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Sultanate of Rum

Type Object Region Anatolia Time 1077–1308

A Turkic Seljuk state founded by Suleiman I in Anatolia in 1077 with its capital at Konya, wedged between Byzantium, the crusader states and the Dani…

Timeline

  1. 1077–1097Nicaea (early stronghold) · BithyniaSuleiman I broke away from the Great Seljuk Empire and ruled western Anatolia in the name of Rum (land of the Romans), absorbing Turkic nomadic tribes and Persianized administrative traditions, becoming the main obstacle to Byzantine reconquest.
  2. 1131–1140Konya · KonyaMesud I (r. 1116–1156) had by now secured the court at Konya, contesting eastern Anatolia's passes with Byzantine John II, the crusader Principality of Antioch and the Danishmend dynasty; around 1134 he besieged Kastamonu and intervened in Black Sea trade.
  3. 1243–1308Konya · KonyaAfter the defeat at Köse Dağ in 1243 Rum became a vassal of the Mongol Ilkhanate and sultanly power declined; in 1308 the last sultan Mesud III was assassinated and the state disintegrated, paving the way for the rise of Anatolian beyliks.

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