RAMAZAN DYNASTY

Turkmen dynasty (c. 1352c. 1610) that ruled in the ukurova (Cilicia) region of southern Anatolia. In 1352 Ramazan, founder of the dynasty, was recognized by the Mamluk sultan of Egypt as the ruler of the ok branch of Oguz Turkmen in ukurova. After a period of attempts to overthrow Mamluk suzerainty, the dynasty's principality about 1418 came under direct Mamluk control and lost its significance. With the extension of Ottoman territories to the Taurus Mountains and after an Ottoman-Mamluk war in 148590, the Ramazan territory assumed strategic importance for the Ottomans. In 1514 the Ramazan ruler Mahmud was deposed by the Mamluks and sought refuge with the Ottoman sultan Selim I, who the next year defeated the Mamluks in Syria and restored the principality to Mahmud. Mahmud's successor Piri was appointed by the Ottomans; he assisted them in suppressing Turkmen revolts in central and southern Anatolia (1526) and enjoyed the favour of Sultan Sleyman I the Magnificent. ukurova was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire (c. 1610), and thereafter members of the Ramazan dynasty continued to serve as governors of Ottoman provinces in Asia and in the Balkans.