1256-1487 · 231 years
The Karamanid Principality, based at Larende (modern Karaman), was one of the most enduring Anatolian beyliks — surviving 231 years from its 1256 founding to Ottoman conquest in 1487. The principality's territory included the Durayda land that would later become Mesudiye village.
The Karamanids descended from Karaman Bey, a Turkmen chieftain who founded the principality in 1256 in the wake of the Mongol invasion and the decline of the Seljuks of Rum. Their capital was Larende — the modern city of Karaman, just 15.7 km southeast of present-day Mesudiye village.
On 13 May 1277, Karamanoğlu Mehmed Bey issued a famous decree declaring Turkish as the official language of the principality's administration — a milestone in Turkish cultural history. This date is now commemorated annually in Türkiye as Turkish Language Day. The Karamanids thus deserve credit for the first official adoption of Turkish as a state language in Anatolia.
In 1432, Karamanid II. İbrahim Bey allocated the "Oraydonya pasture" (likely connected to the present-day Durayda toponym) as a revenue source for the Larende Imaret endowment. This is the first documented administrative connection between the Karamanid state and the land that would later become Mesudiye village — predating Ottoman tahrir registration (1500) by 68 years.
Mehmed II completed the Ottoman conquest of Karaman in 1467, ending Karamanid political independence. A nominal Karamanid presence persisted in vassalage until 1487, when the Karaman territory was fully absorbed into the Ottoman state. The Durayda land then became part of the Ottoman administrative system, recorded in tahrir registers from 1500 onwards.
The Karamanoğulları, one of the most powerful and longest-lived Turkmen beyliks of Anatolia, descended from Sâdeddin Bey, one of the Oğuz beys. The foundations of the principality were laid by Nûre Sûfî (Nûreddin Bey), and it was formally established in 1256 by his son Kerimüddin Karaman Bey.
The first capital was Ermenek; around 1325 the capital was moved to Lârende (Karaman). Ruling a wide geography covering the modern provinces of Konya, Karaman, Niğde, Aksaray, Mersin and the surrounding provinces, the beylik left its mark on the political and cultural life of Central Anatolia for roughly two and a half centuries — from 1256 to 1487.
Long-time rivals of the Ottomans, the Karamanoğulları carried out deep vakıf (pious endowment) and building activity in these lands. They left behind numerous works such as mosques, medreses, bridges, hans (caravanserais), zâviyes (dervish lodges), tombs and bathhouses.
Nûre Sûfî Bey (~1250–1256) — the founding forerunner who laid the beylik's foundations
Kerimüddin Karaman Bey (1256–1261) — the bey who formally founded the principality; Ermenek as capital
Mehmet Bey (1261–1277) — the Turkish-language decree; the conquest of Konya; martyred against the Mongols
Alâeddin Ali Bey (1357–1398) — the first major clashes with the Ottomans
II. İbrahim Bey (1423–1464) — the longest-reigning bey; major vakıf (endowment) activity
Kasım Bey (1469–1483) — the last independent bey; Lârende as capital
Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey (~1245–1277) is the most emblematic ruler of the beylik. In 1261 he took over the leadership of the principality after his father Karaman Bey. In 1277 he moved against Mongol influence over the Seljuk throne, seized Konya and placed Gıyâseddin Siyavuş, the son of İzzeddin Keykâvus II, on the Seljuk throne.
Mehmet Bey's most important step on the stage of history, however, was the ferman (decree) he issued the following day in Konya, on 13 May 1277. At that time Persian and Arabic were used at the Seljuk court and in state correspondence, while the people spoke Turkish. With this decree Mehmet Bey declared Turkish the language of the state.
"Şimden gerü hiç kimesne kapuda ve dîvânda ve mecâlis ve seyrânda Türkî dilinden gayrı dil söylemeyeler." — Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey, 13 May 1277, Konya
"From now on no one shall speak any language other than Turkish at the palace, in the divan, in assemblies and in the public squares."
Mehmet Bey was able to remain in Konya for only 37 days. Forced to withdraw in the face of Mongol pressure, he fell as a martyr together with his brothers on 20 June 1277 in the battle he fought against Mongol forces at Kızıldağ. His grave is in the village of Balkusan, in the district of Ermenek.
