We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 January 2016
The edifice in Konya known as Eflatun and the church in the citadel of Alanya, both of which were maintained during the Anatolian Seljuk period, are discussed and interpreted. Architectural and historical information indicates that both structures were used during this period by the Christian spouses of the sultans as well as other Christians living and serving at court. Contrary to the common argument that the Seljuks retained churches near their palaces as a sign of their tolerance toward their Christian subjects, the paper presents evidence supporting the view that the sultans kept these structures for tactical and social reasons, for the use of their spouses and other Christian associates and servants of the Seljuk court.
I am grateful to the Turkish Historical Society, Ankara, for permission to publish Fig. 1–3 which were taken from S. Lloyd and D. Storm Rice, Alanya (‘Alā’iyya), trans. N. Sinemoğlu, 2nd edn (Ankara 1986). I am also grateful to Dr M. Jackson and Mrs K. Green of the Gertrude Bell Photographic Archive, University of Newcastle, for permission to reproduce Fig. 6.
1 Turan, O., ‘Les souverains seldjoukides et leurs sujets non-musulmans,’ Studia Islamica l (1953) 65-100CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Turan, O., Türk Cihán Hâkimiyeti Mefkûresi Taribi, 14th edn (Istanbul 2003) 354-82Google Scholar; Vryonis, S. Jr., The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of Islamization from the eleventh through the fifteenth century (Los Angeles 19771) Google Scholar; Balivet, M., Romanie byzantine et pays de Rum Ture (Istanbul 1994)Google Scholar; Hopwood, K., ‘Christian-Muslim symbiosis in Anatolia’, in Shankland, D. (ed.), Archaeology, anthropology and heritage in the Balkans and Anatolia: The life and times of F.W. Hasluck, 1878-1920, II (Istanbul 2004) 13-30Google Scholar.
2 It has been estimated that almost ten percent of the churches in Cappadocia were constructed or painted during the 13th century. See Thierry, N., ‘Die Felsenkirchen Kappadokiens’, in Giovannini, L. (ed.), Kunst in Kappadokien (Genf 1972) 129-72Google Scholar, here at 161.
3 Koman, M.M., ‘Konya şehrinde Selçukîlerden evvelki devirlere ait eserler üzerine bazi notlar’, Konya Halkevi Dergisi 5 (1937) 308-12Google Scholar, here at 312. It can also be added that some citadel chapels in Ispir and surrounding areas were in use by the Christian wives of Muslim landlords, as noted by Bryer, A. and Winfield, D., The Byzantine monuments and topography of the Pontos (Washington D. C. 1985) 354 Google Scholar.
4 The date of the conquest of the town is not certain. See Bibi, Ibn, Al-Avämiru’l-‘Alā’iyye fi’l-Umūri’l-’Ala’iyye (Selçuk name), trans. Öztürk, M., I (Ankara 1996) 267 Google Scholar (hereafter, Ibn Bibi, I, 267); Turan, O., Selçuklular zamanmda Türktye tarihi, 2nd edn (Istanbul 1984) 337 Google Scholar (hereafter Turan, Türkiye Tarihi); Bilici, K., ‘Alanya’nin fethi meselesi: bir tesbit’, in Kocçk, F. N. (ed.), Alanya Tarih ve Kültür Seminerleri 3 (2004) 203-5Google Scholar.
5 Riefstall, R.M., Turkish architecture in southern Anatolia (Cambridge 1931) 57 Google Scholar; Rice, D. Talbot, Byzantine art (Oxford 1935) 38 Google Scholar; Lloyd, S. and Rice, D. Storm, Alanya (‘Alā’ıyya) (London 1958) 34 Google Scholar fig. 16). The first archaeological work was carried out in 2003 at the east of the south aisle of the three-aisled basilica in the citadel, which is understood to have at least two phases and which can be evaluated as early Byzantine period ( Arik, M.O., ‘Alanya Kalesi çalışmaları 2003’, Anadolu Akdenizi Arkeoloji Haberleri 2 (2004) 1-5Google Scholar; Arik, M.O., ‘Alanya Kalesi 2004 yih çalışmaları’, 27. Kazi Sonuçlari Toplantist (2006) II, 213–228 Google Scholar). A north-south oriented wall, which might be the west wall of the basilica, is shown in the citadel plan. See Arik, M.O., ‘Alanya Kalesi 1985 yıhı kazı çalışmaları’, 8. Kazı Sonuçlari Toplantisi (1986) II, 335-47Google Scholar, 343 plan 3.
6 These types of triangular brick pediments are not widely known. Another example may be seen on the west entrance of chapel 3 (11th–12th centuries) in Lycia region, on the shore of the Dalyan lagoon. See Feld, O., ‘Die Kirchen von Myra und Umgebung’, in Borchhardt, J. (ed.), Myra, eine Lykische Metropole in Antiker und Byzantinischer Zeit (Berlin 1975) 398-24Google Scholar, here at 420-24, Plate 140 A.
