Kılıç Arslan IV.

Kilij Arslan IV or Kylydsch Arslan ( Ottoman قلج أرسلان Kilic Arslan , DMG Qiliğ Ārslān , German 'lion sword ' , also Kilitsch Arslan , Qiliğ-Arslan or Kilij Arslan ; † 1265 ), with full name Rukn ad-Dīn Qiliğ Ārslān ibn Kaiḫusrau (ركن الدين قلج ارسلان بن كيخسرو Turkish IV. Rükneddin Kılıç Arslan ), was a Seljuk ruler of the Sultanate of Rum and ruled from 1248 to 1265.

He was the son of Kai Chosraus II , who lost the battle of Köse Dağ against the Mongols under Baiju , whereupon the sultans were demoted to vassals. The defeat also led to famine in the devastated areas of Anatolia . Kai Chosrau II first appointed his other son Kai Kaus II as sultan. Kiliç Arslan IV himself was sent to the Mongolian court as an ambassador for the coronation of Güyük Khan . The Mongols saw in Kilij Arslan IV. A better vassal and recognized him as a legitimate sultan. With their help Kilij Arslan IV was crowned sultan in Kayseri in 1248 .

Now there were two sultans with him, which inevitably led to conflicts between the brothers. To make matters worse, a third brother Kai Kobad II got involved in the rivalries. Kai Kaus II then renewed the alliance with Nikäa , which his father had with John III in 1243 . had closed, and was able to overrun Kilij Arslan IV. 1254 first in Kayseri and take prisoner. But in 1256 the Mongolian general Baiju undertook a campaign against Kai Kaus II. In the vicinity of Aksaray he met the troops of Kai Kaus II and defeated them. Kai Kaus II only had to flee to his Greek allies in Nicaea.

Kilij Arslan IV became the new sultan in Kayseri in 1256. But when he stopped paying tribute, the Mongols intervened again, while Kai Kaus II moved back into Konya at the same time . On the eve of their final attack on the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad , Möngke Khan appointed the two surviving brothers as partial rulers to pacify the Anatolian flank in 1257 after Kai Kobad II's death, who was the victim of his emirs in Erzurum in 1257. Both brothers had to take part in the Mongolian campaign Hülegüs to Syria with auxiliary troops in 1260 . After the Mongol defeat in the battle of ʿAin Jālūt against the Mameluks under Baibars, however, they fought again, and again Kai Kaus II, who had bet on the Mameluks, had to flee from another Mongol invasion of Greek territory, during Kilij Arslan IV moved into Konya as sole sultan in 1261. Kai Kaus II went into exile in the Crimea in 1263/1264 , where he died in 1279.

Kilij Arslan IV ruled over the entire sultanate from 1260 until his death in 1265. He conquered Silifke from the Armenians and took the city ​​of Sinop from the Empire of Trebizond . However, he was unexpectedly murdered in 1265 at a banquet with the Mongols. The Mongols put his underage son Kai Chosrau III. as a sultan.

predecessor	Office	successor
Kai Kaus II.	Sultan of Rum 1248–1265	Kai Chosrau III.