Mehmet Bey's decree carries great symbolic value in Turkish cultural history. 13 May is commemorated in Türkiye as "Türk Dil Bayramı" (Turkish Language Day).
Karamanoğlu II. İbrahim Bey (reigned 1423–1464) is the longest-reigning bey of the principality. During his 41-year reign he at times clashed with the Ottomans and at times formed alliances with them. He came to the throne in 1423 with the support of the Ottoman sultan Murad II.
İbrahim Bey sent auxiliary forces to the Ottoman army at the Battle of Varna (1444) and the Second Battle of Kosovo (1448). He is also known for major building and endowment activity. In 1432 he drew up a comprehensive vakfiye (endowment deed) for the İmaret he had built in Lârende.
These endowment documents are preserved in the Library of the Topkapı Palace Museum; the series, made up of six separate documents dated 835 (1431-32), 843 (1439-40), 849 (1445), 851 (1447) and 870 (1465-66), is bound as a scroll roughly 7 metres long.
The historian İbrahim Hakkı Konyalı documented that half of Gaferyâd (Kâzımkarabekir) and the "Oraydonya Kışlağı" (winter pasture) were allocated as endowment revenue. The toponym "Oraydonya" bears a phonetic resemblance to Durayda and is situated in the same geographical area.
In the tahrir defterleri (Ottoman land and tax registers) dated 1500 and 1541, the "Erayda" settlement in the region is recorded as belonging to the İmâret-i İbrâhim Beg endowment. These data prove that the name Durayda has a deep-rooted past reaching back six centuries.
Vakfiye (endowment deed) of Karamanoğlu II. İbrahim Bey — 1432, Lârende — the "Oraydonya Kışlağı" entry
Ottoman tahrir register TD. nr. 40 — 1500 — the "Karye-i Durayda" / "Erayda" endowment entry
Ottoman tahrir register TD. nr. 415 — 1541 — connection to the İmâret-i İbrâhim Beg endowment
Library of the Topkapı Palace Museum — the vakfiye scroll — 6 documents, ~7 metres long
The Karamanoğulları are known as the beylik whose relations with the Ottoman state were the most complicated. Between the two Turkish states there were periods of both conflict and alliance.
The first major clash occurred in 1386. After Alâeddin Ali Bey attacked Beyşehri, Murad I marched on Karaman and laid siege to Konya. Peace was made, however, through the intervention of his daughter Melek Hatun.
At times the Karamanoğulları formed broad alliances against the Ottomans, drawing other Anatolian beyliks such as the Aydınoğulları, Saruhanoğulları, Menteşeoğulları and Germiyanoğulları into them. On the other hand, in periods of peace with the Ottomans, II. İbrahim Bey sent auxiliary forces to the battles of Varna (1444) and the Second Kosovo (1448).
In the final period of the beylik the Karamanoğulları formed an alliance with Uzun Hasan, the Akkoyunlu ruler who stood against the Ottomans. After the Akkoyunlu threat was removed at the Battle of Otlukbeli in 1473, the last lands remaining in the hands of the Karamanoğulları also passed under Ottoman control.
After Fatih Sultan Mehmet definitively abolished the Karamanoğulları Beylik in 1467, the region passed under Ottoman administration. The lands of İç İl in the Taurus Mountains, the last area of Karamanoğulları resistance, were likewise brought under Ottoman control in 1474.
After the death in 1483 of Kasım Bey, the last Karaman bey, İbrahim Bey's grandson Turgutoğlu Mahmud was proclaimed bey in İç İl. However, when he took the Mamluk side in the Ottoman–Mamluk war, forces were sent against him, and with his flight to Aleppo in 1487 the beylik came to a complete end.
The Karaman Province Endowment Tahrir Register dated 888/1483 (the Murad Çelebi Register) documents the process by which the endowment properties of the Karamanoğulları were transferred to Ottoman administration. This transition reveals that the endowment order in the region was largely preserved, while the administrative structure changed fundamentally.
