Alā ad-Dīn Kayqubād I (Turkish: I. Alâeddin Keykûbad; Turkish pronunciation: [kejkuːbad], Persian: علاء الدین کیقباد ابن کیخسرو; c. 1192 - 1237), also known as Kayqubad I, was the Seljuq Turkish Sultan of Rûm who reigned from 1220 to 1237.
Born~Died 1190 ~ 1237Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 3:13 PM
Alā ad-Dīn Kayqubād I (Turkish: I. Alâeddin Keykûbad; Turkish pronunciation: [kejkuːbad], Persian: علاء الدین کیقباد ابن کیخسرو; c. 1192 - 1237), also known as Kayqubad I, was the SeljuqTurkishSultan of Rûm who reigned from 1220 to 1237.1 He expanded the borders of the sultanate at the expense of his neighbors, particularly the Mengujek Beylik and the Ayyubids, and established a Seljuq presence on the Mediterranean with his acquisition of the port of Kalon Oros, later renamed Ala'iyya in his honor. The sultan, sometimes styled Kayqubad the Great,2 is remembered today for his rich architectural legacy and the brilliant court culture that flourished under his reign.
Kayqubad's reign represented the apogee of Seljuq power and influence in Anatolia, and Kayqubad himself was considered the most illustrious prince of the dynasty. In the period following the mid-13th century Mongol invasion, inhabitants of Anatolia frequently looked back on his reign as a golden age, while the new rulers of the Anatolian beyliks sought to justify their own authority through pedigrees traced to him.
Early life
Kayqubad was the second son of Seljuk Sultan Kaykhusraw, who bestowed upon him at an early age the title malik and the governorship of the important central Anatolian town of Tokat. When the sultan died following the battle of Alaşehir in 1211,3 both Kayqubad and his elder brother struggled for the throne. Kayqubad initially garnered some allies among the neighbors of the sultanate: , the king of and Tughrilshah, the brothers' uncle and the independent ruler of . Most of the emirs, as the powerful landed aristocracy of the sultanate, supported Kaykaus. Kayqubad was forced to flee to the fortress at , where he sought aid from the Turkman tribes of . He was soon apprehended and imprisoned by his brother in a fortress in western Anatolia.
This page is based on “Kayqubad I” from English Wikipedia, (r1376658410) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.
Upon his brother Sultan Kaykaus's unexpected death in 1219/1220 Kayqubad was released from captivity and succeeded to the Seljuk throne as its new Sultan.
In 1221/1222 Kayqubad launched a naval attack on Sudak which defeated the combined forces of Rus and Cumans.6 He attacked the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in 1221 taking the city of Alanya from its governor, Kir Fard.7
In 1227/1228, Kayqubad advanced into Anatolia, where the arrival of Jalal al-Din Mangburni, who was fleeing the destruction of his Khwarezmian Empire by the Mongols, had created an unstable political situation. The sultan settled Turcomans along the Taurus Mountains frontier, in a region later called İçel. At the end of the 13th century, these Turcomans established the Karamanids. The Ayyubids, who were disturbed by the rapid expansion of Sultan Kayqubad I, especially in eastern Anatolia, took action against the sultan under the leadership of Al-Kamil in Egypt. In 1234 Kayqubad completely defeated the allied Ayyubid forces. Afterward, Harput expanded its borders further in the south-east Anatolia region by capturing Siverek, Urfa, Harran and Raqqa.8910 The sultan defeated the Artuqids and the Ayyubids and absorbed the Mengujek emirate into the sultanate, capturing the fortresses of Hısn Mansur, Kahta, and Çemişgezek along his march. He also put down a revolt by the Empire of Trebizond and, although he fell short of capturing their capital, forced the Komnenos dynasty family to renew their pledges of vassalage.
At first, Kayqubad sought an alliance with his Turkish kinsman Jalal al-Din Mangburni against the Mongol threat. The alliance could not be achieved, and afterward, Jalal al-Din took the important fortress at Ahlat. Kayqubad finally defeated him at the Battle of Yassıçimen between Sivas and Erzincan in 1230. After his victory, he advanced further east, establishing Seljuq rule over Erzurum, Ahlat and the region of Lake Van (formerly part of Ayyubids). The Artuqids of Diyarbakır and the Ayyubids of Syria recognized his sovereignty. He also captured several fortresses in Georgia, whose queen sued for peace and gave her daughter Tamar in marriage to Kayqubad's son, Kaykhusraw II.11 Mindful of the increasing presence and power of the Mongols on the borders of the Sultanate of Rum, he strengthened the defenses and fortresses in his eastern provinces.
