The Sarukhanids or Sarukhanid dynasty (Modern Turkish

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

: Saruhanoğulları, Saruhanoğulları Beyliği), also known as the Principality of Saruhan and Beylik of Saruhan (Saruhan Beyliği ), was one of the Anatolian beyliks, centered in Manisa

Manisa

Manisa is a large city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province.Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port city and the regional metropolitan center of İzmir and by its fertile hinterland rich in...

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It was one of the frontier principalities established by Oghuz Turkish

Oghuz Turks

The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....

 clans after the decline of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate. It was founded by the tribal chief Saruhan

Sarukhan, Bey of Magnesia

Sarukhan bin Alpagi was a Turkish Bey of Magnesia .Sarukhan was a Turkish Emir who is remembered for his conquest in the Anatolian Peninsula...

 about 1300 and lasted for a first time until 1390, when Bayezid I

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...

 overran the region and finally until 1410, when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed I

Mehmed I

Mehmed I Çelebi was a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. He was one of the sons of Bayezid I and Valide Sultan Devlet Hatun Mehmed I Çelebi (Ottoman: چلبی محمد, Mehmed I or Mehmed Çelebi) (1382, Bursa – May 26, 1421, Edirne, Ottoman Empire) was a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire...

 killed Hızır, the last Saruhan ruler, and absorbed the Beylik

Bey

Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...

 into the Ottoman Empire

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...

 as a province.

History

The founder of the beylik, Saruhan Bey, was the grandson of a Khwarezmian commander who fought in the service of the Seljuk sultans. Saruhan himself began his military career as an emir

Emir

Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

 of the Germiyanids. Sometime at the beginning of the 14th century, he seized territories for himself in the Gediz River

Gediz River

-Name:The ancient name of the river was Hermos or Hermus.The name of the river Gediz may be related to the Lydian proper name Cadys; Gediz is also the name of a town near the river's sources. The name "Gediz" may also be encountered as a male name in Turkey.-Ancient geography:The Hermos separated...

 (Hermus

Hermus

In Greek mythology, Hermus is a name attributed to multiple characters.-River god:Hermus is the god of the river Hermus located in the Aegean region of Lydia . Like most of the river-gods, he is the son of Oceanus and Tethys...

 under its previous Byzantine rulers) valley and founded a dynasty that started to rule the region from its base in Manisa. Its principal towns included Menemen

Menemen

Menemen is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey as well as the district's central town. The district extends on a fertile plain formed by the alluvial soil carried by the Gediz River...

, Gördes

Gördes

Gördes is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 38,110 of which 10,809 live in the town of Gördes. The district covers an area of , and the town lies at an elevation of .-Economy:Gördes is one of the...

, Demirci

Demirci

Demirci is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 59,314 of which 21,230 live in the town of Demirci. The district covers an area of , and the town lies at an elevation of .-Economy:Demirci is one of the...

, Nif

Kemalpasa

Kemalpaşa is a large town and the center of the district of the same name in İzmir Province, Turkey. Its district area extends immediately to the east of İzmir's eastern-most metropolitan district, Bornova, and Kemalpaşa town being at a distance of only from the historical and traditional center...

, and Kasaba

Turgutlu

Turgutlu is a very large town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2009 census, population of the district is 140,753 of which 115930 live in the city of Turgutlu.The district covers an area of and the city lies at an elevation of...

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Legacies

The dynasty's period as a regional power is largely limited to the long reign of its founder, Saruhan Bey (d. 1346), under whom the principality became known especially as an ally of its southern neighbor Aydinids and its audacious ruler, Umur Bey. Saruhan and his sons assisted Umur Bey in his raids in the context of his close and intricate relations with the Byzantine Empire and also concluded treaties with the Republic of Genoa

Republic of Genoa

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

 and engaged in battle with the Dukes of Naxos

Duchy of the Archipelago

The Duchy of the Archipelago or also Duchy of Naxos or Duchy of the Aegean was a maritime state created by Venetian interests in the Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea, in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, centered on the islands of Naxos and Paros.-Background and establishment of the...

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The most enduring monument of the Saruhan dynasty is the Great Mosque at Manisa. Constructed in 1374 by İshak Bey, the mosque has a prayer hall covered by a dome 14m in diameter. Attached to the prayer hall is an innovative, semi-covered forecourt. The building likely served as inspiration for the Üç Şerefeli Mosque

Üç Şerefeli Mosque

The Üç Şerefeli Mosque is an old Ottoman mosque in Edirne, Turkey. It was built from the order of Sultan Murat II. The mosque is located in the historical center of the city, close to other prominent historical mosques, Selimiye Mosque and Old Mosque...

, constructed some sixty years later by the Ottoman

Ottoman Dynasty

The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...

 sultan Murad II

Murad II

Murad II Kodja was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1451 ....

.

The region roughly corresponding to the area of extension of Saruhan dynasty's administration became an Ottoman 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...

) under the continued name of Saruhan until the early years of the Republic of Turkey.