Kai Chosrau I.

Modern statue of Kai Chosraus I in Antalya

Kai Chosrau I. ( Persian غياث الدين كيخسرو بن قلج ارسلان, Turkish Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev I. , * before 1177 ; †  1211 ) was a Seljuk Sultan of Rum .

He was one of the eleven sons of Kilij Arslan II and a Byzantine woman . According to an old custom, his father divided the land between his sons in 1186. Kai Chosrau received the area around Sozopolis or Uluborlu on the border with Byzantium. This led to disputes over the succession to the throne during Kilij Arslan's lifetime. When Kilidsch Arslan II died in 1192, Kai Chosrau I, the youngest son, was able to assert himself and became sultan. However, in 1196 he had to give way to his older brother Suleiman II . When Suleiman II died in 1204, his underage son Kilij Arslan III. raised to ruler. Kai Chosrau I deposed his nephew eight months later and became sultan for the second time in 1205.

Kai Chosrau I re-opened access to the Black Sea for his sultanate . Access was previously denied by the Trapezunt Empire . Next, Kai Chosrau I annexed the economically important port city of Antalya . After this conquest, the Seljuks established trade relations with Venice, but the widely spread empire soon split up into a number of independent small principalities.

Kai Chosrau I. broke with the old tradition that the sons of the sultan as governors of the individual provinces could rule fairly freely. He strengthened their ties to the central power and thus strengthened the sultan's influence.

Kai Chosrau I married a daughter of Manuel Maurozomes , son of Theodor Maurozomes and the daughter of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos . Kai Chosraus father-in-law Manuel Maurozomes fought at his side against common opponents in Asia Minor in 1205 and 1206.

In 1211 Kai Chosrau I fell in the battle of Antioch on the Meander against the ruler of Nikaia Theodor I.

predecessor	Office	successor
Kılıç Arslan II. Kılıç Arslan III.	Sultan of Rum 1192–1196 1205–1211	Suleiman II. Kai Kaus I.