In 1237, the Ayyubid sultan Al-Kamil sent an envoy to Kayqubad in Kayseri seeking an end to hostilities.12 The envoy arrived too late, Kayqubad having died 31 May 1237.12
Kayqubad also built the Konya citadel (the city walls of Konya). The citadel incorporated many western decorative elements, such as a statue of Hercules, a frieze from a Roman sarcophagus, courtly scenes with seated figures in toga, winged deities around the figure of the sun, mixed with inscriptions in Arabic.14 It would seem that such symbolism mixing Western and Eastern elements was mostly derived from the influence of the Artuqids, who were adept at combining Classical and Perso-Islamic approaches.15
Kayqubad, like the other Seljuq sultans of Rum, was quite well-versed in the fine arts and would recite quatrains in Persian during wine-drinking parties.16
One of the objects securely associated with Kayqubad I is a tapestry fragment, now in the Lyon Textile Museum, decorated with addorsed lions in gold on a red background. The tapestry includes the name and titles of the sultan: “[Highness of the World] and of religion, Father of Conquest, Kayqubad, son of Kaykhusraw, Proof of the Commander [of the Faithful]” ([ʿalā al-dunyā] wa ’l-dīn abū’l-fatḥ Kayqubād bin Kaykhusraw burhān Amir [al-mūʾminīn]).17 This type of design was widely shared across the medieval Mediterranean, and the image of a lion as a heraldic images probably also appealed to the ruler.17
Death
Kayqubad was given poison during a feast at Kayseri18 and died at an early age on 31 May 1237, the last of his line to die in independence.19 Poison was indeed found in the DNA analysis performed on his bones.20
Historian Ibn Bibi mourned his death with these words,"With Kayqubad's death, the back of Islam was broken and the bond of kingdom and religion snapped".21
Succession
Kayqubad had three sons: Kaykhusraw II, eldest son of his Greek wife Mahpari Khatun,22 Rukn al-Din and Kilij Arslan, sons of his Ayyubid princess wife Malika Adila Khatun.23 According to Ibn Bibi, Kayqubad wanted Rukn al-Din as his successor who was the elder one of his two sons from his Ayyubid wife, Malika Adila Khatun, but Kaykhusraw usurped the throne and had Rukn al-Din, Kilij Arslan and their mother strangled.2425
Identity
According to Rustam Shukurov, it is very probably that Kayqubad and his brother Kaykaus I, who both spent considerable time in Byzantium with their father, had the same dual religious (Christian and Muslim) and dual ethnic (Turkic/Persian and Greek) identity as Kaykhusraw I, Kaykaus II, and Mesud II.26
Cahen, Claude (1968). Pre-Ottoman Turkey: A general survey of the material and spiritual culture and history c. 1071-1330. New York: Taplinger. hdl:2027/heb.00871. ISBN 1-59740-456-X.
Cahen, Claude (1997). "Kaykubad; Kaykubad I". In Van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. IV. Brill. pp. 817–818.
Cahen, Claude (1997a). "Kaykhusraw; Kaykhusraw II". In Van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. IV. Brill. pp. 816–817.
Crane, H. (1993). "Notes on Saldjūq Architectural Patronage in Thirteenth Century Anatolia". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 36 (1). Leiden: Brill: 1–57. doi:10.1163/156852093X00010. ISSN0022-4995. JSTOR3632470.
Curta, Florin (2005). Borders, Barriers, and Ethnogenesis: Frontiers in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Brepols. ISBN 9782503515298.
Peacock, A. C. S. (2006). "The Saljūq Campaign against the Crimea and the Expansionist Policy of the Early Reign of 'Alā' al-Dīn Kayqubād". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 16 (2). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 133–149. doi:10.1017/S1356186306005979. ISSN1356-1863. S2CID55636025.
Peacock, A.C.S.; Yildiz, Sara Nur, eds. (2013). The Seljuks of Anatolia: Court and Society in the Medieval Middle East. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0857733467.
Redford, Scott (1991). "The Alaeddin Mosque in Konya Reconsidered". Artibus Asiae. 51 (1/2). Zürich: Artibus Asiae Publishers: 54–74. doi:10.2307/3249676. ISSN0004-3648. JSTOR3249676.