7 Arik, M.O., ‘Alanya Kalesi çalışmaları 2003’, Anadolu Akdenizi Arkeoloji Haberleri 2 (2004) 1-5Google Scholar.
8 Lloyd and Storm Rice, Alanya, 37; Redford, S., Landscape and the state in medieval Anatolia. Seljuk gardens and pavilions of Alanya, Turkey (Oxford 2000) 13 Google Scholar.
9 Thierry, N., ‘L’art monumental byzantin en Asie Mineure du XIe siècle au XIVe’, DOP 29 (1975) 75-111Google Scholar, here at 103. But Kuban has suggested that the church inside the citadel was constructed after the conquest of Alanya by the locals. See Kuban, D., Selçuklu çağinda Anadolu sanati (Istanbul 2001) 69 Google Scholar.
10 Konyah, I.H., Alanya (Alâiyye) (Istanbul 1946) 312 Google Scholar.
11 Rott, H., Kleinasiatische Denkmäler aus Pisidien, Pamphylien, Kappadokien und Lykien (Leipzig 1908) 80 Google Scholar; Redford, S., Landscape and the state in medieval Anatolia: Seljuk gardens and pavilions of Alanya, Turkey (Oxford 2000) 15 Google Scholar.
12 Kökden, U., ‘Seyir Köşkünde’, Aladdin’s lamp, Sultan Alâeddin Keykubâd and the art of the Anatolian Seljuks, ed. Işın, E. (Istanbul 2001) 13 Google Scholar.
13 Redford, S., ‘The Seljuqs of Rum and the antique’, Muqarnas 10 (1993) 148-56CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here at 149-51.
14 Duggan, T.M., ‘The paintwork and plaster on Evdir and Kirkgöz Hans by Antalya and some implications drawn concerning the original appearance of 13th c. Seljuk state buildings’, Adalya 11 (2008) 319-58Google Scholar; fig. 19, 28-29.
15 Onge, Y., ‘Alaaddin Keykubâd döneminde Konya’da inşa edilmiş mimarlik eserleri’, Selçuk Dergisi 3 (1988) 49-60Google Scholar; Redford, S., ‘The Alaeddin mosque in Konya reconsidered’, Artibus Asiae 51 (1991) 54–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here at 59.
16 Altier, S., ‘Anadolu Selçuklu mimarisinde bir bezeme türü: boyall nakişlar’, Anadolu ve Çevresinde Ortaçağ 2 (2008) 73-88Google Scholar, here at 76, 86, fig. 6; Kuniholm, P. I., ‘Dendrochronologically dated Ottoman monuments’, in Baram, U. and Carroll, L. (ed.), A historical archaeology of the Ottoman empire (New York 2000) 93-136Google Scholar, here at 128.
17 Ibn Bibi, I, 267-8; Tanyeli, U., Anadolu-Türk kentinde fiziksel yapının evrim süreci (11-15. yy) (Istanbul 1987) 45-8Google Scholar.
18 Lloyd and Storm Rice, Alanya, 4.
19 Ank, R., Kubad Abad, Selçuklu saray ve çinileri (Istanbul 2000) 19 Google Scholar.
20 Also known as ‘Plato’s observatory’ ( Sarre, F., Kiosk von Konia (Berlin 1936) 8 Google Scholar), this church was restored during the Ottoman period and, after having been abandoned for a while, a clock tower was built on its dome in 1872. The structure was demolished in 1919 during the First World War and completely destroyed in 1921 because of the risk of collapse. See Eyice, S., ‘Konya Alâeddin Tepesinde Selçuklu öncesine ait bir eser: Eflâtun Mescidi’, Sanat Taribi Yıllığı 4 (1970-1971) 269–302 Google Scholar, here at 285; Atçeken, Z., ‘Selçuklularln Konya’da camiye çevirdikleri ilk mabed: Eflâtun Kilisesi’, Ipek Yolu 4 (2003) 3-11Google Scholar, here at 8.
21 Sarre, Kiosk von Konia, 10, Plate 5.
22 The Anatolian Seljuks credited Plato as the founder of some early buildings such as the monastery of St. Chariton, as well as the Eflatun monastery, both built around Konya. See Eyice, S., ‘Konya ile Siile arasinda Akmanastir, Manākib al-ārifin’ deki Deyr-i Eflâtun’, Şarkiyat Mecmuası 6 (1966) 135-60Google Scholar, here at 136. Plato’s name was associated with Byzantine and even Hittite monuments by the Anatolian Seljuks. See Hasluck, F.W., ‘Christianity and Islam under the sultans of Konya’, The Annual of the British School at Athens 19 (1912-1913) 191-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Christianity and Islam under the sultans, 2 vols. (Oxford 1929) II, 363-9; Bachmann, M. and Özenir, S., ‘Das Quellheiligtum Eflatun Pinar’, Archäeologischer Anzeiger 1 (2004) 85-122Google Scholar.
