Background
Alp-Arslan was born on January 20, 1029, in Khwarezm. Alp-Arslan was the son of Chaghri Beg, the ruler of Khorāsān in Iran, and the nephew of Toghrïl, the governor of western Iran, the base of Seljuq expansion. In 1061 his father died.
Alp-Arslan was born on January 20, 1029, in Khwarezm. Alp-Arslan was the son of Chaghri Beg, the ruler of Khorāsān in Iran, and the nephew of Toghrïl, the governor of western Iran, the base of Seljuq expansion. In 1061 his father died.
Famed as a military leader, began his career campaigning extensively for his father, Daud Chaghri Beg, commander of the Turkoman forces in Khurasan. Meanwhile, Seljuk forces under Chaghri's brother, Tughril Beg, had ended a century of Shiite Buyid dominance in Baghdad, whereupon Caliph al-Kaim made him sultan. With Tughril's death in 1063, Alp Arslan succeeded, despite an attempt to enthrone Tughril's brother Suleiman.
The new sultan was immediately faced with internal opposition. His father's cousin, Kutulmish, carried Khurasan into revolt in 1064, and his own brother, Kawurd (founder of the Kirman dynasty), rebelled twice, in 1064 and 1067.
Between the suppression of recalcitrant subordinates, Alp Arslan campaigned against his neighbors. His first major move was a raid in 1064 into Georgia and Armenia, during which the Georgian king acknowledged Seljuk suzerainty. The following year the Sultan led his forces into Transoxiana. In 1070 he took Aleppo during a campaign into Syria. His holdings then reached from central Asia to the Mediterranean.
His strength lay in the military realm, domestic affairs being handled by his Persian vizier, Nizam al-Mulk, founder of the administrative organization which characterized and strengthened the sultanate during the reigns of Alp Arslan and his son. 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.
Meanwhile, not only the Seljuks but independent Turkish bands had been harassing the Byzantine frontier. When the Byzantine emperor, Romanus IV Diogenes, led his forces into the sultanate in 1071 in retaliation, Alp Arslan left Syria and on August 26 met the invaders at Manzikert near Lake Van. This battle, which turned largely on the superior Turkish cavalry, was a crucial one since it opened Anatolia to Turkoman appropriation, although Seljuk authority was not consolidated there until the Rum sultanate was founded in 1155. An indication of Alp Arslan's character appears in his generous treatment of Romanus, who was sent home after the peace settlement with presents and a military escort.
In 1072, campaigning in Turkestan, Alp Arslan was stabbed by the captive commander of a recently conquered fortress. He died soon after, on November 24, and was succeeded by his son Malik Shah.
Alp-Arslan inherited the Seljuq territories of Khorāsān and western Iran. As Sultan, Alp Arslan greatly expanded Seljuk territory and consolidated power, defeating rivals to his south and northwest. His victory over the Byzantines at Manzikert ushered in the Turkish settlement of Anatolia. For his military prowess and fighting skills he obtained the name Alp Arslan, which means "Heroic Lion" in Turkish.
Alp Arslan was a courageous man, generous in his treatment of opponents.
(989 - 1060)
(990 – September 4, 1063)
(died c. 1038)
(8 August 1055 – 19 November 1092)
(1056 – February 1094)
