Cuneyt Bey of Aydin

Background

The Beylik of Aydın was a small Turkmen principality (emirate or beylik) in western Anatolia that emerged after the disintegration of the Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm. Founded by the eponymous Aydın, about whom little is known, the beylik was extended by Mehmed Bey (r. 1308–1334) over the formerly Byzantine lands along the Küçükmenderes River (Byzantine Kaystros) up to the Aegean coast. Its two main ports were Smyrna (İzmir) and Ayasoluk (Byzantine Agios Theologos, modern Selçuk) near the ruins of ancient Ephesus, while its capital was Birgi (Pyrgion). It reached its greatest power under Mehmed's son Umur (r. 1334–1348), who established it as an important naval power. Umur became involved in the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 and launched devastating raids against the Christian states of the Aegean Sea, leading to the formation of two naval leagues against him and the loss of Smyrna to the Smyrniote crusades. Umur was killed fighting at Smyrna in 1348, and under his successors the beylik declined, until it was annexed by the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I (r. 1389–1402) in 1390.

Junayd's origin is not entirely clear. Sources about the period are many and have diverse provenance, differing greatly in scope, detail, and reliability. The main source about Junayd's career is the chronicle of the Byzantine historian Doukas, whose family had ties to the Aydınids dating back to Doukas' grandfather. Doukas calls him "Juneid, the son of Kara-subashi" (subashi being a gubernatorial title rather than a proper name), and reports that the latter was a long-serving governor of Smyrna under Bayezid I, "and because of his long rule, the Smyrnaeans respected him as supreme governor". In Turkish sources the name of Junayd's father is given as Ibrahim, or sometimes Ibrahim Fatih ("Ibrahim the Conqueror"). The Turkish historian Himmet Akın suggested that Junayd's father is to be identified with Ibrahim Bahadur, lord of Bodemya (Potamia) and a son of Mehmed Bey, a view also accepted by Irène Mélikoff in the Encyclopaedia of Islam article on Junayd. The Greek scholar Elisabeth Zachariadou challenged this identification on the grounds that Junayd's father does not appear to have had any relation to Bodemya. Furthermore, based on a reference in the satirical work of the Byzantine author Mazaris, Zachariadou suggests that Ibrahim may have been a Byzantine renegade. Junayd's relationship to the Aydınid family is thus unclear, although he may have been a lesser member of the dynasty. Junayd's father was probably the subassi Smirarum mentioned in a number of Genoese documents of 1394. The first of these documents concerns discussions on the release of two of the sons of the subassi (Italian form of subashi), who had been taken prisoner by the Latin captain of Smyrna; Junayd may have been one of them. It is known that Junayd had an uncle, Qurt Hasan, and three brothers: Hasan Agha, Bayezid, and Hamza.

Start of the Ottoman Interregnum (1403–1405)

The Aydınid beylik was absorbed by the Ottoman Empire in 1390, but it was restored after the Battle of Ankara in 1402, in which Bayezid I was defeated and captured by the Turco-Mongol warlord Timur. Timur at first appointed a certain Mehmed, probably one of his own followers, to rule over the Aydınid domains, but when he withdrew from Anatolia in 1403, he gave control over the Aydınid domains to Isa and Umur II, grandsons of Mehmed Bey.

Following the departure of Timur, the various Turkish dynasties restored by him were involved in the war of succession (the so-called "Ottoman Interregnum") between Bayezid's sons. Like the Christian powers of the Balkans—the Byzantine Empire, Wallachia, and Serbia—their chief concern was the maintenance of the new territorial status quo against renewed Ottoman expansionism. With Timur gone, however, the minor rulers of the region were forced to acknowledge the abiding Ottoman power, while the feuding Ottoman princes in turn tried to gain their support by showing respect for their autonomy. Generally, the Anatolian beys tended to recognize whichever of the Ottoman princes controlled Bursa, the first Ottoman capital and still formally the Dar al-Saltana ("abode of the sultanate"), as their overlord.

