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Alp Arslan

Fictious portrait of Alp Arslan

Sultan of the Seljuq Empire

Reign 1063 – 1072

Predecessor Toghrul-Beg

Successor Malik-Shah I

Spouse Aka, widow of Toghrul I

Issue

Muizz ad-Din Malik-Shah I

Taj ad-Dawlah Tutush I

Izz ad-Din Arslan-Argun

Bori-Bars

Toghrul

Ayaz

Toghan-Shah

Arslan-Shah

Tekish

Princess Aisha

Princess Zuleikha Khatun

Full name

Laqab: Diya ad-Din (shortly), Adud ad-Dawlah

Kunya: Abu Shuja

Given name: Muhammad

Turkic nickname: Alp Arslan

Nasab: Alp Arslan ibn Chaghri-Beg ibn Mikailibn Seljuq ibn Duqaq

House House of Seljuq

Father Chaghri-Beg

Mother  ?

Born 20 January 1029[1]

Died 15 December 1072

Religion Sunni Islam

Alp Arslan (Persian: ارسالن full name: Diya ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Adud ad-Dawlah Abu ;آلپShuja Muhammad Alp Arslan ibn Dawud) (20 January 1029 – 15 December 1072) was the second Sultan of the Seljuq Empire and great-grandson ofSeljuq, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. His real name was Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri, and for his military prowess, personal valour, and fighting skills he obtained the name Alp Arslan, which means "Heroic Lion"[2] in Turkish.

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Career

2 Byzantine struggle 3 State organization 4 Death 5 Legacy 6 References 7 Sources

Career[edit]

Alp Arslan succeeded his father Çağrı Bey as governor of Khorasan in 1059. His uncle Tughril died and was succeeded by Suleiman, Arslan's brother. Arslan and his uncle Kutalmish both contested this succession. Arslan defeated Kutalmish for the throne and succeeded on 27 April 1064 as sultan of Great Seljuq, thus becoming sole monarch ofPersia from the river Oxus to the Tigris.

In consolidating his empire and subduing contending factions, Arslan was ably assisted by Nizam al-Mulk, his vizier, and one of the most eminent statesmen in early Muslim history. With peace and security established in his dominions, Arslan convoked an assembly of the states and declared his son Malik Shah I his heir and successor. With the hope of capturing Caesarea Mazaca, the capital of Cappadocia, he placed himself at the head of the Turkish cavalry, crossed the Euphrates, and entered and invaded the city. Along with Nizam al-Mulk, he then marched into Armenia and Georgia, which he conquered in 1064.[3]

Byzantine struggle[edit]

Battle of Manzikert

En route to Syria in 1068, Alp Arslan Oush invaded the Byzantine Empire. The Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes, assuming command in person, met the invaders in Cilicia. In three arduous campaigns, the Turks were defeated in detail and driven across the Euphrates in 1070. The first two campaigns were conducted by the emperor himself, while the third was directed by Manuel Comnenos, great-uncle of Emperor Manuel Comnenos.

In 1071 Romanos again took the field and advanced into Armenia with possibly 30,000 men, including a contingent of Cuman Turks as well as contingents of Franks and Normans, under Ursel de Baieul. At Manzikert, on the Murat River, 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 waged the Battle of Manzikert. The Cuman mercenaries among the Byzantine forces immediately defected to the Turkish side. Seeing this, "the Western mercenaries rode off and took no part in the battle."[4] To be exact, Romanos was betrayed by general Andronikos Doukas,

son of the Caesar (Romanos's stepson), who pronounced him dead and rode off with a large part of the Byzantine forces at a critical moment.[5] The Byzantines were totally routed.

Emperor Romanos IV was himself taken prisoner and conducted into the presence of Alp Arslan. After a ritual humiliation, Arslan treated him with generosity. After peace terms were agreed to, Arslan dismissed the Emperor, loaded with presents and respectfully attended by a military guard. The following conversation is said to have taken place after Romanos was brought as a prisoner before the Sultan:[6]

Alp Arslan humiliating Emperor Romanos IV after the Battle of Manzikert. From a 15th-century illustrated French

translation ofBoccacio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium.

Alp Arslan: "What would you do if I was brought before you as a prisoner?"Romanos: "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."

Alp Arslan's victories changed the balance in near Asia completely in favour of the Seljuq Turks and Sunni Muslims. While the Byzantine Empire was to continue for nearly four more 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, includingEdward 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 that had furnished the Empire with men and treasure.

State organization[edit]

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 that characterized and strengthened the sultanate during the reigns of Alp Arslan and his son, Malik Shah. Military fiefs, governed by Seljuq princes, were established to provide support for the soldiery and to accommodate the nomadic Turks to the established Anatolian agricultural scene. This type of military fiefdom enabled the nomadic Turks to draw on the resources of the sedentary Persians, Turks, and other established cultures within the Seljuq realm, and allowed Alp Arslan to field a huge standing army without depending on tribute from conquest to pay his soldiers. 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.

According to the poet Saadi Shirazi:

Arslan possessed a fort, which raised at the height of Alwand, from all were those within its walls, for its roads were a labyrinth, like the curls of a bride. From a learned traveler Arslan once inquired: "Didst thou ever, in thy wanderings, see a fort as strong as this?" "Splendid it is," was the travelers reply, "but methinks not it confers much strength. Before thee, did not other kings possess it for a while, then pass away? After thee, will not other kings assume control, and eat the fruits of the tree of thy hope?"

