Impregnable, due to its strategic geographic position and defenses, the fall of the capital city symbolized the declining power of the Byzantine emperor. On the eastern flank of Byzantine lay the Seljuk Empire, consisting of eastern Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, Armenia, part of Persia, and western Turkestan. But this Empire too began to lose control of its possessions due to the invasions of mongol leader Genghis Khan. After the decisive battle of Kozadagh ended with victory for the Mongol invaders, the Seljuk sultans were reduced to vassals. The Mongol khan, interested only in securing annual payments from his vassal states, did not implement a system of control and government over the former Seljuk territories. With Byzantine control diminishing, Seljuk rule subjugated, and Mongol leadership missing, a power vacuum resulted in Asia Minor.
Situated on the border between the Byzantine and Seljuk empires was a frontier area inhabited by a collection of nomads and city dwellers of many races and religions. Driven up from the east due to political turmoil and the advancing Mongol hordes, many were of Turkoman descent. Caught between feuding and declining empires this area had all the characteristics of a frontier. Beyond the limits of central control, power rested in the hands of independent Ghazi leaders who ruled over small tribes and parcels of land.