While Bayezid's second son Süleyman Çelebi controlled the Ottoman provinces in the Balkans (Rumeli), in Anatolia the Ottoman territories were divided between two of his brothers, İsa Çelebi and Mehmed I, the eventual victor in the civil war. İsa initially held the advantage, as he controlled the original core of the Ottoman state in Bithynia, and possibly Bursa, while Mehmed ruled the rather peripheral and recently conquered Rûm Eyalet. By May 1403, however, Mehmed had defeated his brother at the Battle of Ulubad and seized Bursa, forcing İsa to seek refuge in the Byzantine capital Constantinople. With the support of Süleyman, who desired to keep his brothers divided and pre-occupied with fighting each other, İsa returned to Anatolia and sacked Bursa, but was again defeated in battle by Mehmed. İsa then allied himself with İsfendiyar Bey of Kastamonu, only to be defeated again.

At that point, İsa arrived in Smyrna, seeking the aid of Junayd. Junayd agreed, and succeeded in bringing the neighbouring rulers of Sarukhan, Menteshe, Teke and Germiyan to join him. It is unclear if by this time Junayd was a vassal of Süleyman as he became later, but if so, then the latter's support for İsa probably played a role in this decision. The allies held superior numbers, but Mehmed was able to overcome them in a battle near Smyrna, thanks in part to his own alliance with the Karamanids and the Beylik of Dulkadir. To maintain his authority, Junayd was forced to submit to the victor and ask for pardon, while İsa, trying to flee, was caught and strangled at Eskisehir.

Worried by Mehmed's increasing power, Süleyman invaded Anatolia himself in late 1403 or early 1404, and occupied Bursa. Unable to face his brother's superior forces, Mehmed withdrew east to Rûm, and the stand-off between the two brothers entered a period of relative stalemate that lasted until 1410.

Takeover of the Aydınid beylik (1405–1406)

In spring 1405, Junayd assembled a force of "more than five hundred troops", including many Smyrnaeans, with which he captured Ayasoluk and evicted the Aydınid brothers Isa and Umur from their principality. According to Doukas, Junayd claimed to be operating on behalf of Süleyman, who supported Junayd with money. In the struggle that followed the Aydınids appear to have been backed by Mehmed; a report from the Venetian colony of Crete suggests that in early summer 1405 Mehmed allied himself with the rulers of Aydın (Umur) and Menteshe, and that Junayd sided with Süleyman in opposing them.

Isa of Aydın was killed by Junayd near Palaiopolis, but Umur escaped and secured the aid of his uncle, the ruler of Menteshe Ilyas Bey. The latter marched against Ayasoluk with a force that Doukas puts at 6,000 men, against the 3,000 that Junayd and the Kara-subashi could muster. The town was held by the Kara-subashi, while Junayd held Smyrna. Ayasoluk surrendered after a two-day bombardment with incendiary missiles, but the Kara-subashi held out in the citadel until autumn, when he surrendered. Doukas reports that Ilyas Bey imprisoned the Kara-subashi and his companions in Marmaris. Junayd then took a light galley and sailed to Marmaris, while notifying the prisoners of his approach in secret. The prisoners then threw a sumptuous feast for the guards, and when the latter fell into a drunken stupor, the prisoners climbed down the walls of the castle to Junayd's waiting ship which brought them to Smyrna.

At the beginning of winter, Junayd went over to the offensive, and besieged Umur in Ayasoluk. Soon the two were reconciled, and the pact was sealed when Junayd offered one of his daughters in marriage with Umur. According to Doukas, Junayd recognized Umur as lord of the Aydınid domains and renounced his allegiance to Süleyman. Together the two men toured the Aydınid principality as far as Alaşehir (Byzantine Philadelphia), Salihli, and Nif (Nymphaion, modern Kemalpaşa). Junayd "settled in these parts his most faithful followers, and entrusted the entire province to his relatives and friends". Having thus solidified his control over the Aydınid domains, when they returned to Ayasoluk, Junayd killed Umur (winter 1405 or spring 1406) and assumed the rule over the principality. Modern scholars have seen in Junayd's revolt a reassertion of the "former Ottoman status quo" against the Timurid appointees; it is evident that Junayd could rely on extensive local support, established in the days of his father's governorship in the region.