23 Texier, Ch., Description de l’Asie Mineure, II (Paris 1849)Google Scholar plate 100; Uzluk, Ş., ‘Türk Saray İnşaatçılığımn Tarihçesi’, in Sarre, F., Konya Köşkü (translation and notes, Uzluk, Ş.) (Ankara 1967) 80-94Google Scholar, here at 90, fig. 11. In both etchings, the Eflatun Masjid is shown with a collapsed dome. However, when the etchings are compared with the photograph which was taken at the end of the nineteenth century from the same angle, it becomes apparent that the church was not depicted in its correct position.
24 The photographs of the church have been published in Ramsay, W.M. and Bell, G.L., The Thousand and One Churches (London 1909) fig. 329–330 Google Scholar; repr. with foreword by R. G. Ousterhout and M. P. C. Jackson (Philadelphia 2008); Hasluck ‘Christianity and Islam under the sultans of Konya’, Fig. 1; Koman, M.M., ‘Konya şehrinde Selçukîlerden evvelki devirlere ait eserler üzerine bazı notlar’, Konya Halkevi Dergisi 5 (1937) 308-12Google Scholar, no. 11; Eyice, S., ‘Konya Alâeddin Tepesinde Selçuklu öncesine âit bir eser: Eflâtun Mescidi’, Sanat Tarihi Yıllığı 4 (1970-1971) plates 17 Google Scholar, 19, 21. In addition, five different photographs are known from the G. L. Bell archive at the University of Newcastle (Album I, 236-240).
25 Ramsay and Bell, The Thousand and One Churches, Fig. 328.
26 Hasluck, , Christianity and Islam under the sultans, I, 17 Google Scholar. St Amphilochios (b. ca. 340, d. after 394) was appointed bishop of Ikonion ca. 373, at the behest of Basil the Great. He is last recorded as appearing at the synod of Constantinople in 394. See Baldwin, B., ‘Amphilochios of Ikonion’, in ODB, I, 80 Google Scholar. The sarcophagus of St Amphilochios mentioned by the fifteenth-century Russian traveller Basil, was not extant at the beginning of the 20th century ( de Khitrowo, B., Itinéraires russes en Orient (Geneva 1889) 256 Google Scholar; Hasiuck, F.W., ‘Plato in the Folk-lore of the Konia plain’, The Annual of the British School at Athens 18 (1911-1912) 265-9Google Scholar, here at 269.
27 Eyice, S., ‘Konya Alâeddin Tepesinde Selçuklu öncesine âit bir eser: Eflâtun Mescidi’, Sanat Tarihi Yıllığı 4 (1970-1971) 288 Google Scholar.
28 The projecting gate with a round arch on the west of the south façade might be original, in contrast to Eyice’s opinion (as in n. 27) 286. At first sight, the structure gives the impression that it was constructed during the Turkish period because there are no comparable contemporary examples. However, when observed in detail, it becomes apparent that the brick arch was encircled with a single brick course around it. The other brick arch, clearly dated to the Byzantine period, on the upper level to the east of the same façade, was constructed by the same technique. Given this evidence, it may be stated that the projecting gate could be contemporaneous with the other arch.
29 At the east, there is an inscription with the seal-tughra of sultan Abd’ul-Aziz in a compartment with a rectangular window within the apse, whose original structure is preserved. See Eyice (as in n. 27) 281-2; Konyah, İ.H., Abide ve eserleri ile Konya Şehri (Konya 1964) 353 Google Scholar; Önder, M., Mevlana şehri Konya (Ankara 1971) 491 Google Scholar.
30 These citadel walls, dated to a period before the Turkish seizure of the city, and the existence of an external city wall are mentioned during the First Crusade in 1096. In addition, the Seljuks could not have built a fortification wall in such a short time, only a few years after arriving at Ikonion in 1080. See Runciman, S., First Crusade (Cambridge 1980) 104 Google Scholar; Belke, K., und Restie, M., Galatien und Lykaonien (Vienna 1984) 176-7Google Scholar.
31 Akok, M., ‘Konya’da Alâiddin Köşkü Selçuk Saray ve Köşkleri’, Türk Etnografya Dergisi 11 (1968) 47-73Google Scholar; Akok, M., ‘Konya şehri içindeki Alâeddin Tepesinde Türk Tarih Kurumu adına yapılan arkeolojik kazıların buluntuları’, Belleten 39 (1975) 217-24Google Scholar.
