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62-668: The dynasty is sometimes also called Sökmenli in reference to the founder of the principality, Sökmen el-Kutbî , literally "Sökmen the Slave", one of the commanders of the Alp Arslan . The Ahlatshah Sökmenli should not be confused with the Sökmen , which ruled in Hasankeyf during approximately the same period. Another title Sökmen and his descendants assumed, as heirs to the local Armenian princes according to Clifford Edmund Bosworth ,

124-514: A "greatformed one, elegant of stature. He had long, thin whiskers, which he used to knot up when shooting arrows. And they say his arrow never went astray.... From the top button of his hat to the end of his moustaches it was two yards" Muslim sources show Alp Arslan as fanatically pious but just. Alp Arslan was so dedicated to the Hanafi madhhab that he always kept a qadi by his side, including in battles. His vizier, Nizam al-Mulk , described

186-566: A banner above the disgraced emperor that read: "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger". The reason Alp Arslan spared Romanos was likely to avoid a two-front war. The Fatimids were launching devastating raids on the Seljuk domains during this period, Arslan may have worried that executing the Roman emperor might escalate his conflict with the Byzantines. Romanos himself had told

248-736: A bloodless struggle for power took place between Pahlavan b. Eldigiiz, who had married a daughter to the aged Shah-Arman in order to acquire a succession claim, and the Ayyubid Saladin. In the end, Pahlavan took over Ahlat , whilst Saladin annexed Mayyafariqin in Diyarbakr, a possession of the Artuqids of Mardin which had been latterly under the protectorship of the Shah-Arman . Mosul and the Jazireh remained under Zangid rule, although

310-547: A contingent of Cuman Turks as well as contingents of Franks and Normans , under Ursel de Baieul . Alp Arslan, who had moved his troops south to fight the Fatimids , quickly reversed to meet the Byzantines. Alp Arslan handed control of his army to his eunuch slave general, Taranges, and commanded him to "Win or be beheaded." Taranges prepared for the battle by setting traps and organizing ambushes. The Seljuk and Byzantine armies met on Friday, 26 August 1071 at Manzikert on

372-422: A dog for him. Next, wishing to test Romanos, Alp Arslan asked Romanos what he would do if their situation were reversed and Arslan was imprisoned by the Byzantines. Romanos bluntly answered "The worst!" His honesty impressed Arslan, who then decided to spare Romanos's life and instead ransom him back to his homeland. After agreeing on a ransom, Alp Arslan sent Romanos to Constantinople with a Turkish escort, carrying

434-545: A female relative (daughter or sister) of the Saltukid ruler Saltuk II . Since Sökmen II was childless, the beylik was seized by a series of slave commanders after his death. In 1207, the beylik was taken over by the Ayyubids , who had long coveted Ahlat. The Ayyubids had come to the city at the invitation of people of Ahlat after the last Sökmenli ruler was killed by Tuğrulshah, the ruler ( melik ) of Erzurum on behalf of

496-541: A large part of the Byzantine forces at a critical moment. The Byzantines were wholly routed. Emperor Romanos himself was captured in battle and presented to Alp Arslan. It is reported that upon seeing the Roman emperor, the sultan leaped from his throne, commanded Romanos to kiss the ground, and stepped on his neck. He repeatedly berated the emperor, including for spurning his emissaries and offers of peace. Romanos remained unrepentant, asserting that he had merely done what

558-660: A problem for the Seljuk Sultanate but also extend its territory further. Alp Arslan commanded the Turks as follows: Henceforth all of you be like lion cubs and eagle young, racing through the countryside day and night, slaying the Christians and not sparing any mercy on the Roman nation. Alp Arslan's victories changed the balance in western Asia completely in favor of the Seljuq Turks and Sunni Muslims. While

620-474: A short battle and obtained the submission of Bagrat IV ; however, the Georgians freed themselves from Seljuk rule around 1073–1074. In consolidating his empire and subduing contending factions, Arslan was ably assisted by Nizam al-Mulk, and the two are credited with helping to stabilize the empire after the death of Tughril. With peace and security established in his dominions, Arslan convoked an assembly of

682-834: Is equivalent to three hundred dirhems ." With the decline of the Seljuks, and the new political upheaval presented by the invasions of the Khwarezmian Empire and the Mongol Empire , Ahlat became briefly disputed between the Ayyubids , the Kingdom of Georgia and the Sultanate of Rum (the Anatolian branch of the Seljuq dynasty ). In the 12th century, Ahlat and its adjacent territory was conquered and vassalized by