Redford, Scott (1993). "Thirteenth-Century Rum Seljuq Palaces and Palace Imagery". Ars Orientalis. 23, Pre-Modern Islamic Palaces.
Sümer, Farok (2002). KEYKUBAD I (in Turkish). Ankara: Published in 25th Volume of TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. pp. 358–359. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
Özcan, Koray (2010). "The Anatolian Seljuk City An Analysis on Early Turkish Urban Models in Anatolia". Central Asiatic Journal. 54 (2). Harrassowitz Verlag: 273–290.
Yalman, Suzan (2012). "ʿALA AL-DIN KAYQUBAD ILLUMINATED: A RUM SELJUQ SULTAN AS COSMIC RULER". Muqarnas Online. 29 (1): 151–186. doi:10.1163/22118993-90000186.
Yalman, Suzan (1 January 2012). "'ALA AL-DIN KAYQUBAD ILLUMINATED: A RUM SELJUQ SULTAN AS COSMIC RULER". Muqarnas Online. 29 (1): 151–186. doi:10.1163/22118993-90000186. In some cases—such as the sultan's well-known city walls in Konya—there appears to be, at first sight, an antiquarian penchant for the "classical" or "Roman" past (fig. 1). (...) Nevertheless, the portrait's classicizing aspect is important in that it resonates with the use of spoliated classical sculpture in the walls of Konya (fig. 1). (...) Kayqubad's walls in Konya. (...) above the statue of Hercules was a reused Roman sarcophagus frieze carved in high relief; the latter featured a courtly scene with a seated figure wearing a toga and holding an orb ("a ball, the symbol of the world" according to Kinneir). Above this image was an Arabic inscription and then winged "genies" making offerings to the "sun" (as described by Olivier). ↩
Yalman, Suzan (1 January 2012). "'ALA AL-DIN KAYQUBAD ILLUMINATED: A RUM SELJUQ SULTAN AS COSMIC RULER". Muqarnas Online. 29 (1): 151–186. doi:10.1163/22118993-90000186. As I will argue below, in addition to obvious "Western" links, Kayqubad was also inspired by sources further "East," such as the Artuqids of Hisn Kaifa and Amid (1102-1232), which combining Classical and Perso-Islamic impulses, seemed better suited as models. In fact, upon closer examination, these pagan/secular Roman imperial ("Western") signs seemed to be infused with mystical/Sufi ("Eastern") readings that imbued them with new meaning. Most significant was the emergence of an unexpected undercurrent of light symbolism. ↩
Alā ad-Dīn Kayqubād I (Turkish: I. Alâeddin Keykûbad; Turkish pronunciation: [kejkuːbad], Persian: علاء الدین کیقباد ابن کیخسرو; c. 1192 - 1237), also known as Kayqubad I, was the SeljuqTurkishSultan of Rûm who reigned from 1220 to 1237.1 He expanded the borders of the sultanate at the expense of his neighbors, particularly the Mengujek Beylik and the Ayyubids, and established a Seljuq presence on the Mediterranean with his acquisition of the port of Kalon Oros, later renamed Ala'iyya in his honor. The sultan, sometimes styled Kayqubad the Great,2 is remembered today for his rich architectural legacy and the brilliant court culture that flourished under his reign.
Kayqubad's reign represented the apogee of Seljuq power and influence in Anatolia, and Kayqubad himself was considered the most illustrious prince of the dynasty. In the period following the mid-13th century Mongol invasion, inhabitants of Anatolia frequently looked back on his reign as a golden age, while the new rulers of the Anatolian beyliks sought to justify their own authority through pedigrees traced to him.
Early life
Kayqubad was the second son of Seljuk Sultan Kaykhusraw, who bestowed upon him at an early age the title malik and the governorship of the important central Anatolian town of Tokat. When the sultan died following the battle of Alaşehir in 1211, both Kayqubad and his elder brother struggled for the throne. Kayqubad initially garnered some allies among the neighbors of the sultanate: , the king of and Tughrilshah, the brothers' uncle and the independent ruler of . Most of the emirs, as the powerful landed aristocracy of the sultanate, supported Kaykaus. Kayqubad was forced to flee to the fortress at , where he sought aid from the Turkman tribes of . He was soon apprehended and imprisoned by his brother in a fortress in western Anatolia.
Upon his brother Sultan Kaykaus's unexpected death in 1219/1220 Kayqubad was released from captivity and succeeded to the Seljuk throne as its new Sultan.