32 Lebides, A.M., Αίβν μονολίθοις μοναί τής Καππαδοκίας καί Λυκαονίας (Istanbul 1899) 163 Google Scholar; Ramsay, W.M., The cities of St. Paul (Oxford 1907) 381 Google Scholar. Whether there was a church where the Alaeddin mosque stands is debated. The first piece of evidence in favour of this proposition is the amount of spolia materials; they were used in the east section of the Alaeddin mosque which was built during the reign of sultan Mas’ūd I (1116-1156). The second piece of evidence is based on the data gleaned from the plan of the mosque during its restoration. It was built according to an unusual trapezoid plan in the southwest-northeast direction; Karamağaralı, H., ‘Konya Ulu Carni’, Rölöve ve Restorasyon Dergisi 4 (1982) 121-32Google Scholar, here at 127. The orientation could be the result of the use of pre-existing foundations from earlier buildings dating to the pre-Seljuk period. See Redford, ‘The Alaeddin mosque in Konya reconsidered’, 60. The foundations discovered during the excavations in the courtyard constitute the third piece of evidence in favour of a church on the site of the mosque. See Yurdakul, E., ‘Konya Alaaddin Carmi 1971 yılı avlu kazlslnda yeni buluntular’, Onasya 69 (1971) 6-7Google Scholar, 11, Plate 1; E. Yurdakul, ‘ 1978 yılına kadar Alâeddin Camii’nde yapilan onanmlar’, XIII. Vaklf Haftasl Kitabi’ (1996) 125-70, Fig. 27, Plan 1. According to the excavation reports, the church in question might have been at the northeast corner of the courtyard of the first mosque. See Redford, ‘The Alaeddin mosque’, 57. Judging from the results of excavations carried out to the north of the east part of the courtyard, the building is earlier than the first mosque (E. Yurdakul, ‘Konya Alaaddin Carni 1971 yılı avlu kazısında yeni buluntular’, Plate 1; Redford, ‘The Alaeddin mosque’, 59). However, the plan shows that the column bases which had been found to the north of the west court follow the same line which was recovered on the east side. Asutay-Effenberger thought that these foundations belonged, not to a church, but to a madrasa’s substructures recorded in the Altun-Aba waqf-endowment: See Asutay-Effenberger, N., ‘Konya Alaeddin camisi yapım evreleri üzerine düşünceler’, METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture 23 (2006) 113-22Google Scholar, here at 118.
33 The wood sample taken from the kiosk is dated to the years of 1173/74, during the reign of Rukn al-Din Kihch Arslan II. See Kuniholm, ‘Dendrochronologically dated Ottoman monuments’ (as in n. 16), 132-3.
34 Sarre, Kiosk von Konia, 8; Akok, M., ‘Konya’da Alâiddin Köşkü Selçuk saray ve köşkleri’, Türk Etnografya Dergisi 11 (1968) 47-73Google Scholar. In comparison with its contemporaries, the Konya palace is an anomaly. Only a two-storied room above the tower is known from the palace.
35 Turan, O., ‘Şemseddin Altun-aba, vakfiyesi ve hayatı’, Belleten 11 (1947) 197–235 Google Scholar, 226). Sultan Mas’ud I’s mosque was not only a mosque exclusively belonging to the palace but also the first Friday mosque of Konya ( Karamağaralı, H., ‘Konya Ulu Carni’, Rölöve ve Restorasyon Dergisi 4 (1982) 121 Google Scholar. This view is plausible for the first stage of the mosque, built during the reign of Mas’ūd I. However, it is open to debate whether the mosque continued to serve the same function after the construction of Iplikçi mosque, dated to the late 12thcentury, in the trading centre of Konya, as mentioned in the wag-endowment records of 1201. See Karamağarali, H, ‘Konya’daki İplikçi Camii’nin asli hali ve ehemmiyeti’, in Yazar, T. (ed.), Sanatta Anadolu-Asya ilişkileri, Beyhan Karamağarall’ya armağan (Ankara 2006) 277-96Google Scholar, here at 278.
36 Konya Salnamesi (1872/ H.1298) 70.
37 Turan, ‘Şemseddin Altun-aba, vakfiyesi ve hayatı’, 221.
38 Durukan, A., ‘Konya’da Selçuklu Mimarisi’, in Erdoğan, A. (ed.), Gez Dünyayl gör Konya’yl (Istanbul 2001) 90-157Google Scholar, here at 117.
39 In the citadel of Konya, apart from these structures, there are buildings such as the Devlethane consisting of various units such as Divan-ı Saltanat, Niyabet-i Saltanat and Divan-ı İstifa. But, according to Eravşar, Devlethane may have been constructed out of the Konya citadel ( Eravşar, O., ‘Anadolu Selçuklularında idari mekán olarak Devlethane’, in Eravşar, O. (ed), 1. Uluslararası Selçuklu Kültür ve Medeniyeti Kongresi, 2 vols. (Konya 2001) I, 281-95Google Scholar, here at 288). Besides the Selamhk Kiosk, harem, treasury, stables, bath, taşt-hâne, came-hâne, feraş-hâne, kitchen and its facilities, such as a wine cellar and the gardens, belonged to the palace (Ta’rikh-i âl-i Saljūq- Selçuk-nâme trans. Uzluk, F.N. (Ankara 1952) 53 Google Scholar, 55; Yasa-Aktaş, A., ‘Konya’nın Anadolu Selçukluları dönemi fiziki yapısı’, in 7. Milli Selçuklu Kültür ve Medeniyeti Semineri (Konya 1998) 231-68Google Scholar); İ. Uzunçarşılı, H., Osmanlı Devieti teşkilâttna medhal, 4th edn (Ankara 1988) 78-86Google Scholar. Akok suggested that about 900 people resided in the citadel ( Akok, M., ‘TTK adina Konya Alaeddin Tepesinde 1941 yılında yapılmış olan arkeolojik kazıdan elde edilen mimari buluntular’, VII. Türk Tarih Kongresine Sunulan Bildiriler, I (Ankara 1972) 60-3Google Scholar, here at 62-3).
