The Relationship between Karāmān Oghullari- Cilician Armenians in the XIII-XIV. Century

From the 13th century, Mongols, who had drawn a new world map with the military operations carried out by Genghis Khan and other khans who ruled aftermath, tried to invade in the Khorasan and Maverannehir region where the Turks lived intensively. As a result of these invasions, the intense Turkmen population started a migrate towards Anatolia. Mongols, after defeating Turkey Seljuk Empire in 1243 in Köse Dagh War, began to be dominat in Anotolia and oppiressed Anatolian Turkmens. This war, which can be considered as the turning point of Anatolian Turkish history, caused the Anatolian people to remain under the oppression of the Mongols for a long time. The Mongols, in order to dominate Anatolia and the Turks in the region, didn’t want to act alone, but tried to find allience. At this point, they applied a policy of establishing good relations with the Armenians in the region and becoming allies against the Turkmen. In this period, the Armenian’s status was special. Because the Armenians was the nation, who benefited most from the chaos that the Turkish Anatolian Empire and Anatolia were in. Especially Cilician Armenian’s obedience to Mengü Khan volunterely, caused Mongols give more privileges than other Christian states. Clician Armenias tried to conquer importand castles in the area by benefiting from the chaos Turkey Seljuks were in.As a result of the invasion of Mongols, Karāmān Oghullari, who came to Anatolia along with the Turkmens who migrated to the west, were settled by Alá al-Dīn Kaykubād I in the vicinity of Ermenek. Karamanogullari considered this area that they were placed in as a permanent area of jihad and organized attacts on Armenians at every opportunity. As a result of their struggle, they seized the Ermenek Castle and used it as a base in their struggle with the Armenians. On the other hand Karāmān Oghullari, have allied with the Mamluks against the Mongol-Armenian alliance in Anatolia. In the Battle of Ayn Djālūt (1260), when the Mongolians were defeated by the Mamluks, Karāmān Oghullari took courage from and increased their attacts on the Armenians. At the end of this alliance, the regions under the rule of the Cilician Armenians, which were cleared away by the Mamluks, passed into the hands of the Anatolian Turkmen Beys. In this study, the relations between the Armenians and both the Karamanlı Beys and the Cilician Armenian Kingdom will be held in the light of the data in the period sources.