Menteshe
Encyclopedia
Milas
Milas is an ancient city and the seat of the district of the same name in Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey. The city commands a region with an active economy, and the region is very rich in history and its remains, the whole territory of Milas district containing a remarkable twenty-seven...
in southwest Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
and headquartered in Beçin castle near that city, was one of the frontier principalities established by Oghuz
Oghuz Turks
The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....
Turkish
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
clans after the decline of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum
Sultanate of Rûm
The Sultanate of Rum , also known as the Anatolian Seljuk State , was a Turkic state centered in in Anatolia, with capitals first at İznik and then at Konya. Since the court of the sultanate was highly mobile, cities like Kayseri and Sivas also functioned at times as capitals...
. The Beylik was named after its founder, Menteş Bey. The beylik's core territory corresponded roughly to present-day Muğla Province
Mugla Province
Muğla Province is a province of Turkey, at the country's south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about inland, while some of Turkey's largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Ölüdeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, are on the coast in Muğla....
in Turkey, including the province's three protruding peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
s.
Among important centers of the Beylik were the cities of Beçin, Milas, Balat
Balat
Balat is the traditional Jewish quarter in the Fatih district of Istanbul. It is located on the European side of Istanbul, in the old city on the historic peninsula, on the western bank of the Golden Horn...
, Elmali
Elmali
Elmalı is a town and district in Antalya Province, the Mediterranean region of Turkey. It lies about inland, near the town of Korkuteli and west of the city of Antalya...
, Finike
Finike
Finike, the ancient Phoenicus , is a district on the Mediterranean coast of Antalya Province of Turkey, 90 minutes west of the city of Antalya.Finike is located in the south of the Teke peninsula, and the coast here is a popular tourist destination...
, Kaş
Kas
Kas is the brand name of soft drink produced by PepsiCo. It comes in grapefruit, orange , lemon , bitter , and apple flavors. Kasfruit juices are also offered in multiple flavors...
, Mağrı (Fethiye
Fethiye
Fethiye is a city and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean region of Turkey with about 68,000 inhabitants .-History:...
after 1911), Muğla
Mugla
Muğla is a city in south-western Turkey. It is the center of the district the same name, as well as of Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey´s Aegean coast. Muğla center is situated inland at an altitude of 660 m and lies at a distance of about from the nearest seacoast in the Gulf of...
, Çameli
Çameli
Çameli is a wooded highland district of Denizli Province at the western end of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey.The highest peak in the district is Akdağ . Summers are cool and winters are cold and wet. The area is under snow in winter....
, Acıpayam
Acipayam
Acıpayam is a town and a rural district of Denizli Province in high country between the Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey. A plain, watered by two reservoirs, known for growing melons and watermelons, on the road between the city of Denizli and Antalya. It covers an area of 1700 km²,...
, Tavas
Tavas
Tavas is a town and a district of Denizli Province of Turkey, on a wide plain on the road to Muğla, near to the district of Kale...
, Bozdoğan
Bozdogan
Bozdoğan is a small historic town and district of Aydın Province in the Aegean region of Turkey, from the city of Aydın. It is a University town with an eclectic array of restaurant and specialty shops....
and Çine
Çine
Çine is a town and a district of Aydın Province, in the Aegean region of Turkey, from the city of Aydın, on the road to Muğla.- Geography :Formerly known as Kıroba, Çine is an attractive rural district in the southern part of the valley of the Büyük Menderes River, on the southern flank of Madran...
. The city of Aydın
Aydin
Aydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
(formerly Tralles) was controlled by this Beylik for a time and was named Güzelhisar under the Menteşe. They later transferred it to their northern neighbors of Aydinids who re-named the city after the founder of their dynasty. Beys of Menteş also held Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
between 1300-1314 and were a serious regional naval power of their time. They also left important works of architecture such as the Firuz Bey Mosque in Milas and İlyas Bey Mosque in Balat.
Menteş Beys submitted to Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
power for the first time in 1390 under the reign of Bayezid I the Thunderbolt
Bayezid I
Bayezid I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1389 to 1402. He was the son of Murad I and Valide Sultan Gülçiçek Hatun.-Biography:Bayezid was born in Edirne and spent his youth in Bursa, where he received a high-level education...
. After 1402, Tamerlane restored the beylik to Menteşoğlu İlyas Bey, who later recognized Ottoman sovereignty in 1414. It was incorporated into the Ottoman realm in a definite manner in 1424.
The present-day Muğla Province
Mugla Province
Muğla Province is a province of Turkey, at the country's south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about inland, while some of Turkey's largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Ölüdeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, are on the coast in Muğla....
of Turkey was named the sub-province (sanjak
Sanjak
Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
) of Menteşe until the early years of the Republic of Turkey, although the province seat was moved from Milas to Muğla
Mugla
Muğla is a city in south-western Turkey. It is the center of the district the same name, as well as of Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey´s Aegean coast. Muğla center is situated inland at an altitude of 660 m and lies at a distance of about from the nearest seacoast in the Gulf of...
with the establishment of Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule in the 15th century.