Menteshe Oghulları

Southwest Anatolia (Turkey)

After the battle of Kösedağ [Köse Dagh] in AH 641 / AD 1243, groups of Turcoman survivors of the Mongol invasions of western Anatolia, led by Menteşe [Menteshe] Bey, started making incursions into ancient Caria, via Antalya, around 660 / 1261. Menteşe Bey first conquered Muğla, then took control of most of southwest Anatolia in 681 / 1282 by taking Aydın. The capital of the Emirate of Menteshe was Beçin, and the main towns were Muğla, Milas, Balat, Çine, Tavas, Fethiye and Eskihisar.
Unlike the Turkish emirates, the Menteşe Emirate had a powerful navy operating effectively in the Mediterranean and the Aegean. After the death of Menteşe Bey in 1282, his son and successor Mesut Bey conquered Rhodes (699 / 1300). Rhodes was recaptured by the Knights of St John in 1314. In spite of his best efforts, Orhan Bey, who succeeded his father in 720 / 1320, failed to retake the island. Ibrahim Bey became bey of the emirate c. 740 / 1340 and died c. 761 / 1360. The territory was divided between his three sons. Beçin, Milas and Balat were given to Musa Bey, Muğla and Çine to Mehmed Bey, and Fethiye and Marmaris to Ahmet Gazi. Musa Bey died shortly afterwards and his part was split between his two brothers, with Ahmet Gazi taking Beçin and Milas, while Mehmed Bey gained Balat. Thus the Emirate was split into two branches.
The Ottoman Sultan Yıldırım Bayezid annexed the Emirate in 792 / 1390. Ahmet Gazi died the following year. Having defeated Yıldırım Bayezid at the Battle of Ankara in 804 / 1402, Tamerlane [Timur the Lame] re-established the Emirate of Menteşe and other Anatolian emirates. Mehmed Bey, who again was made bey of these emirates, died shortly afterwards. He was succeeded by his son Ilyas Bey, who subjected himself to the Ottomans of Mehmed I in 817 / 1414. In 827 / 1424 the Ottoman Murad II conquered the Emirate of Menteşe.
Numerous monuments were built under the Emirate of Menteşe: the Great Mosque of Milas, the madrasa [school] of Ahmed Gazi at Beçin and the Mosque of Ilyas Bey at Balat are among the most important constructions of the time.