In the estimation of the wise, the world is a false gem that passes each moment from one hand to another. (the fort was sacked by the Mongols led byHulagu).

Suleiman ibn Kutalmish was the son of the contender for Arslan's throne; he was appointed governor of the north-western provinces and assigned to completing the invasion of Anatolia. 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[edit]

After Manzikert, the dominion of Alp Arslan extended over much of western Asia. He soon prepared to march for 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 obliged to surrender, however, and was carried as a prisoner before the sultan, who condemned him to 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. He drew his bow, but his foot slipped, the arrow glanced aside, and he received the assassin's dagger in his breast. Alp Arslan died from this wound four days later, on 25 November 1072, in his 42nd year, and he was taken toMerv to be buried next to his father, Chaghri Beg. 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 is 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 had 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 do not allow your vanity to overreach your good sense..."[citation needed]

Legacy[edit]

Alp Arslan's conquest of Anatolia from the Byzantines is also seen as one of the pivotal precursors to the launch of the crusades.

From 2002 to July 2008 under Turkmen calendar reform, the month of August was named after Alp Arslan.

Alp Arslan

House of Seljuq

Born: 20 January 1029 Died: 15 December 1072

Regnal titles

Preceded byToghrul-Beg

Sultan of the Seljuq Empire1063-1072

Succeeded byMalik-Shah I

Alp-ArslanIzvor: Wikipedia

Bitka kod Mancikerta

Alp Arslan je bio sultan Seldžučke Monarhije (1063. – 1072.) i nećak Tugrula (1037 – 1063). Vladao je prostorima današnjeg Irana, Iraka, Sirije i delovima Turske. Pobedom nad vizantijskom vojskom u bici kod Mancikerta 1071. godine, gurnuo je Vizantiju u novu rundu građanskog rata, nakon čega je otpočela ekspanziju Turaka u Malu Aziju, koji će za nepunu deceniju ovladati gotovo celokupnim poluostrvom, zauzevši Nikeju (1081) i izbivši na sam Bosfor.

Sadržaj/Садржај

  [sakrij/сакриј] 

1 Život i vladavina

2 Veze

3 Reference

4 Literatura

Život i vladavina[uredi - уреди]

Arslan je rođen oko 1030. godine, a 1063. godine postaje sultan Seldžuka, koji uz njegovu prećutnu dozvolu počinju da upadaju u pogranične vizantijske oblasti i pljačkaju ih. Već 1064. godine zauzima grad Ani u Jermeniji, što biva propraćeno velikim masakrom lokalnog stanovništva[1], a 1067. godine i Cezareju [2] . Vizantijski car Roman IV Diogen(1068 – 1071) je pokrenuo nekoliko vojnih kampanja protiv Seldžuka u pokušaju da ih suzbije iz istočnih delova Vizantije. Oni su se završili bez veće vojne pobede, pošto su Seldžučki odredi izbegavali direktnu borbu sa Vizantincima, ali je 1070. godine uspeo da sklopi mirovni ugovor sa Arslanom oko obustave pljačkaških upada.

Koristeći se mirom sa Vizantijom, Arslan je 1071. godine sa vojskom krenuo u napad na Alepu, međutim tokom pohoda je dobio izveštaj da se Roman na čelu velike vojske uputio ka Mancikertu, koji je ubrzo zauzeo. Seldžučki sultan je nakon toga obustavio dalje napredovanje i brzo se uputio ka centralnoj Anadoliji i jezeru Van. U njegovoj blizini, došlo je do bitke između Seldžuka i vizantijske vojske. Arslanove snage su odnele pobedu na Vizantincima i zarobile samog Romana.

Samu bitku je presudio veći broj faktora. Od deljenja vizantijske vojske na dva dela neposredno pred bitku, tako da se samo jedan njen deo sukobio sa Seldžucima, preko prelaska dela plaćenika Uza na Seldžučku stranu tokom same bitke, do izdaje jednog vizantijskih zapovednika. Andronik Duka, koji je bio Romanov političkiprotivnik, komandovao je rezervom i u ključnom trenutku je odbio da zaštiti pozadinu vizantijskom centru, već se povukao iz bitke, šireći dezinformacije da je sam Roman poginuo[1]. Brzi seldžučki konjanici su nakon toga sa lakoćom opkolili vizantijski centar i uništili njegovo desno krilo, dok su delovi levog uspeli da se probiju iz obruča. Dodatni faktor u samoj bici, bila je i seldžučka taktika izbegavanja direktnog sukoba sa teško oklopljenom pešadijom i konjicom Vizantinaca. Umesto toga, brzi seldžučki konjanici su stalno napadali Vizantince i uzmicali pred njima, pokušavajući da poremete njihovu disciplinu i razjedine im redove.

Arslan je nakon bitke Romana primio sa odgovarajućim počastima i sklopio mir sa njim. Međutim, usled poraza kod Mancikerta, u Carigradu je došlo do prevrata i nove borbe oko vlasti u kojoj je Roman poražen i praktično ubijen, pošto je od posledica oslepljivanja (29. 6. 1072.) vrlo brzo umro (4. 8. 1072.). Sam Arslan je nakon Romanove smrti nastavio da poštuje mir koji je sa njim sklopio, ali se zato lokalni emiri nisu osećali obaveznima da poštuju odredbe mira[2] i otpočeli sa upadima u Vizantiju.

Sam Arlsan je 15. 12. iste godine umro u Horezmu, a nasledio ga je sin Malik-šah I (1072. – 1092.).