Demir Khan

Demir Khan
Undated coin minted by Demir Khan.
Bey of Karasi
Reignc. 1328 – 1332
PredecessorKarasi Bey
SuccessorYakhshi Khan
Diedc. 1347[1]
IssueJüje Khan
FatherKarasi Bey
ReligionIslam

Demir Khan was Bey of Karasi from c. 1328 to 1332.[2]

According to modern historian Elizabeth Zachariadou, Demir Khan inherited the throne from his father and successor Karasi Bey.[3] Demir Khan was the ruler of Balıkesir, while his brother Yakhshi Khan controlled the area around Pergamos, though Zachariadou pointed out Demir Khan was likely the senior emir.[4] Demir Khan was also identified as Yakhshi Khan's son,[5] specifically by the Byzantine historian and Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (r. 1347–54), which is claimed to be false by several historians.[6]

Demir Khan harassed the towns near Cyzicus[7] and raided coastal parts of southern Balkans through his naval forces based in the Sea of Marmara.[8] For this matter, Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III (r. 1328–41) met with Demir Khan in Pegai in 1328, when they signed a treaty. In 1333, Demir Khan met with the Maghrebi traveller Ibn Battuta.[7] Ibn Battuta deemed Demir Khan a "worthless" person like the population of Balıkesir,[9] and mentioned that the former was disliked by his own people.[10] According to historian al-Uryan, the ruler of Pergamos was "Senbogha", who was subordinate to Demir Khan.[11] Some modern historians maintain that Demir Khan had a short reign.[9]

Demir Khan is alternatively identified as Karasi's later ruler (Yakhshi's son).[5] Claude Cahen proposes that Ajlan, the Karasid prince mentioned by Ottoman sources (died c. 1335) may have been Karasi Bey's nickname, and so his sons who were involved in a dynastic conflict may be Demir Khan and Yakhshi Khan (named Dursun). Dursun was subsequently killed, and the Ottomans thus annexed the territory.[12]

References

  1. ^ İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı (2015). Osmanlı Tarihi 1. Türk Tarih Kurumu. p. 83. ISBN 978-9751600110.
  2. ^ Zachariadou 1991, p. 235.
  3. ^ Zachariadou 1991, p. 227.
  4. ^ Zachariadou 1991, pp. 228–229.
  5. ^ a b Cahen & de Planhol 1978; Günal 2001, p. 488–489.
  6. ^ Uzunçarşılı 1969, p. 98; Zachariadou 1991, p. 228.
  7. ^ a b Zachariadou 1991, p. 228.
  8. ^ Günal 2001, pp. 488–489.
  9. ^ a b Zachariadou 1991, p. 229.
  10. ^ Uzunçarşılı 1969, p. 98.
  11. ^ Foss 2022, p. 206.
  12. ^ Cahen & de Planhol 1978.

Bibliography