In 1221/1222 Kayqubad launched a naval attack on Sudak which defeated the combined forces of Rus and Cumans.6 He attacked the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in 1221 taking the city of Alanya from its governor, Kir Fard.7
In 1227/1228, Kayqubad advanced into Anatolia, where the arrival of Jalal al-Din Mangburni, who was fleeing the destruction of his Khwarezmian Empire by the Mongols, had created an unstable political situation. The sultan settled Turcomans along the Taurus Mountains frontier, in a region later called İçel. At the end of the 13th century, these Turcomans established the Karamanids. The Ayyubids, who were disturbed by the rapid expansion of Sultan Kayqubad I, especially in eastern Anatolia, took action against the sultan under the leadership of Al-Kamil in Egypt. In 1234 Kayqubad completely defeated the allied Ayyubid forces. Afterward, Harput expanded its borders further in the south-east Anatolia region by capturing Siverek, Urfa, Harran and Raqqa.8910 The sultan defeated the Artuqids and the Ayyubids and absorbed the Mengujek emirate into the sultanate, capturing the fortresses of Hısn Mansur, Kahta, and Çemişgezek along his march. He also put down a revolt by the Empire of Trebizond and, although he fell short of capturing their capital, forced the Komnenos dynasty family to renew their pledges of vassalage.
At first, Kayqubad sought an alliance with his Turkish kinsman Jalal al-Din Mangburni against the Mongol threat. The alliance could not be achieved, and afterward, Jalal al-Din took the important fortress at Ahlat. Kayqubad finally defeated him at the Battle of Yassıçimen between Sivas and Erzincan in 1230. After his victory, he advanced further east, establishing Seljuq rule over Erzurum, Ahlat and the region of Lake Van (formerly part of Ayyubids). The Artuqids of Diyarbakır and the Ayyubids of Syria recognized his sovereignty. He also captured several fortresses in Georgia, whose queen sued for peace and gave her daughter Tamar in marriage to Kayqubad's son, Kaykhusraw II.11 Mindful of the increasing presence and power of the Mongols on the borders of the Sultanate of Rum, he strengthened the defenses and fortresses in his eastern provinces.
In 1237, the Ayyubid sultan Al-Kamil sent an envoy to Kayqubad in Kayseri seeking an end to hostilities.12 The envoy arrived too late, Kayqubad having died 31 May 1237.12
Kayqubad also built the Konya citadel (the city walls of Konya). The citadel incorporated many western decorative elements, such as a statue of Hercules, a frieze from a Roman sarcophagus, courtly scenes with seated figures in toga, winged deities around the figure of the sun, mixed with inscriptions in Arabic.14 It would seem that such symbolism mixing Western and Eastern elements was mostly derived from the influence of the Artuqids, who were adept at combining Classical and Perso-Islamic approaches.15
Kayqubad, like the other Seljuq sultans of Rum, was quite well-versed in the fine arts and would recite quatrains in Persian during wine-drinking parties.16
One of the objects securely associated with Kayqubad I is a tapestry fragment, now in the Lyon Textile Museum, decorated with addorsed lions in gold on a red background. The tapestry includes the name and titles of the sultan: “[Highness of the World] and of religion, Father of Conquest, Kayqubad, son of Kaykhusraw, Proof of the Commander [of the Faithful]” ([ʿalā al-dunyā] wa ’l-dīn abū’l-fatḥ Kayqubād bin Kaykhusraw burhān Amir [al-mūʾminīn]).17 This type of design was widely shared across the medieval Mediterranean, and the image of a lion as a heraldic images probably also appealed to the ruler.17
Death
Kayqubad was given poison during a feast at Kayseri18 and died at an early age on 31 May 1237, the last of his line to die in independence.19 Poison was indeed found in the DNA analysis performed on his bones.20
Historian Ibn Bibi mourned his death with these words,"With Kayqubad's death, the back of Islam was broken and the bond of kingdom and religion snapped".21
Succession
Kayqubad had three sons: Kaykhusraw II, eldest son of his Greek wife Mahpari Khatun,22 Rukn al-Din and Kilij Arslan, sons of his Ayyubid princess wife Malika Adila Khatun.23 According to Ibn Bibi, Kayqubad wanted Rukn al-Din as his successor who was the elder one of his two sons from his Ayyubid wife, Malika Adila Khatun, but Kaykhusraw usurped the throne and had Rukn al-Din, Kilij Arslan and their mother strangled.2425
Identity
According to Rustam Shukurov, it is very probably that Kayqubad and his brother Kaykaus I, who both spent considerable time in Byzantium with their father, had the same dual religious (Christian and Muslim) and dual ethnic (Turkic/Persian and Greek) identity as Kaykhusraw I, Kaykaus II, and Mesud II.26
Cahen, Claude (1968). Pre-Ottoman Turkey: A general survey of the material and spiritual culture and history c. 1071-1330. New York: Taplinger. hdl:2027/heb.00871. ISBN 1-59740-456-X.
