Everything about Alp Arslan totally explained
Alp Arslan (
1029 –
December 15,
1072) was the second sultan of the
Seljuk dynasty and great-grandson of
Seljuk, the
eponym of the dynasty. He assumed the name of
Muhammad bin Da'ud Chaghri when he embraced
Islam, and for his military prowess, personal valour, and fighting skills he obtained the surname
Alp Arslan, which means "a valiant lion" in
Turkish.
Career
He succeeded his father Chagri Begh as governor of
Khorasan in
1059. When his uncle
Toğrül died he was succeeded by Suleiman, Alp Arslan's brother. Alp Arslan and his uncle
Kutalmish both contested this succession. Alp Arslan defeated Kutalmish for the throne and succeeded on
April 27,
1064 as sultan of
Great Seljuk, and thus became sole monarch of
Persia from the river
Oxus to the
Tigris.
In consolidating his empire and subduing contending factions he was ably assisted by
Nizam ul-Mulk, his
Persian vizier, and one of the most eminent statesmen in early
Muslim history. With peace and security established in his dominions, he convoked an assembly of the states and declared his son
Malik Shah I his heir and successor. With the hope of acquiring immense booty in the rich church of
St. Basil in
Caesarea Mazaca, the capital of
Cappadocia, he placed himself at the head of the Turkish cavalry, crossed the
Euphrates and entered and plundered that city. He then marched into
Armenia and
Georgia, which he conquered in
1064.
Byzantine struggle
In
1068, en route to Syria, Alp Arslan invaded the
Byzantine Empire. The
emperor Romanus IV Diogenes, assuming the command in person, met the invaders in
Cilicia. In three arduous campaigns, the first two of which were conducted by the emperor himself while the third was directed by Manuel Comnenus (great-uncle of Emperor
Manuel Comnenus), the Turks were defeated in detail in
1070 driven across the Euphrates. In
1071 Romanus again took the field and advanced with 40,000 men, including a contingent of the
Cuman Turks as well as contingents of
Franks and
Normans, under
Ursel of Bahol, into Armenia.
At
Manzikert, on the
Murad Tchai, north of
Lake Van, Diogenes was met by Alp Arslan. The sultan proposed terms of peace, which were rejected by the emperor, and the two forces met in the
Battle of Manzikert. The
Cuman mercenaries among the Byzantine forces immediately defected to the Turkish side; and, seeing this, "the Western mercenaries rode off and took no part in the battle." The Byzantines were totally routed.
Emperor Romanus IV was himself taken prisoner and conducted into the presence of Alp Arslan, who treated him with generosity, and, terms of peace having been agreed to, dismissed him, loaded with presents and respectfully attended by a military guard. This famous conversation is recorded to have taken place after Romanus was brought as a prisoner before the Sultan:
» Alp Arslan: "What would you do if I was brought before you as a prisoner?"
Romanus: "Perhaps I'd kill you, or exhibit you in the streets of Constantinople."
» Alp Arslan: "My punishment is far heavier. I forgive you, and set you free."
As suggested by this conversation, what would seem to have been an act of mercy on Arslan's part indeed proved to be the crueler punishment: following his return, Romanus was deposed, blinded and exiled to the island of
Proti and died as the result of an infection from an injury during his blinding.
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Alp Arslan's victories changed the balance in near Asia completely in favour of the
Seljuk Turks and
Sunni Muslims. While the Byzantine Empire was to continue for nearly another four centuries, and the Crusades would contest the issue for some time, the victory at Manzikert signalled the beginning of Turkish ascendancy in
Anatolia. Most historians, including
Edward Gibbon, date the defeat at Manzikert as the beginning of the end of the Eastern Roman Empire. Certainly the entry of Turkic farmers following their horsemen ended the themes in Anatolia which had furnished the Empire with men and treasure.
State organization
Alp Arslan's strength lay in the military realm. Domestic affairs were handled by his able vizier,
Nizam al-Mulk, the founder of the administrative organization which characterized and strengthened the sultanate during the reigns of Alp Arslan and his son,
Malik Shah. Military
fiefs, governed by Seljuk princes, were established to provide support for the soldiery and to accommodate the nomadic Turks to the established Persian agricultural scene. This type of military fiefdom enabled the nomadic Turks to draw on the resources of the sedentary Persians and other established cultures within the Seljuk realm, and allowed Alp Arslan to field a huge standing army, without depending on tribute from conquest to pay his soldiery. He not only had enough food from his subjects to maintain his military, but the taxes collected from traders and merchants added to his coffers sufficiently to fund his continuous wars.
Suleiman ibn Kutalmish was the son of the contender for Arslan's throne; he was appointed governor of the north-western provinces. An explanation for this choice can only be conjectured from
Ibn al-Athir’s account of the battle between Alp-Arslan and
Kutalmish, in which he writes that Alp-Arslan wept for the latter's death and greatly mourned the loss of his kinsman.
Death
The dominion of Alp Arslan after Manzikert extended over much of western
Asia. He soon prepared to march to the conquest of
Turkestan, the original seat of his ancestors. With a powerful army he advanced to the banks of the Oxus. Before he could pass the river with safety, however, it was necessary to subdue certain fortresses, one of which was for several days vigorously defended by the governor,
Yussuf el-Harezmi, a
Khwarezmian. He was, however, obliged to surrender and was carried a prisoner before the sultan, who condemned him to a cruel death. Yussuf, in desperation, drew his dagger and rushed upon the sultan. Alp Arslan, who took great pride in his reputation as the foremost archer of his time, motioned to his guards not to interfere and drew his bow, but his foot slipped, the arrow glanced aside and he received the assassin's dagger in his breast. Alp Arslan died four days later from this wound on
November 25,
1072 in his 42nd year, and was taken to
Merv to be buried next to his father
Çağrı Bey. Upon his tomb lies the following inscription:
» “O those who saw the sky-high grandeur of Alp Arslan, behold! He is under the black soil now...”
As he lay dying, Alp Arslan whispered to his son that his vanity had killed him. "Alas," he's recorded to have said, "surrounded by great warriors devoted to my cause, guarded night and day by them, I should have allowed them to do their job. I'd been warned against trying to protect myself, and against letting my courage get in the way of my good sense. I forgot those warnings, and here I lie, dying in agony. Remember well the lessons learned, and don't allow your vanity to overreach your good sense..."
Legacy
Alp Arslan's conquest of Anatolia from the Byzantines is also seen as one of the pivotal precursors to the launch of the
crusades.
Since the 2002
Turkmen calendar reform, the month of August has been named after Arp Arslan.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Alp Arslan'.
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