Following the Battle of Manzikert, the Danishmendid dynasty established control over central and eastern Anatolia, ruling from 1071 to 1178. This Turkish principality played crucial roles in resisting Crusaders and facilitating Turkish settlement and Islamic culture in Anatolia.

Danishmendid courts patronized early Turkish literature and facilitated the development of Anatolian Turkish literary culture. The dynasty's name appears in the Danishmendname, an epic romance blending historical and legendary accounts of Turkish conquest, demonstrating the emergence of Turkish vernacular heroic poetry.