Karaman, Turkey

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dynasty (Karamanogullari, 1275-1466) which ruled Konya for many years, succumbing eventually to Mehmet II. In 1190 Frederick I (Barbarossa) Holy Roman Emperor stayed here before crossing the Taurus Mountains on the Third Crusade.

History

Historical research suggests that Hittite Landa, an important commercial center and garrison town ca. 1300 B.C., preceded the Laranda that one of Alexander the Great's generals laid waste. Later, under Byzantium Laranda remained a garrison town against Arab incursions. Apart from a short period of occupation under Barbarossa and six years of Armenian rule, Karaman stayed under Seljuk control from the 12th century In 1220 the famous mystic Celâleddin Rumi sought refuge here from Afghanistan with his parents, until his father was summoned to Konya to become a theological professor. As the Seljuks' influence waned, the beylik of Karaman's fortunes improved. The first ruler Kerimüddin-Karaman a Türkmen timber merchant from the region around Mut and Ermenek took up residence in Laranda from 1255 to 1320, giving his name to the region. Before long the Karamans had occupied the Seljuk heartlands and in 1320 even moved the capital to Konya to claim and exhibit the Rumi-Seljuk's inheritance. However, the life-style of the Karamans was not the usual, refined Persian-Seljuk way in most beyliks, but the more austere ways of a nomadic existence. The Karaman ruler Mehmet Bey insisted on the use of Turkish instead of Persian as the language of the court and officialdom. Science and art were encouraged and Karaman retained the same status as Konya. The stable Karaman state was able to resist Ottoman pressure until 1466.