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Decline of the Sultanate of Rum (1180s)
In the 1180s the Sultanate of Rum under Kilij Arslan II declined; after dividing the realm among his sons in 1186–88, civil war and feudal fragmentat…
Timeline
- 1181–1182Ephesus · Aegean coastKilij Arslan II gained the upper hand after heavily defeating the Byzantines at Myriokephalon in 1176; after Manuel I's death in 1180 Byzantium fell into civil strife, and war and peace alternated between Rum and Byzantium, with frontier clashes and vassal defections still frequent.
- 1186–1188Konya · KonyaBetween 1186 and 1188, the aging Kilij Arslan II divided his Anatolian territories among his sons, each establishing semi-independent fiefs centered on major cities. This partition directly sparked armed conflict among the brothers, and the Konya central court's control over local beys plummeted.
- 1189–1190Anatolia · AnatoliaBy 1190 the Sultanate of Rum had split into several competing fiefs, with the sultan's nominal authority hard to enforce. Frontier fortresses and trade routes were loosely controlled, the kingdom's overall strength clearly declined, and Anatolia entered an era of baronial warfare until the Sultanate of Rum briefly reunified in the early 13th century.
Sources
- Kilij Arslan II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilij_Arslan_II
- SALJUQS iii. SALJUQS OF RUM https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/saljuqs-iii/
- A History of the Seljuks: Ibrahim Kafesoglu's Interpretation and the Resulting Controversy — Gary Leiser (trans.) (1988)