Karamanoğlu Mehmed Bey

Devlet Adamı

Ölüm
08 Eylül, 1279
Diğer İsimler
Mehmed Şemseddin (tam adı)

Ruler of the Karamanids (B.? - D. Mut / Mersin, 8th September 1279). His full name was Mehmed Şemseddin and he was the son of Kerimeddin Karaman, who was the second ruler of the Karamanids. His date of birth is unknown and his date of death is also questionable. The Beylik of the Karamanids was the first Turkish state in Anatolia, founded after the Anatolian Seljuk Empire and centered in Karaman and it was the first Turkish state that used Turkish as the official language of the state government.

When Mehmed Bey came to power in the clan upon the death of his father (1261), he made collaboration with Hatiroğlu Şerafeddin Bey, who was the emir of Niğde and who revolted against Seljuks, and he sent his brother Ali Bey for helping him. He also put away Emir-i Sevahil Hoca Yunus after defeating completely the Seljukian and Mongolian forces set upon him in the mountain pass of Göksu. After that, the entered to Konya and has reigned the province of Konya and some of its environment in a short time by allying with the Seljukian Turks living there.

Thereafter, Mehmed Bey, who brought Gıyaseddin Siyavuş to power, the son of the Seljukian Sultan Kaykaus II, became himself a vizier. He enlarged his area of sovereignty from Karaman, Mut and Ermenek until the Gülek Pass in Taurus Mountains. After winning against the Seljukian and Mongolian forces in Elbistan, he declared his commitment to the Sultan of Memluk Baibars, who entered Kayseri, and he received the permission of the decree of beylik from him.

As the first thing he did, Karamanid Mehmed Bey created an army by bringing together all the Turkmen tribes living in the Taurus Mountains in order to accomplish the national unity. He defeated the Sahipataoğulları advancing towards Konya, near Akşehir. However, even though he withstood successfully and prevailed against the Seljuk-Mongolian forces many times in the beginning, he was captured near Ermenek - Mut where he stood back in one of the subsequent collisions and he was killed together with his two brothers.

With many Turkmen tribes such as Candar, Saruhan, Eshrefids, Hatiroğlu gathering next to him, Karamanid Mehmed Bey, who succeeded to instigate Anatolia where the Mongolian invasion brought a big disorder, put his signature on an important success in our civilization history by protecting the native language of Turks and by declaring the Turkish language, which was shifted from its orbit, as the official state language:

Until the middle of the XIII. century in Anatolia, the Seljuks generally used Persian as the literature language and Arabic in state affairs but the community was using Turkish that was their native language. Mehmed Bey, who was the emperor of the Karamanids, a beylik created after the Seljuks came apart, also believed in the necessity of the accomplishment of the language union as the first condition of living together as a nation. For this reason, he enacted the rescript declaring the Turkish as the official language during his leadership.

He published the following enactment: “Şimden gerü hiç kimesne divanda, dergâhta, bergâhta ve dahi her yerde Türk dilinden özge söz söylemeye” (13th May 1277). The meaning of this expression in current Turkish means: “Starting from today, a language other than Turkish shall not be spoken in the council, the dervish convent, the mosque, the assembly and the open space”.

            Karamanid Mehmed Bey, who was a knowledgeable statesman in addition to his military successes, gathered the scientists and artists in his entourage, he gave big importance to them and he provided support to them. His name was given to the university founded in Karaman and to other educational institutions.  

             REFERENCE: Feyzi Halıcı / Mevlâna-Yunus Emre - Nasrettin Hoca - Karamanoğlu Mehmet ve Türk Dili (1977), Büyük Larousse Sözlük ve Ansiklopedisi (1986, s. 7930-7931), TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi (c.28, s. 445, 2003), İhsan Işık / Ünlü Devlet Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, c. 1, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013) - Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (C. 12, 2017).

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