Group

Rûm, Sultanate of

State Defunct 1097 CE – 1307 CE Capital Iconium > Konya Konya Turkey

The Sultanate of Rum or Seljuq Sultanate of Rum is a medieval Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim state in Anatolia.

It exists from 1077 to 1307, with capitals first at İznik and then at Konya.

Since the court of the sultanate is highly mobile, cities like Kayseri and Sivas also function at times as capitals.

At its height, the sultanate stretches across central Anatolia, from the shoreline of Antalya and Alanya on the Mediterranean coast to the territory of Sinop on the Black Sea.

In the east, the sultanate absorbs other Turkish states and reaches Lake Van.

Its westernmost limit is near Denizli and the gates of the Aegean basin.The term "Rûm" comes from the Arabic word for the Roman Empire.

The Seljuqs call the lands of their sultanate Rum because it had been established on territory long considered "Roman", i.e.

Byzantine, by Muslim armies.

The state is occasionally called the Sultanate of Konya (or Sultanate of Iconium) in older western sources and is known as Turkey by its contemporaries.

The sultanate prospers, particularly during the late 12th and early 13th centuries when it takes from the Byzantines key ports on the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts.

Within Anatolia the Seljuqs foster trade through a program of caravanserai-building, which facilitates the flow of goods from Iran and Central Asia to the ports.

Especially strong trade ties with the Genoese form during this period.

The increased wealth allows the sultanate to absorb other Turkish states that had been established in eastern Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert: the Danishmends, the Mengücek, the Saltukids, and the Artuqids.

Seljuq sultans successfully bear the brunt of the Crusades but in 1243 succumb to the advancing Mongols.

The Seljuqs become vassals of the Mongols, following the battle of Kose Dag, and despite the efforts of shrewd administrators to preserve the state's integrity, the power of the sultanate disintegrates during the second half of the 13th century and had disappears completely by the first decade of the 14th.In its final decades, a number of small principalities, or beyliks, emerge and rise to dominance in the territory of the Sultanate, including that of the Osmanoğlu, known later as the Ottomans.

Member Cities

Moran, J. (n.d.). Rûm, Sultanate of. History Atlas. Retrieved 12 October 2026, from https://www.historyatlas.com/groups/rum-sultanate-of-1/

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