Tzachas

Tzachas (Greek: Τζαχᾶς, Tzachas), also known as Chaka Bey (Turkish: Çaka Bey)^{[dn 1]} or Emmir Chaka of Smyrna,^[1] was an 11th-century Seljuk Turkish emir who ruled an independent state based in Smyrna (present day Izmir).

Chaka was taken as a prisoner during a war with the Byzantine Empire by Emperor Nicephorus III Botaneiates. The emperor took an interest in the youth and brought him to live in the palace. He was granted the title of protonobilissimus.

After Alexios I Komnenos became the Byzantine Emperor, Chaka returned to Anatolia and began a war against the Byzantines. In 1081, Chaka conquered several cities on the Aegean coast of Anatolia, including Smyrna. Intent upon expanding his power, he ordered the construction of a fleet at the shipyards of Smyrna and Ephesus. This fleet, which consisted of 33 sail ships and 17 oar ships, was the first Anatolian Turkish navy.

Chaka's fleet conquered Lesbos (1089) and Chios (1090), before defeating the Byzantine fleet under Niketas Kastamonites near the Koyun Islands off Chios on 19 May 1090. In 1091, his fleet conquered the islands of Samos and Rhodes, but also suffered a crushing defeat in the Sea of Marmara to Constantine Dalassenos, undoing much of his previous successes. Dalassenos and John Doukas then defeated Chaka again in 1092, destroyed his fleet and recovered all the islands he had captured.

According to Byzantine sources, Chaka was murdered in 1092 by his son-in-law Kilij Arslan I. However, his name appears in later dates, such as a campaign against the strategic port city of Adramyttium (modern day Edremit) in 1095, where, according to these sources, he died. Some historians^{[2][page needed]} indicate that it was in fact his son who was appointed by Kilij Arslan to take his post.

At any rate, after Chaka's death, his beylik disappeared from history. The Byzantines would soon recapture the area under the leadership of Alexius I, and it would take the Seljuks more than two centuries to reach the Aegean coast again.

History of Turkey

Seljuq dynasty 1071–1325 • Great Seljuq Empire 1071–1194 • Sultanate of Rum 1075–1307 • Under The Seljuks after 1071     Anatolian Beyliks    • Artuqids 1098–1409    • Mengujekids 1072–1277    • Ahlatshahs 1085–1207    • Saltukids 1072-1202    • Beylik of İnal 1096–1183    • Danishmends 1071–1178    • Tzachas 1081–1098 • Under The Ilkhanates 1243–1335     Anatolian Beyliks • Ottoman Emirate 1302–1922 • Ramadanids 1352–1608 • Dulkadirids 1348–1507 • Karamanids 1250–1487 • Isfendiyarids 1291–1461 • Germiyanids 1300–1429 • Aydinids 1300–1425 • Beylik of Teke 1321–1425 • Menteşe 1261–1424 • Sarukhanids 1300–1410 • Kadi Burhan al-Din 1381–1398 • Hamidids 1300–1391 • Beylik of Lâdik 1262–1391 • Pervâneoğlu 1262–1391 • Eretnids 1335–1381 • Karasids 1296–1357 • Sahib Ataids 1275–1341 • Eshrefids 1285–1326 Ottoman Dynasty 1302–1922 Occupation 1918–1923 Republic of Turkey from 1923 Related topics Republic of Hatay 1938-1939 Turkish Republic of  Northern Cyprus from 1983 List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire List of Presidents of Turkey Economic history of Turkey Constitutional history of Turkey Military history of Turkey v · d · e

See also

• Seljuk campaigns in the Aegean

Footnotes

1. ^ The Turkish form of Tzachas didn't appear in any historical documents. The name «Çaka» («Çaka Bey») prevailed especially in Turkey, after Akdes Nimet Kurat used the name "Çaka" in his work "Çaka: Orta Zamanda İzmir ve Yakınındaki Adaların Türk Hakimi", İstanbul, 1936. (Turkish), ... yüksek siyasî ve askerî görüş sahibi olarak büyük önem taşıyan bu bey'in adının gerçek söylenişi henüz tamamen kesinliğe kavuşmuş değildir. Bu hususta şimdiye kadar üç ihtimal ileri sürülmüştür: Çaka, Çağa, Çakan. AN Kurat'ın bunu «Çaka» kabûl ederek eserini de «Çaka Bey» diye adlandırması, özellikle memleketimizde Çaka şeklinin yaygınlaşmasına yol açmıştır denebilir. (Tarih Dergisi, Cilt 20, İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi, İbrahim Horoz Basımevi, 1983, p. 56. (Turkish))

References

1. ^ John Julius Norwich, Byzantium: The Decline and Fall, Knopf, 1996, ISBN 9780679416500, p. 50.
2. ^ Doğuştan Günümüze Türk-İslam Tarihi (Turkish-Islamic History, from its Birth to the Present)

• Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996) p. 26.