40 Turan, ‘Şemseddin Altun-aba, vakfiyesi ve hayatı’, 220, 226. Baykara suggested two districts in the citadel; the Throne-Tahtî/Hotanî and the El-Haj İsa bin Mahmud’üş-Şarabiy’üs-Sultanî. Even though this is the case, he situates the church of St Amphilochios in the district of Tahti. See Baykara, T., Türkiye Selçuklularl devrinde Konya (Ankara 1985) 47 Google Scholar, 49.
41 Hasluck, , Christianity and Islam under the sultans, I, 23 Google Scholar; Karamağaralı, H., ‘Konya Ulu Carni’, Rölöve ve Restorasyon Dergisi 4 (1982) 121 Google Scholar; Kuban, D., Selçuklu çağında Anadolu sanati (Istanbul 2002) 130 Google Scholar; Késik, M., Türkiye Selçuklu Devieti Tarihi Sultan I. Mesud Dönemi (1116- 1155) (Ankara 2003) 131 Google Scholar.
42 Rather, it is plausible that a church in addition to the Eflatun Masjid existed at the east part of the Alaeddin mosque. Based on its architectural carvings, a church probably dated to the 5th century may have been converted to a mosque and used between the 1080s and 1155. See Redford, ‘The Alaeddin Mosque in Konya reconsidered’, 60. The church of St Amphilochios may have been used as a masjid for a short period, while heavy construction activities were being carried out between 1219 and 1220 at the Alaeddin mosque.
43 Abū’1-Hasan, ‘Ali B. Abī Bakr al-Harawī, mort à Alep en 611/1215, Guide des lieux de pèlerinage (Kitab al-işarât ilâ Ma’rifat az-Ziyarat), ed. Soudel-Thomine, J. (Damascus 1953) 59/52bGoogle Scholar. It cannot be concluded from this statement that the structure was used as a mosque. That the church was named after Eflatun shows the influence of Plato’s translated works on Islamic cultural values. Eflatun (Aflātūn) is a direct translation of Plato. See Walzer, R., ‘Aflātūn’, Encyclopedia of Islam, I (2nd edn) 234-6Google Scholar. In addition, the existence of a church in Ankara is known, dedicated to a martyr named St Platon. See Janin, R., Les siège de Constantinople et le patriarcat oecuménique. Les églises et les monastères, III (Paris 1969) 404 Google Scholar; Foss, C., ‘Late antique and Byzantine Ankara’, DOP 31 (1977) 29-87Google Scholar, here at 34.
44 ‘Inside the church near the mosque is the tomb of Hekim Eflatun, said Al-Harawī’:Yāqūt al-Hamevi al-Rūmī, Mu jam al-buldãn, IV (Beirut 1990) 9992/ 471.
45 de Khitrowo, Itinéraires russes en Orient, 256. The latest record of the Eflatun Masjid waqf-endowment dates to 1813: Atçeken, Z., Konya’daki Selçuklu yapılarının Osmanlı Devrinde bakimi ve kullanilması (Ankara 1998) 26 Google Scholar.
46 Konyalı, İ.H., Abide ve Eserleri ile Konya Şehri (Konya 1964) 352 Google Scholar.
47 The Ottomans took Konya in 1466 (H. 871), during the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmed II, from the Karamanid dynasty, in power until the end of the 1270s ( Sözen, M. and Sakaoğlu, N., Şikâri, Karamannâme, Zamanın kahramanı Karamanîler’in Tarihi, (Istanbul 2005) 30 Google Scholar, 49). An inscription, once on the city walls, gives the date of 1467 (H. 872) and states that ‘Mehmed the son of Murad constructed buildings of the castle on heights surrounded by walls which had no equal in the world...’. See Tüfekçioğlu, A., Erken dönem Osmanlı mimarísinde yazı (Ankara 2001) 337-9Google Scholar. It is possible that the church of St Amphilochios was converted to the Eflatun Masjid during those construction activities.
48 Turan, O., Türkiye Selçukluları hakkında resmi vesikalar, 2nd edn (Ankara 1988) 80 Google Scholar; Savvides, A.G.C., Byzantium in the Near East: its relations with the Seljuk sultanate of Rum in Asia Minor, the Armenians of Cilicia and the Mongols A.D. c. 1197-1237 (Thessalonike 1981) 154 Google Scholar.
