Beyliks of Canik

Beyliks of Canik Turkish: Canik beylikleri is a name given to a group of small Turkmen principalities in northern Anatolia during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Background

After the battle of Kösedağ in 1243, Ilkhanid Mongols became the de facto rulers of Anatolia. The Seljuk sultans became the puppets of Ilkhanids and the former generals of Seljuks as well as Turkmen tribes within Seljuk realm who accepted the suzerainty of Ilkhanids, established themselves as semi independent principalities called beylik. But in the middle Black Sea region of Anatolia, there wasn't a dominant leader and a series of beyliks were founded mostly by the members of the same family. Those beyliks were even smaller than the beyliks in the other regions of Anatolia. They lived in a frequent warfare and their history is highly turbulent. The historians call all of them as Beyliks of Canik. (Actually Canik is the name of a mountain system in middle Black Sea region as well as one of the intercity municipalities of Greater Samsun)

The beyliks

In the following table the names usually refer to the founder of the beylik, (where the suffix "...oğulları" means "sons of") with the exception of Bafra which is the name of the capital city of the beylik.

Name of the beylik Capital End of duration
Bafra Bafra 1460
Hacıemiroğulları Ordu 1427
Kubatoğulları Ladik 1428
Kutluşah Amasya 1381
Tacettinoğulları Niksar 1415
Taşanoğulları Merzifon 1398

All of the beyliks were incorporated in the Ottoman Empire.