Discussions on the foundation process and the dynasty of the Menteşâ Principality (1257-1391)

After the Battle of Kösedağ the Mongol Invasion took place and the II. Principalities Period which was the last stage of the Turkization process of Anatolia had began. The beginning of this era triggered the process the fall of the Turkish Seljuk Emperor and also the Turkmens to be organized as independent or semi-detached patrimonial states in the regions where the Seljuk and Byzantine authority was lost. One of the political entities established in Western Anatolia during that period was the Menteşâ Principality. Various opinions were exhibited about Menteşâ Bey accepted as its founder and the emirate, based on the data in the monograph written by Paul Wittek in 1934. Since the documents about the early periods of the principality's can not be reached, current opinions about the subjects are not scientifically approved. This situation not only brings various debates about the origin of the Menteşâ Principality, but also causes deviations from the focus and complications about the problem. Based on all these, the sources of the period were re-examined in their original language and compared with the studies on the principality subsequently, the archaeological findings about the early periods of the emirate were reconsidered within the scope of our study and interpreted with a different perspective. In this context, it is possible to consider the political existence of the emirate in two phases. The first of these phases refers to the period (1257-1391) when the principality came under Ottoman rule by the hand of Yıldırım Bayezid, who would end its independent existence. The second phase, refers to the process of uniting the principalities under one roof of the Ottoman domination, with the regeneration of the emirate after the Battle of Ankara (1402). In conclusion, this study attempted to identify the geography of origin and the founder of the Menteşâ Principality, one of the dominant factors in both political and demographic context in the process of Turkization of Western Anatolia. In other respects the study also aimed exposing the first phase of the Principality, which lasted until the date of annexation by Yıldırım Beyazid.