Between Süleyman and Mehmed (1406–1413)

Having declared himself independent from Süleyman, Junayd began preparing for the inevitable reaction by the Ottoman prince, by going in person to Konya and Kütahya to forge a common front with the beys of Karaman and Germiyan. According to Doukas, the bey of Karaman came to his aid with 3,000 men, and the bey of Germiyan with 10,000, who joined Junayd's 5,000 at Ayasoluk. In the meantime, Süleyman at the head of 25,000 troops had advanced to Smyrna via Bursa and Pergamon. Learning of the arrival of the other beys in support of Junayd, he moved his troops to the vicinity of Ayasoluk and erected a fortified camp. Both sides hesitated to attack each other, but Junayd's spies informed him that the other rulers planned to seize him and deliver him to Süleyman so that they could negotiate favourable terms. Junayd immediately instructed his brother, who held the citadel of Ayasoluk, to be watchful, and rode with his household troops to Süleyman. Doukas related that Junayd put a noose around his neck and presented himself to the Ottoman ruler as a repentant sinner. Süleyman was moved by the sight and pardoned him, but when Junayd proposed to lead the army against the beys of Karaman and Germiyan, Süleyman prudently refused, and only after dawn did he begin his march in the direction of Ayasoluk. The two beys, after finding Junayd gone in the middle of the night, gathered their forces and withdrew in haste east.

Ragusan reports from June 1407 indicate that Süleyman had defeated Mehmed in battle and that the latter had fled to a mountain near Smyrna. Furthermore, Venetian reports from September of the same year record that Süleyman was preparing his fleet to sail from Gallipoli against Ayasoluk, Palatia, and Smyrna, indicating that both Junayd and the ruler of Menteshe (who had his capital at Palatia) were by this time allies, and presumably both vassals of Mehmed.

In June 1410, Süleyman was forced to return to Rumeli due to the actions of his brother, Musa Çelebi. The latter had found refuge in Wallachia, and in 1409 he crossed the Danube into Süleyman's domains, quickly gaining many followers. According to Doukas, Süleyman took Junayd with him and appointed him governor of Ohrid, while appointing a new governor over Junayd's domain. On the other hand, as late as July 1410 the Venetian senate regarded Aydın and Menteshe as independent beyliks, as it instructed its captains to conclude treaties with them or, failing that, attack their territory. The background to Süleyman's treatment of Junayd can be explained by a recently discovered coin, minted by Junayd in AH 812 (16 May 1409 – 5 May 1410) and mentioning Mehmed as his overlord. This implies that Süleyman's authority over the subdued Anatolian beyliks was weakening at the time, and that Süleyman once again had to enforce Junayd's submission, and took him along to secure his loyalty. Conversely, Junayd's appointment in Ohrid was probably a calculated move; the historian Dimitris Kastritsis describes it as an attempt to "establish control over the central part of Rumeli by placing it in the hands of someone of proven ambition, who was also totally dependent on him, with no ties to Rumeli’s political circles", as well as serving to keep Junayd as far from Anatolia as possible.

Süleyman was initially successful against Musa, but on 17 February 1411, Musa launched a surprise attack on Edirne and killed his brother. Taking advantage of the resulting confusion, Junayd left his post and returned to Smyrna, where he regained his former domains and decapitated the governor appointed by Süleyman. The governor had probably submitted to Mehmed in the meantime, for the anonymous Ottoman chronicle Aḥvāl-i Sulṭān Meḥemmed ("Affairs of Sultan Mehmed") records that Junayd laid siege to Ayasoluk, forcing Mehmed, who had just suffered a defeat by Musa at the Battle of İnceğiz (winter 1411/1412), to march against him. Junayd was besieged in the citadel of Smyrna (possibly a mistaken reference for Ayasoluk, since that of Smyrna had been razed by Timur), but in the end had to surrender to Mehmed, who allowed him to keep his territories but required that the coins and the Friday prayer (khutbah)—the traditional attributes of sovereignty in the Islamic world—be henceforth carried out in his name.

