Late Medieval
government_type = Monarchy
year_start = 1300
year_end = 1429
p1 = Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm
flag_p1 =
s1 = Ottoman Empire
flag_s1 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1453-1844).svg




image_map_caption =
capital = Kütahya
common_languages = Turkish
religion = Muslim
leader1 = Germiyanlı Yakub Bey the First
leader2 = Germiyanoğlu Yakub Bey the Second
year_leader1 = 1300-1340
year_leader2 = 1402-1429
title_leader = Bey

The Anatolian Turkish Beylik of Germiyan with its capital in Kütahya was one of the prominent frontier principalities established by Oghuz Turkish clans after the decline of Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm.

For a brief period in the second half of the 14th century, Germiyan Dynasty was second only to Karamanoğlu Dynasty in its rising power. But they were later taken over by the neighboring Osmanoğlu dynasty, who were to found the Ottoman Empire later.

Germiyans played a crucial role in settling Turkish populations along the coastal regions of the Aegean Sea, the founders of the Beyliks of Aydınoğlu, Saruhan, İnançoğlu and Menteşe having started out as Germiyan commanders.

The beylik was probably established by members of the Afshar clan of Oghuz Turks. Because of various factors arising from the Mongol invasion, their branch of the clan had left the regions of Fars and Kirman, and headed west into Anatolia, having remained for a time around Malatya, and then moving to the Kütahya area, where their beylik was formed rather rapidly.

They rebelled against the central power in 1283, upon the execution of the sultan Kaykhusraw III by the Mongols, and placing of Mesud II on the Seljuk throne. The struggle between combined Mongol-Seljuk forces based in Konya and the rebel forces of Germiyan continued until 1290. An agreement could only be reached in 1299, upon which the Germiyan Dynasty also entered into possession of Ankara. When the Ilkhanid governor Emir Çoban took over Anatolia in 1314, they declared allegiance and concentrated on raids towards the regions to their west.

Their western offshoots that were the Beyliks of Menteşe, Aydınoğlu, İnançoğlu, Saruhan and Karesi were all subject to the Germiyan in the early periods of their foundation, while the Beyliks of Sâhib Ata and Hamidoğlu to the south had to rely on them for protection against attacks from the Karamanoğlu. As for the northern regions of Anatolia, Byzantine sources record Umur Bey, a commander and son-in-law to the Germiyan family, to be the possessor of Paphlagonia, where Candaroğlu dynasty was to rule only after Germiyan power weakened.

Their strong political entity was eventually surrounded by newer states established by their own former commanders, leaving the Germiyan no outlet to the coastline or to Byzantine territory. Their powerful Karamanoğlu neighbors exerting constant pressure from the east, Germiyan gradually fell under the rising influence of the Ottomans.

The actual Turkish province of Kütahya was called the sub-province ("sanjak") and later province ("vilayet") of Germiyan until the early years of the Republic of Turkey, when which it was re-named after its central town.

The founding dynasty of the beylik produced descendants who illustrated themselves either under the Ottoman Empire or in present-day Turkey, a notable one among these being the 19th century grand vizier Abdurrahman Nureddin Pasha.

References

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=D-WaKed2iNgC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA37&vq=germiyanid&dq=beylik&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=vzENqPi4ZWXYa6Q4oP2NLXxXo9w (limited preview)] cite book | title = The Origins of the Ottoman Empire ISBN 0791408191 |author= Mehmet Fuat Köprülü (translated by Gary Leiser |publisher=State University of New York Press| year= 1992|language=English