49 Koman has suggested that the Eflatun Masjid inside the citadel of Konya was a small palace church built by Seljuk sultans married to women of Byzantine, Trapezuntine and Georgian dynasties, to serve their mothers, wives and daughters-in-law inside their own palaces ( Koman, M.M., ‘Konya şehrinde Selçukîlerden evvelki devirlere ait eserler üzerine bazı notlar’, Konya Halkevi Dergisi 5 (1937) 308–312 Google Scholar, here at 312). However, the possibility that the structure was built during the Seljuk period, as Koman proposes, is weak. This idea has no plausible foundation since there is no evidence suggesting that the structure was used as a chapel. See Eyice, S., ‘Konya Alâeddin Tepesinde Selçuklu öncesine âit bir eser: Eflâtun Mescidi’, Sanat Tarihi Yıllığı 4 (1970-1971) 278 Google Scholar.
50 It is suggested that Kılıch Arslan II had more than fifteen children from at least three women. See Baykara, T., I. Glyaseddin Keyhusrev (1164-1211) (Ankara 1997) 7 Google Scholar.
51 Choniates refers only to the mother of Ghiyāth al-Dîn Kai-khusraw I as Christian ( Choniates, Niketas, Historia, ed. van Dieten, J.-L. (Berlin, New York 1975) 521-2Google Scholar (hereafter, Choniates); Ta’rīkh-i āl-i Saljūq- Selçuk-nâme, Anadolu Selçuklulan Devieti Tarihi III, trans. Uzluk, F.N. (Ankara 1952) 27 Google Scholar. Baykara suggests that this marriage took place during the friendly period after the voyage of Kılıch Arslan II to Byzantium. See Kinnamos, John, Epitome, ed. Meineke, A. (Bonn 1836) 204-8Google Scholar (hereafter, Kinnamos); Choniates, 154-9.
52 Ta’rīkh-i āl-i Saljūq- Selçuk-nâme, Anadolu Selçukluları Devleti tarihi III, trans. Uzluk, F. N. (Ankara 1952) 27 Google Scholar.
53 Ibn Bibi, I, 76, 101; Choniates, 626. Kaya, S., I. Giyâseddin Keykùsrev ve II. Süleymansah dönemi Selçuklu tarihi (1192-1211) (Ankara 2006) 108 Google Scholar. For Maurozomes, see below also, 75.
54 Connétable Sempad, Chronique, ed. Dulaurier, M., in Recueil des historiens des croisades, Documents Arméniens, I (Paris 1869) 605-73Google Scholar, 645.
55 Ibn Bibi, I, 266.
56 Chronique, ed. Dulaurier, 605-73, here at 645.
57 Edhem, H., Kayseri Şehri. Selçuklu tarihinden bir bölüm, 2nd edn (Istanbul 1982) 90 Google Scholar. ‘Ala’ al-Dïn Kai-Qubadh I was poisoned on 31 May 1237 and Mahperi Khwānd Khātūn ordered a mosque to be built in the complex in Kayseri a year later in May/June 1238. From this, it is understood that she converted to Islam within this year ( Karamağaralı, H., ‘Kayseri’deki Hunad Camiinin restitüsyonu ve Hunad mimari manzumesinin kronolojisi hakkında bazı mülâhazalar’, Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 21 (1976) 199–245 Google Scholar, here at 213).
58 Some sources state that he had six wives. See Turan, Türkiye Tarihi, 455, 458.
59 Ibn Bibi, II, 27; Kaymaz, N., Pervané Mu’înüd’din Süleyman (Ankara 1970) 39-40Google Scholar, 55.
60 Ghiyath al-DIn Kai-khusraw (II) married T’amar in 1237 when his father ‘Ala’ al-Dïn Kai-Qubadh I was still alive (Ibn Bibi, I, 423-4; II, 27). The mother of princess T’amar was the Georgian Queen Rosudan (Uruzuk’an) (1223-1247) and her father was the grandson of ‘Ala’ al-Din Kai-Qubadh I and the son of Tughrul-Shāh (died 1225) who converted to Christianity in 1223. Tughrul-Shāh was known as Malik of Erzurum Mughith al-Dīn and his son’s name is not known See Histoire de la Géorgie, ed. Brossét, M.-F., I (St Petersburg 1849) 501 Google Scholar; Bryer and Winfield, The Byzantine monuments and topography of the Fontos, 354.
61 Rosudan’s mother’s name was T’amar like her daughter’s. ‘Ala’ al-Dïn Kai-Qubadh I accepted Rosudan’s offer to marry their children and gave his daughter ‘a descendant of the Seljuks and David’s lineage’ to Malik Ghiyãth al-Dïn Kai-khusraw as a wife. See Vryonis, The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor, 17.