During the reign of Mehmed (1413–1421)

In July 1413, Mehmed defeated Musa at the Battle of Çamurlu and consolidated his control over Rumeli. He then returned to Anatolia, where in his absence the bey of Karaman had sacked Bursa. Junayd too had taken advantage of his absence to expand against his neighbours. According to Doukas, Mehmed sent messages to Junayd ordering him to hand back the lands he had seized, and proposed that Junayd keep his original domain in exchange for a marriage between his daughter and Mehmed. When Junayd received the message, in his "arrogance and overweening pride", he married his daughter to a mere slave, an Albanian convert called Abdallah, and ordered Mehmed's emissary to report back to his master that Junayd had found a worthier husband for his daughter. He then reinforced his fortresses, and awaited the Ottoman Sultan's arrival at Ayasoluk. His mother and his brother Bayezid with his children were left in Smyrna, which he provisioned against a long siege.

During his march south, Mehmed took the fortress of Kymai (Aliağa), Kayacık (the Byzantine fortress of the Archangel), and Nif by assault. In the last he found the slave Abdallah, and had him castrated as revenge for the insult to his person. When Mehmed arrived before Smyrna, according to Doukas, he was met by a large number of local rulers—"the governors of Old and New Phocaea, Germiyan and upper Phrygia, Menteshe of Caria, the lords of Mytilene and Chios in their triremes, and the grand master of Rhodes also"—who submitted to him and offered their help against Junayd. Doukas states they did this for two reasons: "Mehmed's goodness and gentle nature and superior military strength, on the one hand, and Juneid's cunningness and rapacity, on the other." After a siege of ten days from land and sea, Junayd's mother, wife and children presented themselves and made their obeisance, surrendering the city.

His mother continued to plead on Junayd's behalf until Mehmed pardoned him, at which point Junayd presented himself and made his obeisance. According to Doukas, Mehmed sent Junayd to Rumeli again as governor of the frontier province of Nicopolis in Bulgaria, while handing over the province of Aydın to the Bulgarian prince Alexander.

Not long afterwards, Mustafa Çelebi, another son of Bayezid, who had been taken captive at Ankara, was released by Timur, and went to Wallachia. Not trusting Junayd, Mehmed sent two trusted servants to kill him, but Junayd crossed the Danube and joined Mustafa in Wallachia two days before their arrival. Mustafa appointed Junayd as his vizier. With soldiers provided by the Wallachian ruler Mircea I (r. 1386–1418), Mustafa and Junayd entered Thrace and tried to raise the local Ottoman forces in revolt; failing, they found refuge in Constantinople. In spring 1416, they went to the Byzantine city of Thessalonica, and tried to attract support from the Ottoman marcher-lords (uç beğleri) of Macedonia. Although they captured Serres, they still failed to win over many supporters, and Mehmed defeated them in battle in autumn. Mustafa and Junayd fled back to Thessalonica, where the local governor, Demetrios Laskaris Leontares, took them under his protection. The Sultan besieged the city, until the Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (r. 1391–1425) agreed to keep them as hostages for as long as Mehmed lived, in exchange for a yearly payment of 300,000 akçes. According to Doukas, Mustafa was sent to the island of Lemnos, while Junayd was cloistered in the monastery of Pammakaristos Church in Constantinople.

Second revolt of Mustafa (1421–1422)

In 1421, Mehmed died, and was succeeded by his 17-year-old son, Murad II. In his testament, Mehmed consigned his two youngest sons, Yusuf and Mahmud, to the keeping of the Byzantine Emperor as hostages, but Mehmed's vizier, Bayezid Pasha, refused to hand them over. As a result, the Byzantines released both Mustafa and Junayd from captivity, seeing in this a chance to establish not only a friendly Ottoman regime, but also to regain lost territories in northern Greece, the Black Sea coast, and, most importantly, Gallipoli. After Mustafa swore solemn oaths to obey the Emperor and hand over the desired lands, a Byzantine fleet under Demetrios Leontares brought them to Gallipoli on 15 August 1421. The local garrison tried to oppose them landing, but "were unable to resist Juneid because the man was courageous and more experienced in warfare than any Turk of his time", according to Doukas. Mustafa then addressed the garrison and persuaded many of them to surrender; after landing, he began his march on Edirne, while Leontares maintained the siege of Gallipoli.