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744-584: Is named in his honor. Ahlat Ahlat ( Kurdish : Xelat ; Armenian : Խլաթ , romanized :  Khlat ) is a town in Turkey 's Bitlis Province in Eastern Anatolia Region . It is the seat of Ahlat District . The town had a population of 27,563 in 2021. The town of Ahlat is situated on the northwestern shore of Lake Van . The mayor is Abdulalim Mümtaz Çoban ( AKP ). Ahlat, known by its Armenian name of Khlat or Chliat in

806-568: Is unclear who the mother or mothers of his children were. He was known to have been married at least twice. His wives included the widow of his uncle Tughril, a Kara-Khanid princess known as Aka or Seferiye Khatun, and the daughter or niece of Bagrat IV of Georgia (who would later marry his vizier , Nizam al-Mulk ). One of Seljuk's other sons was the Turkic chieftain Arslan Isra'il , whose son, Kutalmish , contested his nephew's succession to

868-556: The Byzantine Empire was to continue for nearly four more centuries, the victory at Manzikert signalled the beginning of Turkic ascendancy in Anatolia. The victory at Manzikert became so popular among the Turks that later every noble family in Anatolia claimed to have had an ancestor who had fought on that day. Alp Arslan's strength lay in the military realm. Domestic affairs were handled by his able vizier, Nizam al-Mulk ,

930-619: The Murat River , north of Lake Van , beginning the Battle of Manzikert . The Cuman mercenaries among the Byzantine forces immediately defected to the Turkic side. Seeing this, the Western mercenaries subsequently abandoned the battlefield as well. 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

992-696: The Sah-i Armen (1100-1207). It was not long before two Ortokid dynasties were created in Armenia and Kurdistan, the former by Sokman, the Shah-Armen (or "King of Armenia") and the other by Il-Ghazi. The role of the ghulam commanders and the Turkmen begs becomes very prominent in this period, and local Turkmen dynasties begin to form: the sons of Bursuq in Khuzistan; the Artuqids in Diyarbakr; at Khilat

1054-707: The Shah-Armanids , descendants of Isma'Il b. Yaquti's ghulam Sukman al-Qutbl; and shortly afterwards the Zangids, descendants of Aq-Sonqur, in Mosul. In Armenia the Shah-Armanids , descendants of the ghulam Sukman al-Qutbi, were frequently involved in the politics and warfare of Azarbaijan, tending to take the side of Aq-Sonqur II against the Eldigiizids. But when Nasr al-Din Sukman died without an heir in 581/1185,

1116-455: The Sultanate of Rum and brother of Sultan Kayqubad I . The Ahlatshahs left a large number of historic tombstones in and around the city of Ahlat . Local administrators are currently trying to have the tombstones included in UNESCO 's World Heritage List , where they are currently listed tentatively. As the Georgians gradually became masters of northern Armenia, the south-central parts of

1178-533: The Bagratuni Kingdom a few years earlier, now lost it to the Turks. Many cities were looted, churches destroyed, trade disrupted and some of the population forcibly converted or enslaved. A number of dynasties such as the Danishmendids, Qaramanids, Shah-Armans , and the Seljuks of Rum emerged in Anatolia. This condition became more accentuated especially during the period of the disintegration of

1240-749: The Kingdom of Georgia. In this period Georgians called city by name Khlati , modified native Armenian name Khlat . Following the Battle of Köse Dağ (1243) and the fall of Baghdad (1258), Ahlat, "together with eastern Anatolia and upper Mesopotamia ", became part of the Mongol Empire. The Mongols added Ahlat to the Ilkhanate division, and in the ensuing period, the Ilkhanid rulers minted coins in Ahlat. According to Hamdallah Mustawfi (died 1349),

1302-612: The Saljuq empire, when the atabegs who had assumed great power in border districts, became autonomous. The Danishmandids ruled in Lesser Armenia and Cappadocia 1005-06. Further in the west, in 1077, the Saljuq sultanate of Rum was established. From 1100, in the center of Xlaṭʿ (Aḵlaṭ) in the western part of Greater Armenia, the Sukmanids ruled, calling themselves “Šāh-e Arman” . Despite the survival of various minor principalities,

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1364-499: The Seljuks captured Ani , the capital city of Armenia. An account of the sack and massacres in Ani is given by the historian Sibt ibn al-Jawzi , who quotes an eyewitness saying: The army entered the city, massacred its inhabitants, pillaged and burned it, leaving it in ruins and taking prisoner all those who remained alive... The dead bodies were so many that they blocked the streets; one could not go anywhere without stepping over them. And

1426-561: 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 Komnenos , the brother of future emperor Alexios I Komnenos . During this time, Arslan gained the allegiance of Rashid al-Dawla Mahmud , the Mirdasid emir of Aleppo. In 1071, Romanos again took the field and advanced into Armenia with possibly 30,000 men, including

