Erzincan and Divriği: the Mengujekids

Who rules

Name

Fakhr al-Din Bahramshah son of Dawud

Title

Melik of Erzincan and Kemah (his coin styles him emir al-umara)

Since

560 AH (1165), per Nigdeli Kadi Ahmed (TDV)

Born

not pinned

Family

Mengujekid (descendants of Mengujek Ghazi)

Confidence

high

TDV 'Mengucukluler' (Sumer). He rules until his death in 1225, so he is firmly in place on 1 January 1200.

Overlord

Independent, but tied to Konya by marriage: he is a son-in-law of Kilij Arslan II and a brother-in-law of Suleymanshah II, and he marches with the sultan (1202).

Allies and rivals

Allies: Suleymanshah II and the Seljuk house. No open rival.

The realm that morning

Bahramshah rules Erzincan and Kemah undisturbed; Suleyman II rules Divrigi.

Wealth

The irrigated Erzincan plain (grain, fruit), the caravan road, Euphrates crossings; at Divrigi the valley of the Calti.

Military

Fortresses of Kemah, Erzincan and Divrigi.

Threats

• Being drawn into the sultan's wars (Georgia, 1202).
• Absorption by Konya in the long run (Kayqubad takes Erzincan and Kemah in 625 AH / 1228).

Ruler

Fakhr al-Din Bahramshah at Erzincan (since 1165). At Divrigi: Suleyman II son of Sayf al-Din Shahanshah (since about 1198; see Lord of Divrigi).

Consort

Bahramshah's wife is a daughter of Kilij Arslan II (TDV calls him the sultan's son-in-law; her name not pinned).

Heirs and children

Sons: Selcuk (later lord of Kemah), Dawud (Ala al-Din Dawudshah, his successor in 1225), Muzaffar al-Din Muhammad (later lord of Karahisar). Daughters: Melike Khatun (married Tughrilshah of Erzurum before 1213), Selcuk Khatun (married Izz al-Din Kaykaus I), Turan Melek (married Ahmad Shah of Divrigi). Which were born by 1 January 1200, and their ages, are not pinned.

Kin with land

The Divrigi branch under Suleyman II. Whether Bahramshah's son Selcuk already holds Kemah in 1200 is not pinned.

Officers and household

At Divrigi the hajib (chamberlain and treasurer) Kamar al-Din, whose tomb is dated 592 AH (1196). Others not pinned.

Great families

Not pinned. Armenian notables and clergy at Erzincan (Erznka) and Kemah (Kamakh).

Castles and towns

Erzincan (seat and citadel), Kemah (the old fortress on the Euphrates, first seat of the house), Divrigi (castle and Castle Mosque). Refahiye and Ilic lie on their roads. Karahisar (Sebinkarahisar) becomes theirs only in 598 AH (1201-02), per TDV.

Mints tolls markets

Coins of Bahramshah and of Shahanshah of Divrigi are known. Erzincan sits on the caravan road from Erzurum to Sivas and is a market town of the Euphrates plain.

Treaties wars feuds

No war in force that winter is recorded. Marriage alliance with the house of Kilij Arslan II.

Relations

Rum: close, by marriage. The Saltukids: neighbours to the north-east. Harput: neighbour to the south across the Euphrates. Georgia: not yet at war with them; Bahramshah will be taken prisoner at the defeat of 1202 and released without ransom.

Churches

Armenian Christians formed a large part of the people of Erzincan (Erez, Erznga in Armenian sources) and Kemah; Armenian monasteries in the district; names not pinned for 1200.

Coinage

Copper coins of Bahramshah (styling him emir al-umara) and of Shahanshah of Divrigi.

The host

The emir's household troops and Turkmen; contingents sent to the sultan's campaigns. No numbers.

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. 598 AH (1201-02), laterThe Mengujekids take Karahisar (Sebinkarahisar), per TDV.Depends on: The collapse of the Saltukids and Suleymanshah's eastern campaign. Stopped by: A Saltukid recovery.
2. 1202 (TDV; other dates 1203-1205), laterBahramshah marches with Suleymanshah II against Georgia, is captured at the Seljuk defeat near Avnik and Basian, and is released by the Georgians without ransom.Depends on: Suleymanshah's Georgian war. Stopped by: Peace between Konya and Tamar.

Places of note

• Fortress of Kemah: The old Mengujekid seat on the Euphrates.
• Castle and Castle Mosque of Divrigi: Mosque built by Shahanshah son of Suleyman in 576 AH (1180-81), architect Hasan son of Firuz of Maragha.

Where the sources disagree

• The assignment counts Sebinkarahisar among the Mengujekid towns on 1 January 1200; TDV ('Sebinkarahisar') says they took it only in 598 AH (1201-02). Not drawn as Mengujekid here.
• TDV 'Erzincan' lists buildings of Bahramshah's era (a madrasa, a hospital, tombs) as surviving; TDV 'Mengucukluler' says no Mengujekid building survives at Erzincan.

Evidence: Bahramshah is well attested (Ibn Bibi, Nizami, coins, Nigdeli Kadi Ahmed). The Divrigi line is known from inscriptions and coins only, with gaps.

On the map: Drawn through Bahramshah of Erzincan and Lord of Divrigi. The line between the two branches and the western edge towards Sivas are rough.

Primary sources for this realm

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