Anatolian beyliks

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Anatolian beyliks (Turkish: Anadolu beylikleri, Ottoman Turkish: Tavâif-i mülûk, Beylik; Turkish pronunciation: [bejlic]) were Turkish^[1] principalities (or petty kingdoms) in Anatolia governed by beys, the first of which were founded at the end of the 11th century. A second and more extensive period of establishment took place as a result of the decline of the Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm in the latter half of the 13th century.

One of the beyliks, that of the Osmanoğlu of the Kayı branch of Oghuz Turks, from its capital in Bursa completed its incorporation of the other beyliks to form the Ottoman Empire by the late 15th century.

The word beylik denotes a territory under the jurisdiction of a bey, equivalent to a duchy or principality in other parts of Europe.^[2]