Background

During the post-Seljuks era in the second half of the middle ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, numerous Turkmen principalities which are collectively known as Anatolian beyliks emerged in Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

. Initially Karamanids centered around the modern provinces of Karaman

Karaman Province

Karaman Province is a province of central Turkey. It has an area of 9,163 km². It has a population of 232,633 . According to the 2000 census the population was 243,210. Population density is 27.54 people/km². The traffic code is 70. The capital is the city of Karaman...

 and Konya

Konya Province

Konya Province is a province of Turkey located in central Anatolia. The provincial capital is the city of Konya. It is the largest province by area of Turkey.-Districts:...

, was the most important power in Anatolia. But towards the end of the 14th century Ottomans

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...

 began to dominate on most of Anatolia, reducing the Karaman influence and prestige. Thus the campaign of Timur

Timur

Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...

 to Anatolia and the ensuing Ottoman Interregnum

Ottoman Interregnum

The Ottoman Interregnum began in 20 July 1402, when chaos reigned in the Ottoman Empire following the defeat of Sultan Bayezid I by the Turco-Mongol warlord Timur...

 gave Karamanids a chance for revival. However Karamanids also lived a period of interregnum during Ottoman interregnum. So they were unable to end Ottoman domination in Anatolia.

İbrahim Bey and the Ottomans

İbrahim Bey was Mehmet Bey's son. He fought against his uncle Ali Bey and with the support of Ottomans he ascended to throne in 1424. But this help did not ensure his fidelity to Ottomans. He secretly allied himself with Kingdom of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

 against Ottomans. During Ottoman wars in Europe, he was able to capture the city of Beyşehir

Beysehir

Beyşehir is a large town and district of Konya Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. The town is located on the southeastern shore of Lake Beyşehir and is marked to the west and the southwest by the steep lines and forests of the Taurus Mountains, while a fertile plain, an extension...

 from Ottomans. However in 1433, Ottoman Sultan Murat II returned to Anatolia and İbrahim sued for peace in 1435. Nevertheless, shortly after the peace, İbrahim laid a siege on Amasya

Amasya

- History :Its location in this steep valley makes the city a mountain stronghold, easy to defend, and thus Amasya has had a long and prominent history.-Antiquity:...

 an important Ottoman city to which Murat reacted by supporting the Dulkadirids to capture the city of Kayseri

Kayseri

Kayseri is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province. The city of Kayseri, as defined by the boundaries of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, is structurally composed of five metropolitan districts, the two core districts of Kocasinan and...

  and İsa, İbrahim's brother, to capture Akşehir

Aksehir

Akşehir is a town and district of Konya Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2000 census, population of the district is 114,918 of which 63,000 live in the town of Akşehir...

 from Karamanids. İbrahim was forced to lift the siege in 1437. During the following seven years peace prevailed in Anatolia. But in 1444 when a great crusader army began marching to Ottoman capital, İbrahim saw his chance and plundered Ottoman cities in Anatolia including Ankara

Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....

 and Kütahya

Kütahya

Kütahya is a city in western Turkey with 212,444 inhabitants , lying on the Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Kütahya Province, inhabited by some 517 804 people...

. Murat, caught between two fires, had to sign the Treaty of Szeged

Peace of Szeged

The Treaty of Edirne and the Peace of Szeged were two halves of a peace treaty between Sultan Murad II of the Ottoman Empire and King Vladislaus of the Kingdom of Hungary. Despot Đurađ Branković of the Serbian Despotate also had a large role in the proceedings...

 with the crusaders and then returned to Anatolia and began retaliating. İbrahim was forced to sign a treaty with unfavarable terms. (called sevgendname). Although after Murat's death İbrahim allied himself with the Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, he didn't fight against Ottomans after that.

İbrahim Bey and the other powers

Although Mamluks

Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)

The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt was the final independent Egyptian state prior to the establishment of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in 1805. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The sultanate's ruling caste was composed of Mamluks, Arabised...

 in Egypt supported İsa, İbrahim's brother against İbrahim during the early years, İbrahim and the Mamluks were usually on good terms. However competition over Çukurova

Çukurova

Çukurova , historically known as Cilicia, is a geographic, economic and cultural region in south-central Turkey, covering the provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay...

 (ancient Cilicia

Cilicia

In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...

) destroyed the friendship. İbrahim captured the important castle of Corycus

Corycus

Corycus was an ancient city in Cilicia Trachaea, Anatolia, located at the mouth of the river called Şeytan deresi; the site is now occupied by the town of Kızkalesi , Mersin Province, Turkey.-The city:...

 in Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 coast (modern Kızkalesi

Kızkalesi

Kızkalesi is a town in Mersin Province, Turkey. The town, known in Antiquity as Corycus or Korykos , is named after the ancient castle built on a small island just facing the town.- Geography :...

) from the kingdom of Cyprus

Kingdom of Cyprus

The Kingdom of Cyprus was a Crusader kingdom on the island of Cyprus in the high and late Middle Ages, between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan.-History:...

 in 1448. This enabled him to conquer the rest of Çukurova. But Mamluks together with Turkmen beylik of Ramazan which was their vassal attacked on Karamanids in 1456. So İbrahim gave up hopes to conquer Çukurova.

Last years

During his last years, his sons began struggling for the throne. His heir apparent was İshak, his oldest son and the governor of Silifke

Silifke

-Antiquity:Located a few miles from the mouth of the Calycadnus River, Seleucia was founded by Seleucus I Nicator in the early 3rd century BCE, one of several cities he named after himself. It is probable that there were already towns called Olbia and Hyria and that Seleucus I merely united them...

. But, Pir Ahmet, a younger son declared himself as the bey of Karaman in Konya

Konya

Konya is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. The metropolitan area in the entire Konya Province had a population of 1,036,027 as of 2010, making the city seventh most populous in Turkey.-Etymology:...

. İbrahim escaped to a small city in western territories where he died in 1464.