Suleiman I of Candar

Shuja' al-Din Suleiman I Pasha (Σολυμάμπαξι; died 1341) was Bey of Candar from 1309 until his death. He was the son of Shams al-Din Yaman, who defeated the governor of Kastamonu, Yavlak Arslan, and was granted administration of the region by Ilkhan Gaykhatu ((r. 1291 – 95)). However, after Yaman's death, it came under the control of its former ruler's son, Mahmud. On 16 July 1309, Suleiman took Kastamonu and reigned under the suzerainty of the Ilkhanate until the death of the last Ilkhan Abu Sa'id ((r. 1316 – 35)). During his last several years, he issued his own coins and declared independence. He maintained stable relations with his neighbors but continued to raid the Byzantine Empire despite an offer of peace. He intended to hand the rule over to his youngest son Choban, which elicited a revolt from Suleiman’s oldest son Ibrahim, who instead became his successor.

Background
During Sultan of Rum Mesud II's first reign ((r. 1284 – 97)), his brother Kilij Arslan arrived in Sinop from Crimea. Kilij Arslan declared himself the ruler and appointed the governor of Kastamonu, Yavlak Arslan, as his atabeg. Mesud marched on his brother with Mongol support but was defeated and caught. Suleiman's father, Shams al-Din Yaman, of the Oghuz Turkic Candar dynasty, rescued Mesud in a clash that killed Yavlak Arslan. He was granted control of Kastamonu by Ilkhan Gaykhatu ((r. 1291 – 95)).

Reign
Upon the death of Suleiman's father, Kastamonu came into the hands of Yavlak Arslan's son, Mahmud ((r. 1292 – 1309)), forcing Suleiman to retreat to Eflani. On 16 July 1309, Suleiman led an unexpected attack on Kastamonu, killing Mahmud and claiming the city as his capital. Suleiman reigned under the suzerainty of the Ilkhanate until its last head's demise, Ilkhan Abu Sa'id ((r. 1316 – 35)). When the Ilkhanid influence in the region first started to wane, Suleiman pledged allegiance to the governor and vizier Chupan, which allowed him to expand the boundaries of his realm. Suleiman vassalized Mu'in al-Din Parwana's son Ghazi Chelebi of Sinop, after whose death in 1322 he assumed direct control of the city and trusted his elder son Ibrahim with its administration. Sinop's annexation opened up trade with the Republic of Genoa. Suleiman additionally seized Safranbolu and granted its rule to his son Ali. From 1335 to his death, Suleiman minted coins in his name instead of the Ilkhanate, assuming the title as-Sultānu'l-a'zam and declaring independence. He maintained stable relations with his neighbors such as the Byzantine Empire, Ottoman Sultanate, and the Beylik of Tadjeddin as he did not attempt to expand in the direction of south and west. However, he persisted in raiding and besieging Byzantine territory despite a peace offer.

Suleiman had a close relationship with the family of famous Sufi scholar and poet Rumi. He was visited by Rumi's grandson Ulu Arif Chelebi twice in an attempt to reduce the influence Rafidi sheikhs had over uch beys like Suleiman.

According to the contemporary Maghrebi traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited Safranbolu and Kastamonu in 1331–2, Suleiman frequently consulted with the pious and faqihs and was long-bearded, good-humored, graceful, and formidable. Suleiman gifted Ibn Battuta clothes and a horse from a good breed. In his works Masālik al-abṣār and at-Taʾrīf, Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari wrote that he ruled over forty cities and castles and had 25–30,000 cavalry under his command. Al-Umari attested to amicable diplomatic relations between Suleiman and the Mamluk Sultanate. He mentioned that quality horses and hawks were raised in Suleiman's realm. Suleiman was also touched on by various other contemporary historians, Abulfeda and Pachymeres, who referred to him as Σολυμάμπαξι in Greek. Moreover, Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi authored the Persian work Intihab-i Suleimāni dedicated to him in July 1309, when Suleiman had recently conquered Kastamonu. In 1329, Suleiman ordered the reparation of a madrasa that was initially built in the name of Yavlak Arslan in Taşköprü. Overall, Suleiman's reign was likely economically strong and bureaucratically advanced.

When Suleiman designated his youngest son Choban as his heir, his older son Ibrahim rebelled in or shortly after 1339 and captured Kastamonu, declaring himself as the new ruler. Suleiman likely died in 1341. He was over eighty years in age at his death based on Ibn Battuta's earlier description of him as about seventy years old. Neither Suleiman's death cause nor Choban's fate is known. İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı proposes that his grave was located in the mevlevihane of Kastamonu as indicated by an inscription there before the grave was removed.