Bahramshah has ruled Erzincan for thirty-four years.
Ibn Bibi calls him wise, honest, just, compassionate and generous; Nizami of Ganja dedicated his Makhzan al-Asrar to him. Married to a daughter of Kilij Arslan II, he is a brother-in-law of Sultan Suleymanshah II and the sultan's natural ally in the east. He holds the irrigated Erzincan plain on the caravan road and the family fortress of Kemah on the Euphrates gorge.
Who he is
- Name
- Fakhr al-Din Bahramshah son of Dawud
- Title
- Melik of Erzincan (emir al-umara on his coin)
- Since
- 560 AH (1165)
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Mengujekid
- Confidence
- high
TDV 'Mengucukluler' (Sumer): accession 560 AH (1165) per Nigdeli Kadi Ahmed, death 1225.
Overlord
None formally; the sultan's son-in-law and ally.
What it holds
- Erzincan and its plain
- Kemah fortress and the Euphrates gorge
- Refahiye and the road west to Sivas
- Ilic
- Kemaliye (Egin) (not pinned)
How it was acquired
Inherited from his father Dawud, who received the Erzincan and Kemah share when the house split on Ishak's death in 1142.
Allies and rivals
Allies: Suleymanshah II and the Seljuk house; his Divrigi cousins. No open rival.
How things stand that morning
Rules Erzincan and Kemah in peace.
Wealth
Grain and fruit of the Erzincan plain; caravan tolls; Euphrates crossings.
Military
Citadels of Erzincan and Kemah; household troops; contingents for the sultan.
Threats
- Being caught up in the sultan's Georgian war (captured in 1202).
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 1202 (TDV; other dates 1203-1205), laterJoins Suleymanshah against Georgia; captured after the defeat near Avnik and Basian; released without ransom.Depends on: The sultan's Georgian campaign. Stopped by: Peace between Konya and Georgia.
Places of note
- Fortress of Kemah: First seat of the house.
Where the sources disagree
- Accession: 560 AH (1165) in TDV (after Nigdeli Kadi Ahmed); 1162 in Wikipedia's list. Marriage to Kilij Arslan II's daughter by 1178 (Wikipedia).
Evidence: Well attested ruler; his lands' exact limits are not.
On the map: Borders with the Saltukids at Tercan and with Divrigi are rough.
Primary sources for Mengujekids
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Chronicle of Michael the Syrian (Michael the Great), Michael the Syrian, patriarch of Antioch 1166 to 1199 (about 1180 to 1195). The Jacobite patriarch's world chronicle, in parallel columns of church, secular and miscellaneous events, ending four years before 1200 and shortly before his own death on 7 November 1199, which left the Syrian Orthodox church with a disputed succession in 1200. Read online
- The History of the Seljuks of Rum, Ibn Bibi (Nasir al-Din Husayn ibn Muhammad) (about 1281 to 1285, at Konya). The main Seljuk narrative for Rum begins with Kilij Arslan II's partition of the sultanate among his sons and his death (1192), Kaykhusraw I's first reign at Konya, his deposition in 1196 to 1197 by Rukn al-Din Sulayman II, Kaykhusraw's wanderings to Cilician Armenia, Aleppo and Constantinople, Sulayman's reduction of his brothers' towns (Tokat, Malatya, Amasya, and Ankara by 1204) and his Erzurum and Georgian campaigns. Read online
Sources and studies
- TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Mengucukluler' (F. Sumer, history; N. C. Akcil, architecture), vol. 29, 2004
- TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Erzincan' (I. Miroglu), vol. 11, 1995
- TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Kemah' (I. Sahin), vol. 25
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.