Umur
{{Short description|Anatolian Turkish Bey}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2011}}
Umur Ghazi, Ghazi Umur, or Umur The LionDonald MacGillivray Nicol, The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453, Cambridge University Press, 1993, {{ISBN|978-0-521-43991-6}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=y2d6OHLqwEsC&dq=%22Umur+is+the+%27lion+of+God%27+leading+a+just+and+holy+war+of+conquest+against+the+%27miscreants%27+or+infidel+Christians.%22&pg=PA144 p. 144.] (Modern Turkish: Aydınoğlu Umur Bey, c. 1309–1348), also known as Umur Pasha was the second Turkoman bey of Aydin, on the Aegean coast of Anatolia, from 1334 to 1348. He was famous for his naval expeditions. During his reign, he fought off many Crusades against him called out by the Pope.
Career
Umur Ghazi was a loyal ally and friend of Emperor John Cantacuzenus of the Byzantine Empire and provided him with material aid during his military campaigns, especially during the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347.Nicol, Last Centuries, p. 202 He apparently sent 380 ships and 28,000 men to aid him in the conflict and besieged the city of Demotika in Thrace, Greece.Najeebabadi, History of Islam Vol.3, p.374-375 The emperor John reportedly mourned his death.Nicol, Last Centuries, p. 203 At the height of its power, the Beylik of Aydin possessed 350 ships and 15,000 men.
Umur's preying on Christian shipping led to the declaration of the Smyrniote crusades against him by Pope Clement VI in 1343. In 1348, his fleet was destroyed by an allied fleet from Venice, the Knights of Rhodes and Cyprus. Umur was killed by a barrage of arrows, climbing the walls of Smyrna Castle during a recapture attempt. His older brother Hızır Bey was appointed in his place.Kenneth Meyer Setton, The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571, vol. I (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1976), pp. 184–223
Modern İzmir's district Gaziemir (Ghazi Emir) is named after him.
Personality and appearance
Umur was described in an epic chronicle Düstürnâme-i Enverî, written by poet and historian Enveri during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II, as "the 'Lion of God' leading a just and holy war of conquest against the 'miscreants' and infidel Christians". According to an unreliable but colorful source, two Venetian ambassadors remarked that he was immensely fat with a stomach "like a wine casket". They had found him wearing silks, drinking almond milk and eating spiced eggs from a golden spoon.{{cite book|last1=Foss|first1=Clive|title=Ephesus After Antiquity: A Late Antique, Byzantine, and Turkish City|date=1979|page=152|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6Q8AAAAIAAJ&q=umur++unreliable&pg=PA152|access-date=16 June 2014}} As a writer, poet and patron of the arts and sciences, Kalila wa-Dimna was first translated to Persian during his reign.
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book | last = İnalcık | first = Halil | author-link = Halil İnalcık | chapter = The Rise of the Turcoman Maritime Principalities in Anatolia, Byzantium, and the Crusades | title = The Middle East & the Balkans Under the Ottoman Empire: Essays on Economy & Society | publisher = Indiana University Turkish Studies Department | year = 1993 | pages = 309–341 | url = http://www.inalcik.com/images/pdfs/88386056RiSEOFTURCOMANMARiTiME.pdf | isbn = 1878318047 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729173708/http://www.inalcik.com/images/pdfs/88386056RiSEOFTURCOMANMARiTiME.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 29 July 2017}}
- {{cite book | last = Lemerle | first = Paul | author-link = Paul Lemerle | title = L'émirat d'Aydin, Byzance et l'Occident: Recherches sur la "Geste d'Umur Pacha" | series = Bibliothèque byzantine: Etudes No. 2 | location = Paris | publisher = Presses Universitaires de France | year = 1957}}
{{Anatolian Beys}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umur Beg}}
Category:14th-century Aydinid rulers
Category:Monarchs killed in action
Category:Year of birth uncertain