62 Turan, Türkiye Tarihi, 415.
63 Kaymaz, Pervâne Mu’înüd’dîn Süleyman, 125-6.
64 It has been suggested that Basil Giagoupes could have been a member of the Danishmend line, and the name Giagoupes evolved from the Yaghibasan in Greek ( Laurent, V., ‘Note additionnelle, l’inscription de l’église Saint-Georges de Bélisérama’, REB 26 (1968) 367-71Google Scholar, here at 369). However, a recent study on Giagoupes suggests that Basil was of Turkish origin (Yaqūb) from the Germiyan emirate whose eight members were in the service of Byzantine emperors until the 1440s. Furthermore, the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-1328) sent him to the palace at Konya. See Shukurov, R., ‘Giagoupai: a Turkish family in Byzantine service’, Vizantiiskie Ocherki (St Petersburg 2006) 205-29Google Scholar, here at 227-8 (in Russian).
65 Lafontaine-Dosogne, J., ‘Nouvelles notes Cappadociennes’, B 33 (1963) 121-83Google Scholar, here at 148-9; et, N. Thierry Thierry, M., ‘Nouvelles églises rupestres de Cappadoce’ in Région du Hasan Daği (Paris 1967) 202-6Google Scholar; Restle, M., Byzantine wall painting in Asia Minor, I (Recklinghausen 1969) 176-7Google Scholar; Vryonis, S., ‘Another note on the inscription of the St. George of Beliserama’, Byzantina 9 (1977) 11-19Google Scholar, here at 11; Ötüken, S. Y., Ihlara Vadisi (Ankara 1990) 8 Google Scholar, 56. T’amar was called #κυρά. This designation, which means ‘lady’ in Greek, was used for the Christian wives of sultans during the Seljuk period. See Vryonis,’Another note on the inscription of the St. George of Beliserama’, 16.
66 Laurent, ‘Note additionale. L’inscription de l’église Saint-Georges de Bélisérama’, 367-8.
67 Vryonis, ‘Another note on the inscription of the St. George of Beliserama’, 16-18. It is understood that T’amar paid for the frescoes painted for the church of St. George under the auspices of sultan Mas‘ūd II, and that she donated a vineyard in Ihlara valley. See Ötüken, S. Y., Ihlara Vadisi (Ankara 1990) 56 Google Scholar.
68 In 1243 Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kai-khusraw II met with the emperor John III Vatatzes at Tripolis (modern Yenice village of Buldan district in the province of Denizli) on the Maeander river: Akropolites, George, Opera, ed. Heisenberg, A., 2 vols. (Leipzig 1903, repr. with corrections Wirth, P. (Stuttgart 1978) I, 69-70Google Scholar; for the date, see Macrides, R., George Akropolites, The History, (Oxford 2007) §41, 221-2Google Scholar. It is probable that the agreement between the sultan and John III cancelled the alliance between Ghiyāth al-Dïn Kai-khusraw II and Baldwin II. For the latter see Cange, C. Du Fresne Du, Histoire de l’Empire de Constantinople sous les empereurs francǫis, jusqu’à la conquête des Turcs, II (Paris 1657) 129 Google Scholar; Longnon, J., L’empire latin de Constantinople et la principauté de Morée (Paris 1949) 184 Google Scholar.
69 Cange, Du, Histoire, II, 128-9Google Scholar.
70 He sent the knight Henri Verius with the letters, written in Constantinople on 5 August 1243, to Blanche of Castile (1188-1252), the mother of king Louis IX (c. 1214-1270). In this letter, Baldwin II pleaded with Blanche to send one of the daughters of her sister Elizabeth of Courtenay, daughter of Peter of Courtenay, emperor of Constantinople (1217), and her husband Eudes, the lord of Montagu, to make an alliance with the sultan, and thus to meet the requirements of the pact, which was highly beneficial to the empire ( Cange, Du, Histoire, II, 129 Google Scholar).
71 Cange, Du, Histoire, II, 128 Google Scholar.
72 Cange, Du, Histoire, II, 129 Google Scholar. In his letter, Baldwin II stated also that Ghiyath al-Dïn Kai-khusraw’s father ‘Ala’ al-Dïn Kai-Qubadh I, had given religious freedom to his mother Mahperi Khwānd Khātūn, who was a Christian. See O. Turan, Türk Cihán Hâkimiyeti Mefkûresi Tarihi, 371-2.
73 On the other hand, it may be speculated that one of the chambers of the palace was reserved for worship. In order to perform the liturgy, at least two clergymen, one priest and a deacon, were needed. According to Orthodox belief, the antimension (antimesion) a portable altar, often made of cloth, was the essential object for a liturgy performed outside a church. See Pétridès, S., ‘Antimension’, Dictionnaire d’Archéologie chrétienne et de Liturgie, ed. Cabrol, F. and Leclercq, H. (Paris 1924), I, 2319-26Google Scholar; Gonosová, A., ‘Antimension’, ODB, I, 112 Google Scholar;
74 Jurewicz, O., Andronikos 1. Komnenos (Amsterdam 1970) 30 Google Scholar. Similarly, John Komnenos, son of the sebastokrator Isaak, left the service of his uncle, the emperor John II Komnenos in 1140, arrived in Konya, converted to Islam and married an unnamed daughter of sultan Mas’ūd I. See Chômâtes, 35-6.
