Karasid dynasty

It was centered in Balıkesir and Bergama, and was one of the frontier principalities established by Oghuz Turks after the decline of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum.

The epitaphs of members of the Karasi family in Tokat, Kutlu Melek and his son Mustafa Chelebi, tie their ancestry to the Danishmendids, a dynasty who ruled over northeastern Anatolia during the 11–12th centuries.

[1] Modern historian Claude Cahen holds that the homonymy between the central Anatolian family and the dynasty in northwestern Anatolia may not be a sufficient evidence for a connection.

Kalam and Karasi Bey are thought to have taken over the region around Balıkesir during Mesud's reign and claimed independence at an unknown date.

Cahen disputes historian Mordtmann's connection of the Lamisai mentioned by Pachymeres and the Calames (Karasi's father Kalam) of Nicephorus Gregoras.