1488-568: The Urartian and Ottoman citadel on UNESCO 's World Heritage List , where they are currently listed tentatively. In recent years, Ahlat also came to be known for the quality of its potatoes , which carved themselves a sizable share in the Turkish agricultural products market. The touristic places in Ahlat are Çifte Kümbet (Twin Tombs), Ahlat Seljuk Cemetery , Ahlat Museum, Lake Nemrut and

1550-531: The ancient and medieval period, was once a part of the district of Bznunik' . The town was taken by the Arabs during the reign of Caliph Uthman ( r.   644–656); in 645, Uthman instructed the governor of Syria, Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan , to send Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri in an expedition to Byzantine -controlled Armenia —although some sources insist that the Caliph commissioned Habib directly. During

1612-460: The banks of the Oxus . Before he could pass the river safely, however, it was necessary to subdue certain fortresses, one of which was for several days vigorously defended by the rebel, Yusuf al-Kharezmi or Yusuf al-Harani. Perhaps over-eager to press on against his Qarakhanid enemy, Alp Arslan gained the governor's submission by promising the rebel 'perpetual ownership of his lands'. When Yusuf al-Harani

1674-540: The border town between the Muslims and Armenians, and from Bekri it is nineteen leagues. The Prince, Nasruddawla, was over a hundred years old and had many sons, to each of whom he had given a district. In the city of Akhlat they speak three languages: Arabic , Persian , and Armenian . It is my supposition that this is why they named the town Akhlat. Their commercial transactions are carried out in puls (possibly ancient Roman and Greek coins), and their rotel (Armenian money)

1736-541: The city of Khelat with dependencies that in former times had belonged to the Shah-i-Armen , but shortly before had been taken by Jalal ud-Din; this aggression was the cause of the war just mentioned. But the Mamikonids succeeded in remaining sovereign, under vague Byzantine suzerainty, in the southwestern part of Taraun, round the fortress-city of Arsamosata, and in the neighboring Arzanenian land of Sasun, i.e., in

1798-560: The country passed under a Turkish dynasty calling itself the Shah-Armen (1100-1207), a title tantamount to "king of Armenia." Centered at Khilat (Arm. Xlat'; Tk. Ahlat), on the northwest shore of Lake Van, the political situation of the Shah-Armen state changed greatly during the twelfth century in regard to what these shahs held and what was merely subject to them through ties of vassalage. The Seljuk Empire of Iran, proclaimed in 1040, lasted little more than one hundred years. It, in turn,

1860-483: The disappearance of the kingdom of Ani marked the end of the last major political unit in Greater Armenia for centuries to come. Nevertheless, some portions of the region recovered following the Seljuk conquest and the final withdrawal of Byzantium. Ani generally prospered under Shaddadid rule (1072–1199) despite, repeated Georgian attacks, as did Xlat under that of the "Philochristian" Armenized Seljuk dynasty of

1922-588: The east on the shore of Lake Van. During the Circassian genocide , several Circassian refugees from the North Caucasus were settled in Ahlat district and established a few villages. As part of the deportations of Kurds from 1916 to 1934, Kurds from Ahlat were deported to Diyarbakır for being disloyal to the Committee of Union and Progress . It was already noted in 1846 by Ottoman officials that

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1984-631: The emir of the city. After the Battle of Manzikert (1071), the Seljuk army, led personally by Sultan Alp Arslan ( r.   1063-1072), took possession of the town. The Seljuks then gave control over the town to the Turkmen slave commander Sökmen el-Kutbî (or al-Qutbi). Sökmen and his successors were known as the Shah-Armens (or Ahlat-Shahs) and made Ahlat their capital. In the 11th century accounts of Nasir Khusraw (in his Safarnama )

2046-405: The founder of the administrative organization that characterized and strengthened the sultanate during the reigns of Alp Arslan and his son, Malik Shah. Military Iqtas , 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

2108-718: The middle valley of the Arsanias, until their dispossession by the Shah-Armen in 1189/1190 and their migration to Armenia-in-Exile, in Cilicia. Shah Armens, i.e. Kings of Armenia , was a title assumed by a dynasty reigning at Ahlat, founded by Sokman Kothby, a slave of the Seljuk prince, Kotbbedin Ismail, who established an independent principality at Ahlat in A.D. 1100, which lasted eighty years. Alp Arslan Alp Arslan born Muhammad Alp Arslan bin Dawud Chaghri ,

2170-512: The most authentic considered as TDV Encyclopedia of Islam mentions, is that recorded by Ibn al-Athir , a medieval historian, as 1 Muharram 420 AH equivalent to 20 January 1029 CE. He was the son of Chaghri and nephew of Tughril , the founding sultans of the Seljuk Empire . His grandfather was Mikail , who in turn was the son of the warlord Seljuk . He was the father of numerous children, including Malik-Shah I and Tutush I . It

