Sökmen of Artukids

Sökmen of Artukids (also called Muineddin Sokman) was a Turkish bey in the early 12th century.

Origin
His father was Artuk Bey who was a commander in the Great Seljuk Empire. He supported Tutush, a member of the Seljukid house whose province was the Greater Syria. Tutush appointed him as the governor of Kudüs (Jurusalem). After his death in 1091, Sokman and his brother Ilghazi became the co-governors of Kudüs. However Sökmen lost his position in Küdus. when Kudüs was sieged by Fatimids in 1098. Sokman abandoned the city and moved to north.

In Anatolia and Syria
Even before the loss of Kudüs, Sökmen used to spend much time in Anatolia and Syria. After Tutush’s death in 1095, Sökmen took service with Ridwan of Aleppo, Tutush's son. Sökmen made use of the fight between Rıdvan and his brother Duqaq to a gain a territory of his own around Suruç (now a district center in Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey).

In 1098 Great Seljuk Empire formed an army under the commandship of Kerbogha of Musul to assist Yağısıyan of Antakya (Antioch) during the siege of Antioch by the Crusades. Sökmen took part in this army. But the campaign was a failure and the army arrived in Antakya a few days after Antakya was surrendered. In 1101 Baudouin de Boulogne (Baldwin I of Jerusalem) captured Suruç.

Sökmen’s beylik
Kerbogha died in 1102 and during the ensuing struggle to control Musul, Sökmen supported Musa, the viceroy of Musul. For his services, Musa granted the city Hasankeyf (then called Hısn’ı Keyfa; now a district center in Batman Province of Turkey) to Sökmen. Sökmen founded a small beylik around Hasankeyf. This beylik is now considered as one of the three Arkukid beyliks. (The other two were İlghazi’s Mardin beylik and Harput beylik.) Hasankeyf beylik lived up to 1231.

After being a bey, he supported his brother Ilghazi who had recently been dismissed from his post as a Seljukid shihna in Baghdad. In 1104, in the battle of Harran he defeated a Crusaders army. In this battle he took Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Joscelin I captive.

Death
Toghtekin, the ruler of Damascus asked Sökmen to support him against the Crusaders. Sökmen agreed; but on the way to Damascus he died of a pertussis in October 1104.