Hızır Bey Aydinoglu

Origin and early years

Beylik Aydin was a small coastal emirate ( beylik ) in western Anatolia , which appeared after the collapse of the Seljuk Sultanate . The founder of the bailik was Mehmed Bey Aydinoglu (1308–1334), who had previously been in the service of the Germans . Beylik occupied the former Byzantine lands along the Menderes River to the Aegean coast. Its two main ports were Ayasoluk (near the ruins of ancient Ephesus ) and Smyrna ^[1] .

Khizir was born until 1309 and was the eldest son of the founder of Beylik ^[2] . There is no information about his childhood. The first information about the life of Khizir is related to his coming of age. During his lifetime, Medmed Bey divided the principality between his sons, having allocated his son upon reaching 18 years of land for administration ^{[2] [1] [3]} . Khizir received Ayasoluk and ^{[4] [5]} . This happened no later than 1325/26, and Khizir ruled Ayasoluk first as a vassal of his father, and then as his younger brother, Umur-bey ^[5] .

Sources often mention the sons of Mehmed together. In 1332/33, Khizir, together with his brothers, participated in the raid of Umur against Bodonitsa , Negropont , Peloponnese ^[6] . When Ibn Battuta arrived in the emirate in 1333, he visited Birgi, Smyrna and Ayasoluk. When the traveler was with Mehmed, he saw his elder sons, Khizir and Umur ^[7] .

Mehmed Bey died in early 1334, a few months after the visit of Ibn Battuta. Khizir did not become a ruler - before his death, Mehmed told his sons that he wanted to see his second son Umur as his successor ^{[1] [4] [8]} . Khizir did not dispute the decision of his father and supported his brother. On October 28, 1344, the Aydinids lost Smyrna after a surprise attack by a fleet of Venetians and hospitaliers ^{[1] [9] [10]} . On January 17, 1345, Khizyr participated with his brothers in a retaliatory attack on the Latins who had left the fortress. The brothers suddenly burst into the cathedral of the lower city, where the knights gathered for mass. As a result of the ensuing massacre, Christians suffered heavy losses - all the leaders died. There were losses in the Aydinid camp - Khizir and Umur were injured, and their brother Ibrahim Bahadur was killed ^{[10] [11]} .

Ruler

In May 1348, the brothers after the death of Umur Khizir became the ruler of the emirate, the capital moved to Ayasoluk ^[12] . Khizir was not as energetic as his brother, he preferred to negotiate, rather than fight. The period of Khizir’s reign is marked by negotiations that he conducted with Christian states, and agreements concluded by him for the settlement of trade relations ^[13] .

Taking advantage of the war between the Aydinids and the league, the Genoese sent an embassy to Ayasoluk to get ahead of the Venetians in gaining trade advantages. Khizir signed an agreement with the Genoese, they received them as a colony of Chios, their galleys Khizir allowed to call at the port of Ayasoluk and load in it. In 1348, the Genoese opened a consulate in Ayasoluk, which lasted until 1394 ^{[1] [14]} .

On August 8, 1348, Khızır had to sign a draft heavy contract for him with the Latins of 20 points. Under this agreement, he pledged not to engage in piracy, to destroy pirate galleys and not to help the Genoese. Also, under the agreement, Khizir was supposed to cede half of the customs duties at its ports to the anti-Turkish League member states. According to the agreement, league states were allowed to keep their representatives in Aydin, Christian ships were allowed to call at the ports of Aydin. On the part of opponents of Aydin, the agreement was signed by Venice, Cyprus and hospitals, after which it was to be approved by the pope ^{[1] [12] [15]} . But Clement VI was in no hurry to approve the agreement. Khizir was tired of waiting and in the summer of 1350 he and his brothers began new military preparations. From Smyrna and from the Venetian colony in Crete, they reported on the seriousness of the situation ^{[1] [14]} . The fears were confirmed when Khizir together with Isa again attacked the vessels of the league states and the Venetian colonies and captured many prisoners. They claimed that this was revenge for the death of Umur ^[16] . In response, on August 11, 1350, a new military alliance was formed in Avignon against the Turks, which included Clement VI, Venice, Cyprus and hospitals ^[14] .

As a result of hostilities, trade relations between Anatolia and Crete were disrupted. Khizyr detained the Cretans on his territory and did not allow to send the wheat that was expected in Crete. In the summer of 1350, the Venetians realized that the pope was in no hurry to sign the contract and decided to negotiate with Khizir themselves. The Senate sent an embassy to Khizir, thereby, in fact, leaving the anti-Turkish league ^[14] . Negotiations with Venice dragged on and the agreement of Aydinogullara with the Venetian Crete was concluded only in 1353. Khizir undertook to ensure the safety of Venetian ships on his territory and opened the ports of Aydin for Venetian merchants. Despite heavy taxes, the Venetians were forced to accept these terms of the contract because they were expelled from the Black Sea by the Genoese ^[1] . In 1358, the Venetians received permission to keep the consul in Ayasoluk ^[14] .

In 1351, at the height of the negotiations between Khizir and Venice, the pope withdrew his legate from the East, because there was no longer any hope that the new anti-Turkish league could achieve any success, and informed the Grand Master of Hospitallers that the league was dissolved ^[14] . And on December 6, 1352, Clement, who was interested in oriental affairs, died. Shortly before this, ambassadors from Khizir arrived at Clement, but a reply was sent in January by the new pope ^[15] . For Innocent VI, affairs in Smyrna were not a priority, although the leadership of Venice, Cyprus and Rhodes was recommended to protect Smyrna and to keep its port in their hands ^[1] . And without waiting for the approval of the agreement with Khizyr papa, the hospitaliers themselves entered into a new agreement with Aydin Bay ^[1] .

The fees charged by Khizir to Christian merchants were designed to compensate for the loss that the Aydinids suffered by ceasing to engage in piracy. A 6% tax was levied by Khizir on cereals, dried vegetables, livestock and slaves ^[1] . The duty on wax was 2%, only soap and wine were not taxed ^[17] . Import tax was 2% ^[1] .

Khizir’s readiness to come to an agreement with the Latins marked the beginning of the decline of the Aydin beylik, whose economic situation worsened. Due to the cessation of piracy, the possibility of enrichment due to military production was lost, and the proceeds of trade could not compensate for this loss. But politically, the principality continued to maintain its independent position, since the forces of the Latin coalition were undermined by the pandemic of the plague that erupted at that time in Europe ^[14] (for example, in Cyprus in 1348 the plague killed more than half of its population), and the war between Genoa and Venice, which lasted until 1355 ^[12] .

Khizir died around 1360 ^[14] . He is buried in Ayasoluk ^[18] .

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