Dukes · Erzurum: the Saltukids · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Mama Khatun

Mama Khatun has ruled the Saltukid lands since her brother's death in 1191, a rare woman ruler in the Muslim lands of her day.

She leads troops herself (Malazgirt, 1191) and builds on the caravan road (her caravanserai and tomb at Tercan). Her hold is weakening: her nephews, sons of Nasir al-Din Muhammad, want the throne, and in 597 AH (from October 1200) she will look to the Ayyubid al-Adil for a husband and help, too late.

Who he is

Name
Mama Khatun, daughter of Izz al-Din Saltuk II
Title
Ruler (melike) of Erzurum
Since
587 AH (1191)
Born
not pinned (before 1168)
Family
Saltukid
Confidence
medium

TDV 'Mama Hatun' (Seker) and 'Saltuklular' (Ozaydin): she succeeded her elder brother Nasir al-Din Muhammad in 587 AH and was deposed in 597 AH (from about 11 October 1200).

Overlord

None in practice (see Saltukids).

What it holds

  • Erzurum with its citadel and the Erzurum plain
  • Pasin (Basean) with Hasankale and the upper Araxes
  • Tercan (Derjan) and the castle of Micingird
  • Bayburt (Baberd)
  • Tortum and Narman
  • Ispir (Sper)
  • Avnik castle
  • Mavrokastron (Sebinkarahisar) and the upper Kelkit, by TDV's account (low confidence)
  • Oltu: Saltukid under Saltuk II, but a fortress of Ahlat by 1204-05 (Ibn al-Athir); not drawn as hers

How it was acquired

Saltukid inheritance since the conquest after Manzikert; Bayburt, Micingird, Avnik, Ispir and Oltu came under Izz al-Din Saltuk II (1132-1168); Mavrokastron after the Danishmendid fall (about 1170), per TDV. She took power on her brother's death in 587 AH (1191).

Allies and rivals

Allies: the lords of Ahlat. Rivals: her nephews; Georgia.

How things stand that morning

She holds Erzurum and the castles. Her nephews are pressing her; the emirs are wavering.

Wealth

Caravan tolls of Erzurum and Tercan, markets, flocks and horses of the high pastures.

Military

The citadel and walls of Erzurum and the castles of Pasin, Micingird, Tortum, Bayburt and Ispir; the emir's mamluks and Turkmen horse. No numbers.

Threats

  • Her nephews (deposition in 597 AH).
  • Georgian raids.
  • Suleymanshah II (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.

  1. 597 AH (from about 11 October 1200 to 30 September 1201)She asks al-Adil for a husband (he proposes Faris al-Din Maymun al-Qasri); before the wedding she is deposed and imprisoned, and her nephew Ala al-Din Melikshah rules.Depends on: The nephews' party among the emirs. Stopped by: A quick marriage alliance or outside help.

Places of note

  • Erzurum citadel: Seat of the emirate.
  • Mama Khatun's complex at Tercan: Caravanserai, tomb, bath and mosque on the caravan road.

Where the sources disagree

  • Wikipedia gives 1191-1200 for her reign and makes Melikshah her son; TDV gives 597 AH and makes him her nephew.

Evidence: Her reign and fall are told by Arab sources (Imad al-Din, Ibn Wasil) through Turan, Sumer and TDV; exact dates are uncertain.

On the map: The edges are rough: Oltu, Hinis and the Kelkit valley are not pinned, and the Mavrokastron part rests on one modern account.

Primary sources for Saltukids

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
  • History of the Armenians, Kirakos Gandzaketsi (1241 to 1265). Written at Getik and Gandzak in the Zakarid lands of Georgian Armenia. Read online
  • The Georgian Chronicles: the Histories and Eulogies of the Sovereigns, and the Life of Queen Tamar, Anonymous, attributed to the chancellor Theodore of Chqondidi and to Basili, master of the court (about 1210 to 1225). Two court histories of Queen Tamar written within a generation. 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

  1. TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Mama Hatun' (D. A. Seker), vol. 27, 2003
  2. TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Saltuklular' (A. Ozaydin, history; N. C. Akcil, architecture), vol. 36, 2009
  3. TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Sebinkarahisar' (F. Acun), vol. 38, 2010
  4. TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Bayburt' (I. Miroglu), vol. 5, 1992
  5. Wikipedia, 'Saltukids' (citing Bosworth, New Islamic Dynasties; Cahen, Pre-Ottoman Turkey; Leiser, EI2 'Saltuk Oghullari')

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.