Sultanate of Rum: Map & History
Sultanate of Rum is mapped in the atlas for 1094 CE – 1313 CE, with a peak mapped extent of about 367,020 km².
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The Sultanate of Rum, or Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, was a culturally Turco-Persian, Sunni Muslim state established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The name Rum was a synonym for the medieval Roman Empire and its peoples, as it remains in modern Turkish. The name is derived from the Aramaic and Parthian names for ancient Rome, which had reached these languages via the Greek Ῥωμαῖοι. The Seljuk Turks used the name to refer to Anatolia. The Sultanate of Rum is considered to be the beginning of Turkish history in Anatolia.
Modern Countries Once Part of Sultanate of Rum
At its mapped extent, Sultanate of Rum covered territory in 2 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Sultanate of Rum's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Sultanate of Rum in Depth
History
Since the 1030s, migratory Turkish groups in search of pastureland had penetrated Byzantine borders into Anatolia. In the 1070s, after the Battle of Manzikert, the Seljuk commander Suleiman ibn Qutulmish, a distant cousin of Alp Arslan and a former contender for the throne of the Seljuk Empire, came to power in western Anatolia. Between 1075 and 1081, he gained control of the Byzantine cities of Nicaea and briefly also Nicomedia. Around two years later, he established a Sultanate that, while nominally still a Byzantine vassal state, became increasingly independent after six to ten years.
Culture and society
The Sultanate was founded by militaristic bands of Oghuz warriors who Turkified the Anatolian peninsula, and had little in common with the primarily Persian character, language, and culture of the Seljuk rulers. Still, a Turco-Persian cultural synthesis gradually emerged which, by the 13th century, came to define the intellectual and aesthetic life, to the point of Sultanate of Rum elites naming their sons with New Persian names. The phenomenon was reinforced by the massive influx of Persian refugees fleeing the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. The Seljuks of Rum made Turco-Persian tradition the culture of their court, and inherited the tımar and tahrir methods of Persian statecraft from the Seljuk Empire, which they later passed on to the Ottomans.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Sultanate of Rum (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Sultanate of Rum: Key Facts
| Capitals | Konya, Nicaea |
|---|---|
| Official language | Persian |
| Form of government | monarchy |
| Founded | 1077 |
| Dissolved | 1307 |
Succeeded by
Facts from Wikidata Q975405 (CC0).
Sultanate of Rum Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Sultanate of Rum appears, with the other states of the time.
Sultanate of Rum Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 367,020 km² in 1096 CE.
Sultanate of Rum: Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Sultanate of Rum exist?
The Sultanate of Rum is dated to 1094 CE – 1313 CE, in the High & Late Middle Ages era.
What was the capital of the Sultanate of Rum?
The capital of the Sultanate of Rum was Nicaea (İznik), (1077–1097), Iconium (Konya), (1097–1308), Sebastia (Sivas), (1211–1220).
How large was the Sultanate of Rum at its peak?
At its peak in 1096 AD the Sultanate of Rum covered about 367,020 km².
How did the map of the Sultanate of Rum change over time?
The Sultanate of Rum appears on 2 dated world maps in the atlas, from 1100 CE to 1200 CE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.
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