Kaykaus I

Seljuq sultans of Rum

Reign

1211–1220

Predecessor

Kaykhusraw I

Successor

Kayqubad I

Died

1220

Full name
'Izz al-Dīn Kaykā'ũs bin Kaykhusraw

Father

Kaykhusraw I

Full name
'Izz al-Dīn Kaykā'ũs bin Kaykhusraw

Kaykaus I or Kayka'us I or Keykavus I (Old Anatolian Turkish: كَیکاوس, Persian: عز الدين كيكاوس بن كيخسرو‎‎ ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kaykāwūs ibn Kaykhusraw) was the Sultan of Rum from 1211 until his death in 1220. He was the eldest son of Kaykhusraw I.

Upon the death of Kaykhusraw I following the Battle of Alaşehir in 1211, Kaykaus’ two younger brothers, Kayferidun Ibrahim and the future Kayqubad I, challenged his succession. Kayqubad initially garnered some support among the neighbors of the sultanate, Leo I, the king of Cilician Armenia, and Tughrilshah, his uncle and the independent ruler of Erzurum. At the same time, Kayferidun imperiled the recently acquired port of Antalya by seeking aid from the Cypriot Franks. Most of the emirs, as the powerful landed aristocracy of the sultanate, supported Kaykaus. From his base in Malatya, Kaykaus seized Kayseri and then Konya, inducing Leo to change sides. Kayqubad was forced to flee to the fortress at Ankara, where he sought aid from the Turkman tribes of Kastamonu. Kaykaus soon apprehended both of his brothers and secured the throne for himself.

During this time of considerable danger, Kaykaus negotiated a peace settlement with Theodore Laskaris, the Byzantine Emperor of Nicaea. This treaty marked the end of hostilities between the Seljuq state and the Empire of Nicaea, though Turkmen nomads continued occasionally to trouble the border.

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Wikipedia