Unlike his previous attempt, Mustafa was soon joined by many of the marcher-lords that dominated Rumeli, such as Turahan Bey, the sons of Evrenos, and the Gümlüoğlu family. He quickly extended his control over much of Macedonia, including the cities of Yenidje and Serres, and began striking his first coins there. Murad sent Bayezid Pasha with an army from Anatolia to confront Mustafa. The two armies met each other at Sazlıdere near Edirne, but the troops of Bayezid defected en masse to Mustafa after he showed them the scars he had received at the Battle of Ankara. Bayezid surrendered and was executed, according to Doukas on the insistence of Junayd; his brother, Hamza Bey, was spared the same fate because Junayd took pity on his youth. Thus Mustafa entered Edirne in triumph. When the defenders of Gallipoli learned of this, they surrendered as well, and departed the fortress. According to Doukas, as Leontares was preparing to take possession of Gallipoli, Junayd and Mustafa arrived, and informed him that the agreement was void, as they could not countenance the surrender of their own people to the infidels. Despite his remonstrances, Leontares had no choice but to gather his men and depart for Constantinople, while Mustafa organized his fleet and strengthened the defences of the harbour.

As a result of this breach of faith, Emperor Manuel turned to Murad and offered him his assistance in ferrying his army across to Europe, while Murad too sent one of his closest advisors to Manuel. Negotiations stalled because Murad was unwilling to undertake the same obligations as his father and brother, i.e. to hand over his two younger brothers as hostages and surrender Gallipoli, until the Genoese podesta (governor) of New Phocaea, Giovanni Adorno, offered to ferry Murad's army over instead. Mustafa grew worried at this news, and at the prodding of Junayd, decided to take the initiative and cross over into Anatolia first. According to Doukas, Junayd's motives were purely personal: Mustafa had become dissolute, and he feared that he would fall against his brother; should that happen, if Junayd were in Europe, he ran the risk of falling into the hands of the Byzantines, who were eager to repay him for his treachery at Gallipoli. Junayd therefore sought to return to Anatolia and his own principality as soon as possible.

The following year, Junayd accompanied Mustafa to Anatolia; their army numbered so many men, according to Doukas, that it took three days for the force to cross at Lampsakos, while Murad moved with his troops from Bursa to confront them at Lopadion (Ulubad), where his men tore down the bridge over the Nilüfer River, blocking Mustafa's advance. Doukas provides a detailed tale that Murad's advisors used Junayd's brother, Hamza, who was a lifelong close friend of Murad, to meet Junayd during the night and convince him to desert with promises of restoring him to his former domains. Shortly after nightfall, Junayd secretly assembled his closest friends and household members, as well as seventy swift horses. Taking only a cloak and as much gold, silver, or other precious items they could carry, they abandoned Mustafa's camp, riding posthaste for Smyrna. According to Doukas, "in one night they covered the distance of a two days' journey" , and Junayd's party arrived before the town on the next evening, and were jubilantly welcomed by the inhabitants. Junayd's defection was only one of "a series of stratagems and ruses" employed by Murad and described by the eyewitness historian Ashik Pasha-Zade. Mustafa was deserted by the Rumelian beys as well, and was forced to withdraw to Gallipoli and Edirne, pursued by Murad, who crossed the Dardanelles on 15 January 1422 on ships provided by Adorno. His authority in tatters, Mustafa tried to flee to Wallachia, but was recognized, seized, and hanged at Edirne.

