sultanate · Anatolia and the Levant

Eretnids

1335 CE – 1381 CE · capital Sivas

The successor state to Mongol rule in central Anatolia, founded by an Uyghur officer who made himself sultan in Sivas and Kayseri.

Origins

Eretna was an Uyghur commander who served the Ilkhanid governor of Anatolia, Timurtash. After the death of the last strong Ilkhan, Abu Sa'id, in 1335, he governed central Anatolia on his own account, first in the name of rival Mongol princes and from 1341 as sultan, minting coins in his own name.

Rule and society

In 1343 Eretna defeated a Chobanid army at Karanbuk, securing his state. His realm included Sivas, Kayseri, Tokat, Amasya and Erzincan, with a Mongol and Turkmen military elite and Persian administration in the Seljuk tradition. After his death in 1352 his son Mehmed and grandson Ala al-Din Ali faced revolts by emirs and Turkmen chiefs.

Decline and legacy

Real power passed to the vizier and judge Kadi Burhan al-Din, who after Ala al-Din Ali's death in 1380 took the throne in 1381, ending the dynasty.

Lineage

Ilkhanate 1256 CE – 1357 CEEretnidsKadi Burhan al-Din state 1381 CE – 1398 CE

Connections (1)

Eretnids was a vassal of Mamluk Sultanate1336 CE – 1341 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Eretnids. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eretnids
MLA: “Eretnids.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eretnids. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Eretnids.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eretnids.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Eretnids’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eretnids (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