Bozkurt of Dulkadir

Dulkadir was a semi independent beylik under the sovereignty of the Mamluk Egypt. The beylik was located around Kahramanmaraş and Elbistan, which made the beylik a buffer territory of the Mamluks against the Ottoman Empire. After the former bey Şahsuvar was executed in Cairo by the Mamluks, Shah Budak was appointed as the bey. But his brother Bozkurt was waiting for his chance.[1]

Bozkurt took control of the beylik in 1480 by the support of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II. Being cautious not to antagonise the Mamluks, he followed a balanced policy between the two great powers. One of his daughters, Ayşe Hatun I, married to Beyazit II, the future sultan of the Ottomans.

Bozkurt captured the city Diyarbakır from the Akkoyunlu Turkmen dynasty. But he was not successful against Ismail I of the Safavids in Iran. When İsmail stormed his capital Elbistan, he had to move the capital to Maraş, today Kahramanmaraş.[1]

In 1481, Bayazıt II rose to the throne of the Ottoman Empire. During the civil war between Bayazıt II and his brother Cem, Mamluks supported Cem and the uneasy peace between the two powers ended. Ottomans tried to control Çukurova, Cilicia of the antiquity, a region to the southwest of Dulkadir territory and under the control of Ramadanids, another buffer principality. But they were defeated by the Mamluks. Influenced by the Mamluk victory, Bozkurt gave up his balanced policy and began hostilities against the Ottomans. In 1486, he defeated an Ottoman force under the commandship of Skender Pasha. However, Mamluks were not able to defeat Ottomans to the north of the Toros Mountains and following a stalemate, the war ended in 1491.[2]

In 1512, Selim I, nicknamed "the Inflexible" or "the Grim", became the Ottoman Sultan. In 1514, during his campaign to Iran, Bozkurt's reluctance to allow safe pass for the Ottoman forces caused a problem. In 1515, before starting a war against the Mamluks, he decided to end the Dulkadir Beylik as well. He sent Hadim Sinan Pasha, his future grand vizier, to Dulkadir territory. In a battle called the Battle of Turnadağ, Sinan Pasha defeated Dulkadir army. Bozkurt as well as his sons were killed.[3]

The origin of Selim's mother Gülbahar Hatun is debatable. She might be Bozkurt's daughter. If that were the case, than Bozkurt was Selim's maternal grandfather.

• Yücel, Yaşar; Sevim, Ali (1990). Türkiye Tarihi Vol I. istanbul: AKDTKTTK Yayınları.
• Yücel, Yaşar; Sevim, Ali (1990). Türkiye Tarihi Vol II. istanbul: AKDTKTTK Yayınları.
• Jorga, Nicolae (2009). Geschichte des osmanischen. İstanbul: Yeditepe yayıncılık. ISBN 975 6480 19 X.