Zeyneddîn Beşâre with His Political and Patron Identity in Seljuk Period

Zeyneddîn Beşâre was a Seljuk statesman, who took on the positions of Emir-i Ahur, Çaşniğir, Subaşı during the imperial ages of Sultan Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev I (1205 – 1211 for a second time) and his sons Izzeddin Keykavus I (1211-1220) and Alaeddin Keykubad I (1220 – 1237), became the subaşı/governor of Nigde. In the struggles for power (of government), Zeyneddin Beşare at first took the side of Keykavus. During the period of uprising (advancement) of the Seljuk Empire (State), he became prominent for the edifices in Sinop, Konya and Niğde, for whose construction he had paid. The buildings such as Konya Beşare Bey/the Masjid of Ferhuniye (616 H./1219 M.) known with the name of its patron, one of the towers of Sinop citadel (1215 M.) were the monuments of the age of Izzeddin Keykavus I, while Niğde Alaeddin Mosque (1223 M) belonged to the period of Alaeddin Keykubad I. There is surely a close link between the construction dates of these monuments and the political history of the Seljuk era. Within this period, the Seljuk emirs were quite dominant as the figures actively decisive on the changes of the political power, who had a say on the governance and rebelled at times. The years of office of Zeyneddin Beşare were notably complicated in the sense of “The Struggles of Sultans-Emirs”. In the year 1223, Zeyneddin Beşare was also slaughtered when Keykubad got the prominent emirs of the state killed at Kayseri Devlethane with an excuse that they, with their dominance in governance, caused an authority gap.

Keywords

Seljuk, Emir-i Âhur, Zeyneddîn Beşâre, Citadel, Masjid, Mosque