Danishmendids

Danishmend
1071/1075–1178
Anatolia in 1097, before the Siege of Nicaea
Capital	Sivas Niksar
Common languages	Old Anatolian Turkish Medieval Greek
Religion	Islam
Government	Monarchy
Bey, Ghazi, Melik
• 1071/1075–1084	Danishmend Gazi
• 1175–1178	Nasreddin Muhammed
Historical era	High Medieval
• Established	1071/1075
• Disestablished	1178
Preceded by Succeeded by Great Seljuq Empire Sultanate of Rum

The Danishmendids or Danishmends (Turkish: Dânişmendliler) was a Turkoman beylik that ruled in north-central and eastern Anatolia from 1071/1075 to 1178.^{[1][need quotation to verify]} The dynasty centered originally around Sivas, Tokat, and Niksar in central-northeastern Anatolia, they extended as far west as Ankara and Kastamonu for a time, and as far south as Malatya, which they captured in 1103. In early 12th century, Danishmends were rivals of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, which controlled much of the territory surrounding the Danishmend lands, and they fought extensively against the Crusaders.

The dynasty was established by Danishmend Gazi for whom historical information is rather scarce and was generally written long after his death. His title or name, Dānishmand (دانشمند) means "wise man" or "one who searches for knowledge" in Persian.