In the meantime, Mustafa, an Aydınid who was active in the area of Ayasoluk, gathered his forces and marched against Smyrna when he heard of Junayd's return. The latter began to hastily assemble his own army, aided by the fact that, according to Doukas, the mountain-dwellers of the area were "very bellicose and martial and friends of Juneid's father". As a result, within a week he had gathered a force of over two thousand, whom he hastily equipped with bows, axes, javelins, and crude lances. The two armies confronted each other in a marshy and wooded place called Mesavlion. When battle was joined, Junayd launched a headlong attack on Mustafa, and slew him with an iron mace. Thereupon Mustafa's soldiers hailed him as their ruler. With Mustafa's death his rule was uncontested, and soon he had reconquered his former beylik.

End of the Aydınid principality (1424–1425)

By 1424, having dealt with threats in other areas, Murad turned against Junayd, intending to limit his domains to Smyrna and its surrounding region. According to Doukas, the Sultan sent Junayd a letter, requesting that the latter send one of his sons as a hostage, as had been agreed at Lopadion. Junayd's reply is reported as "Do as you like and leave the outcome to God." While Murad was preoccupied in the Balkans, he named as his commander-in-chief in Anatolia a renegade Greek, Halil Yakhshi, a brother-in-law of the vizier Bayezid Pasha, who had been executed on Junayd's insistence. Halil made Alaşehir his base of operations, and the two armies met in the plain of Akhisar (Thyateira). Junayd's youngest son, Qurd, led an impetuous charge against the Ottoman lines. Halil purposely had his men give way to the attack so that Qurd passed through and behind the Ottoman forces, while his more cautious father remained behind. As a result, the inexperienced and rash Qurd was captured by Yakhshi's men in an ambush. Junayd thereupon retreated, while Yakhshi captured Ayasoluk and Tire and was appointed governor of the province of Aydın. Qurd was sent to Edirne, and together with his uncle Hamza, was incarcerated at Gallipoli. Junayd remained defiant, continuing his raids. During one of them he even captured a sister of Yakhshi, whom he later had executed. As a result, Murad sent the beylerbey of Anatolia, Oruj, to campaign against him. Smyrna fell, and Junayd had to retreat to the fortress of İpsili (Hypsele, modern Doğanbey), on the Aegean coast across from the island of Samos.

From İpsili Junayd sent envoys to seek the aid of the Republic of Venice, on his behalf but also for the son of Mustafa, who was with him. His appeals to Venice had no practical result. In the meantime, Oruj died, and was succeeded by Hamza Bey, the brother of Bayezid whose life Junayd had spared, and who placed İpsili under siege. In 1425 Junayd himself went by ship to seek the aid of the bey of Karaman, but the latter, suspicious on account of his past experiences with him, refused any aid other than money and a force of 500 men. Marching overland with them, he managed to surprise the besiegers and scatter them in a night attack, but on the next day they regrouped and drove Junayd and his men back into the fortress. According to Doukas, even with the men from Karaman, Junayd's forces numbered barely 1,000 men, faced by an army many times that number (50,000 according to Doukas). İpsili was well fortified and inaccessible from the landward side, but exposed to the sea, so Hamza Bey requested the assistance of the Genoese of Chios. Three ships under Persivas Pallavicini arrived to complete the siege by sea as well. Their arrival demoralized the garrison, and on the very next night, the troops from Karaman opened the gates and departed the fortress. Only a few managed to escape the Ottoman besiegers, however. Fearing that the rest of his men would desert him as well, Junayd contacted Yakhshi, who was leading the siege in Hamza's absence, and obtained a safeguard for his life and a pledge that he would be safely escorted before Murad to plead his case. Yakhshi accepted, and Junayd surrendered the fortress. According to Doukas, when Junayd arrived with his brother and family, Yakhshi provided them with tents for the night. When Hamza learned the events of the day, he sent four men to the tents, where they found Junayd snoring loudly because he had not slept the previous night; the men bashed in Junayd's head then cut off the heads of his brother, his son, and his grandsons. Irène Mélikoff, however, suggests that the prisoners were executed by Yakhshi as a revenge for his sister. When the Sultan learned of their deaths, he ordered that the prisoners in Gallipoli, Qurd and his uncle Hamza, be likewise executed, thus ending the Aydınid line for good.