75 Although amïr Maurozomes first had the control of the Maeander valley, he later went to Konya, and in 1225 was appointed by ‘Ala’ al-Dïn Kai-Qubadh I to the position of beylerbeyi replacing Seyfeddin Ayaba. See Ibn Bibi, I, 76, 98-9, 101, 110; Choniates, 626; Turan, Türkiye Taribi, 281; Savvides, Byzantium in the Near East, 63.
76 Turan, O., ‘Mübârizeddin Er-Tokuş ve vakfiyesi’, Belleten 11 (1947) 413-29Google Scholar, here at 417-8; Bayram, M., ‘State formation among the Seljuks of Anatolia’, Mésogeios 25-26 (2005) 137-55Google Scholar, here at 142.
77 Alexios III found Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kai-khusraw I in Antalya, where he was passing the winter upon his return from the military expedition he had led against the Armenians. See Akropolites, ed. Heisenberg, 14–15.
78 Akropolites, ed. Heisenberg, 134-6, 136-8.
79 According to contemporary sources and also from their names, it may be understood that some of the Christians were from the eastern Christian communities. Among these were the doctors Hasnon, Safiy üd-Devle Nasranī, Vasil and Ebū Sālim Ibn Keraya al-Nasranī al-Yāqubī al-Malatī who were in close contact with the palace. See Turan, , Türkiye Selçuklulan hakklnda resmi vesikalar, 2nd edn (Ankara 1988) 53—4Google Scholar.
80 The Georgian Zahir ül-Devle was a Christian commander in the Seljuk army and participated in the battle at Kose Dag, which ended in July 1243. It is known that the Georgian princess T’amar who married Ghiyath al-Din Kai-khusraw II, came to the Konya palace with her priest, servants and relative David (Dawit’). See Turan, Türkiye Taribi, 415, 434–5; Blake, R.P. and Frye, R.N., ‘History of the nations of the archers (the Mongols) by Grigor of Akanc, hitherto ascribed to Malak’ia the monk’, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 12 (1949) 315-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
81 Sultan ‘Izz al-Dīn Kai-kā’ūs II is also known to have had two Christian maternal uncles named Hâye and Kedîd. See Karīm al-Dīn Mahmūd ibn Muhammad al-Aqsarāyī, Müsämarat al- akhbār wa-musāyarat al-akhyär, trans. Öztürk, M. (Ankara 2000) 31 Google Scholar; Turan, Türkiye Tarihi, 412-3, 474-5. Basil Giagoupes, who had the title amīr-i bār and was depicted in the church of St George of Belisirma, is likely to have been another Christian who may have had a Turkish origin in the service of the Seljuk palace. See Shukurov, ‘Giagoupai’, 214 (as in n. 64 above).
82 From the Umayyad period, the throne hall of the Mshatta Qasr, which dates to the era of the caliph al-Walid II (A.D. 743-744), has triconch apses similar to the churches, which derive from late Roman civil architecture. But none of the qasrs has a chapel inside the complex. See Grabar, O., ‘Umayyad places reconsidered’, Ars Orientalis 23 (1993) 93-108Google Scholar.
83 Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio, ed. Moravcsik, Gy., trans. Jenkins, R.J.H., (Washington, D.C. 1967) 93 Google Scholar; Bardill, J., ‘The palace of Lausus and nearby monuments in Constantinople: a topographical study’, American journal of Archaeology 101 (1997) 67-95CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here at 70, 84-5, 95, Fig. 2.
84 Gökbilgin, T., ‘İstanbul’, İslam Ansiklopedisi 5-2 (1959) 1135-85Google Scholar, 1174; El-Cheikh, N. Maria, ‘Byzantium through the Islamic prism from the twelfth to the thirteenth century’, in Laiou, A. E. and Mottahedeh, R. P. (ed), The crusades from the perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim world (Washington, D. C. 2001) 53-69Google Scholar, here at 66-7. For the twelfth-century mosque, destroyed at the time of the Fourth Crusade, see Reinert, S. W., ‘The Muslim presence in Constantinople, 9th-15th centuries: some preliminary observations’, in Ahrweiler, H. and Laiou, A. E. (ed.), Studies on the internal diaspora of the Byzantine empire (Washington, D. C. 1998) 125–150 Google Scholar, here at 140-144.
85 However, the nobles watched out for one another on the basis of their common noble origins. During the siege of Konya in 1146 by the emperor Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180), the Byzantine soldiers damaged Turkish graves outside the city and pulled out many corpses from the graves. While this was happening, Manuel I prevented the destruction of the grave of the mother of the sultan Mas’ūd I, saying ‘wise men must rather be ashamed at distressed nobility’: Kinnamos, 45-6; Kinnamos, John, Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus, trans. Brand, C. M. (New York 1976) 43-1Google Scholar.
