The horses now of
repute in Asia as Turkman come from the east of the Caspian. And Asia
Minor generally, once the mother of so many breeds of high repute, is now
poorer in horses than any province of the Ottoman empire.
(Pereg. Quat. p. 114; I.B. II. 255 seqq.; Hayton, ch. xiii.; Liber
Jurium Reip. Januensis, II. 184; Tchihatcheff, As. Min., 2'de partie,
631.)
[The Seljukian Sultanate of Iconium or Rum, was founded at the expense of
the Byzantines by Suleiman (1074-1081); the last three sovereigns of the
dynasty contemporaneous with Marco Polo are Ghiath ed-din Kaikhosru III.
(1267-1283), Ghiath ed-din Mas'ud II. (1283-1294), Ala ed-din Kaikobad
III. (1294-1308), when this kingdom was destroyed by the Mongols of
Persia. Privileges had been granted to Venice by Ghiath ed-din Kaikhosru
I. (+ 1211), and his sons Izz ed-din Kaikaua (1211-1220), and Ala ed-din
Kaikobad I. (1220-1237); the diploma of 1220 is unfortunately the only one
of the three known to be preserved. (Cf. Heyd, I. p. 302.) - H. C.]
Though the authors quoted above seem to make no distinction between Turks
and Turkmans, that which we still understand does appear to have been made
in the 12th century: "That there may be some distinction, at least in
name, between those who made themselves a king, and thus achieved such
glory, and those who still abide in their primitive barbarism and adhere
to their old way of life, the former are nowadays termed Turks, the
latter by their old name of Turkomans." (William of Tyre, i. 7.)
Casaria is KAISARIYA, the ancient Caesareia of Cappadocia, close to the
foot of the great Mount Argaeus.