1256 — Kerimüddin Karaman Bey founds the beylik with Ermenek as its centre.
1261 — Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey takes over the leadership of the beylik after his father Karaman Bey.
1277 — Mehmet Bey takes Konya; on 13 May he issues the decree declaring Turkish the official language.
1277 — Mehmet Bey falls as a martyr against the Mongols at Kızıldağ (20 June).
~1325 — The capital of the beylik is moved from Ermenek to Lârende (Karaman).
1386 — First major clash with the Ottomans: Murad I lays siege to Konya.
1423 — II. İbrahim Bey ascends the throne; a 41-year period of rule begins.
1432 — II. İbrahim Bey draws up the vakfiye of the Lârende İmareti — the "Oraydonya Kışlağı" entry.
1444 — II. İbrahim Bey sends auxiliary forces to the Ottoman army at the Battle of Varna.
1467 — Fatih Sultan Mehmet conquers the greater part of the Karamanoğulları lands.
1487 — With the last Karaman bey Turgutoğlu Mahmud taking refuge, the beylik comes to a complete end.
The land on which the village of Mesudiye stands was, in the Karamanoğulları period, closely connected with Gaferyâd (today's Kâzımkarabekir). In the Seljuk and Karamanoğulları periods Gaferyâd was an important staging point on the historic caravan road linking Konya to Karaman, Mut and İçel.
In the Karamanoğulları period Gaferyâd was an important Turkish-Islamic town containing a bathhouse, 3 medreses, 6 schools and a bedesten. Most of the region's lands belonged to the İbrahim Bey İmareti endowment. Among these endowment revenues were the fields at İlisıra (Yollarbaşı), Bosala, Letere, Yağmurlar, Karacalar and Sınıkahır, together with the "Erayda kışlağı" (Erayda winter pasture) and the Düdükümmü lands.
These records clearly show that the Durayda (Erayda / Oraydonya) land was a district recognised within the Karamanoğulları state order and administered within the endowment system.
Gaferyâd (Kâzımkarabekir): an important town on the caravan road in the Karamanoğulları period. Half of Gaferyâd was allocated to the İbrahim Bey endowment.
Oraydonya / Erayda: the names of Durayda in the Karamanoğulları and early Ottoman periods. It appears in endowment deeds and tahrir records as a kışlak (winter pasture).
The neighbouring village of Çiğdemli (Davgandos) has the status of a First-Degree Archaeological Site. The historian W.M. Ramsay identified here the remains of Dalisandos, a city of ancient Lykaonia.
In the Mesudiye area as well, "a fairly large ruin foundation and foundation stones" have been found, and it is considered that these may be remains of Dalisandos. These findings show that the region has an uninterrupted settlement history reaching back long before the Turks.
Çiğdemli (Davgandos): First-Degree Archaeological Site. It has been registered as one of the important centres of the ancient region of Lykaonia.
Dalisandos: the ancient Lykaonian city identified by W.M. Ramsay at Çiğdemli. The ruins on the Mesudiye land are also associated with this city.
Continuing the Seljuk architectural tradition, the Karamanoğulları left a rich building heritage in Central Anatolia. Across a wide geography, above all in Karaman, Ermenek, Aksaray, Niğde and Konya, they built mosques, medreses, imarets, bathhouses, tombs and hans.
While the decoration of their architectural works continues Seljuk art, Ottoman and Mamluk influences are also observed at times. The taçkapı (crown portal) decorations are especially striking; the dragon-headed waterspouts of the Arapzâde Mosque in Karaman, the peacock reliefs in the Meram Hamamı and the lion and griffin motifs on the wooden doors of the İbrahim Bey İmareti are important examples of this tradition.
İbrahim Bey İmareti and Kümbeti — Karaman — 1432, endowment complex and tomb
Ermenek Meydan Mosque — Ermenek — 15th century
Aksaray Zinciriye Medrese — Aksaray — 1335, open-courtyard four-iwan plan
Hatuniye Medrese — Karaman — the medrese tradition of the Karamanoğulları period
Aksaray Ulu Mosque — Aksaray — 1431