Cahen, Claude (1997). "Kaykubad; Kaykubad I". In Van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. IV. Brill. pp. 817–818.
Cahen, Claude (1997a). "Kaykhusraw; Kaykhusraw II". In Van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. IV. Brill. pp. 816–817.
Crane, H. (1993). "Notes on Saldjūq Architectural Patronage in Thirteenth Century Anatolia". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 36 (1). Leiden: Brill: 1–57. doi:10.1163/156852093X00010. ISSN0022-4995. JSTOR3632470.
Curta, Florin (2005). Borders, Barriers, and Ethnogenesis: Frontiers in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Brepols. ISBN 9782503515298.
Peacock, A. C. S. (2006). "The Saljūq Campaign against the Crimea and the Expansionist Policy of the Early Reign of 'Alā' al-Dīn Kayqubād". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 16 (2). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 133–149. doi:10.1017/S1356186306005979. ISSN1356-1863. S2CID55636025.
Peacock, A.C.S.; Yildiz, Sara Nur, eds. (2013). The Seljuks of Anatolia: Court and Society in the Medieval Middle East. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0857733467.
Redford, Scott (1991). "The Alaeddin Mosque in Konya Reconsidered". Artibus Asiae. 51 (1/2). Zürich: Artibus Asiae Publishers: 54–74. doi:10.2307/3249676. ISSN0004-3648. JSTOR3249676.
Redford, Scott (1993). "Thirteenth-Century Rum Seljuq Palaces and Palace Imagery". Ars Orientalis. 23, Pre-Modern Islamic Palaces.
Sümer, Farok (2002). KEYKUBAD I (in Turkish). Ankara: Published in 25th Volume of TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. pp. 358–359. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
Özcan, Koray (2010). "The Anatolian Seljuk City An Analysis on Early Turkish Urban Models in Anatolia". Central Asiatic Journal. 54 (2). Harrassowitz Verlag: 273–290.
Yalman, Suzan (2012). "ʿALA AL-DIN KAYQUBAD ILLUMINATED: A RUM SELJUQ SULTAN AS COSMIC RULER". Muqarnas Online. 29 (1): 151–186. doi:10.1163/22118993-90000186.
Yalman, Suzan (1 January 2012). "'ALA AL-DIN KAYQUBAD ILLUMINATED: A RUM SELJUQ SULTAN AS COSMIC RULER". Muqarnas Online. 29 (1): 151–186. doi:10.1163/22118993-90000186. In some cases—such as the sultan's well-known city walls in Konya—there appears to be, at first sight, an antiquarian penchant for the "classical" or "Roman" past (fig. 1). (...) Nevertheless, the portrait's classicizing aspect is important in that it resonates with the use of spoliated classical sculpture in the walls of Konya (fig. 1). (...) Kayqubad's walls in Konya. (...) above the statue of Hercules was a reused Roman sarcophagus frieze carved in high relief; the latter featured a courtly scene with a seated figure wearing a toga and holding an orb ("a ball, the symbol of the world" according to Kinneir). Above this image was an Arabic inscription and then winged "genies" making offerings to the "sun" (as described by Olivier). ↩
Yalman, Suzan (1 January 2012). "'ALA AL-DIN KAYQUBAD ILLUMINATED: A RUM SELJUQ SULTAN AS COSMIC RULER". Muqarnas Online. 29 (1): 151–186. doi:10.1163/22118993-90000186. As I will argue below, in addition to obvious "Western" links, Kayqubad was also inspired by sources further "East," such as the Artuqids of Hisn Kaifa and Amid (1102-1232), which combining Classical and Perso-Islamic impulses, seemed better suited as models. In fact, upon closer examination, these pagan/secular Roman imperial ("Western") signs seemed to be infused with mystical/Sufi ("Eastern") readings that imbued them with new meaning. Most significant was the emergence of an unexpected undercurrent of light symbolism. ↩