2232-421: The most eminent statesmen in early Muslim history and Alp Arslan's future vizier. After the death of his father, Alp Arslan succeeded him as governor of Khorasan in 1059. His uncle Tughril died in 1063 and designated his successor as Suleiman, Arslan's infant brother. Arslan and his uncle Kutalmish both contested this succession which was resolved at the battle of Damghan in 1063. Arslan defeated Kutalmish for

2294-693: The next four centuries, Ahlat was ruled by "Arab governors, Armenian princes, and Arab emirs of the Qays tribe". In the early eighth century, Arab tribes settled in the region, and Ahlat became part of the Arab Kaysite principality. Ibn Hawqal (died ca. 978) mentioned Ahlat as an important stopover point on the Urmia - Mayyafariqin trade route. In about 983, Ahlat was controlled by a Kurdish chief named Bāḏ (in Armenian spelled as "Bat"); thereafter, Ahlat

2356-614: The number of prisoners was not less than 50,000 souls. I was determined to enter the city and see the destruction with my own eyes. I tried to find a street in which I would not have to walk over the corpses, but that was impossible. En route to fight the Fatimids in Syria in 1068, Alp Arslan invaded the Byzantine Empire . The Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes , assuming command in person, met the invaders in Cilicia . In three arduous campaigns,

2418-429: The population of Ahlat at end of the 19th century at 23,700. According to Cuinet, seventy percent were Muslims, whereas the rest were Christians, mostly Armenians . When Cuinet passed through the city during this time period, ancient Ahlat was considered to be "abandoned", and was referred to as Kharab Şehir , i.e. "the ruined town". Later, a new town, which had a population of 5,018 in 1961, grew some two kilometers to

2480-677: The relentless advance of Saladin into the Jazireh posed a serious threat to the Zangids, driving the last Shah-Arman and the atabeg cIzz al-Din Mas'iid b. Qutb al-Din Maudud into an alliance against Ayyubid aggression. After the death of Saladin in 589/1193, the Zangids recaptured most of the towns and fortresses of the Jazireh. SHAH-I ARMAN, "King of the Armenians" , denoted the Turcoman rulers of Ahlat [q.v.] from 493/1100 to 604/1207. He also gained

2542-485: 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. Suleiman ibn Qutalmish

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2604-718: The revenues provided by Ahlat under the Ilkhanids, amounted up to 51,500 dinars . After the Ilkhanate, Ahlat became part of the Jalayirids and then the Ak Koyunlu . In the early 16th century, the Ottomans expanded into Eastern Anatolia ( Western Armenia ), taking control of the town for the first time under Sultan Selim I ( r.   1512-1520). Nevertheless, Ahlat remained only loosely under Ottoman control at

2666-477: The sister of the Georgian king Bagrat IV . Alp Arslan divorced her, and married her to Nizam al-Mulk . His sons were Malik-Shah I , Tutush I , Arslan Shah, Tekish, Toghan-Shah, Ayaz and Buibars. One of his daughters married the son of Kurd Surkhab, son of Bard in 1068. Another daughter, Zulaikha Khatun, was married to a Muslim, son of Quraish in 1086–87. Another daughter, Aisha Khatun, married Shams al-Mulk Nasr, son of Ibrahim Khan Tamghach . Another daughter

2728-403: The states, and in 1066, he 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 Turkoman 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. After a siege of 25 days,

2790-566: The sultan that "killing me will not be of any use to you". After hearing of the death of Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes, Sultan Alp Arslan pledged: "The Byzantine nation has no God, so this day the oath of peace and friendship taken by both the Persians and Byzantines is nullified; henceforth I shall consume with the sword all those people who venerate the cross, and all the lands of the Christians shall be enslaved." Alp Arslan and his successor Malik Shah urged Turkish tribes to invade and settle Anatolia where they would not only cease to be

2852-621: The sultanate. Alp Arslan's younger brothers Suleiman ibn Chaghri and Qavurt were his rivals. Kilij Arslan , the son and successor of Suleiman ibn Kutalmish (Kutalmish's son, who would later become Sultan of Rûm ), was a major opponent of the Franks during the First Crusade and the Crusade of 1101 . Alp Arslan accompanied his uncle Tughril on campaigns in the south against the Fatimids while his father Chaghri remained in Khorasan . Upon Alp Arslan's return to Khorasan, he began his work in administration at his father's suggestion. While there, his father introduced him to Nizam al-Mulk , one of

2914-468: The throne and succeeded on 27 April 1064 as sultan of the Seljuk Empire , thus becoming the sole monarch of Persia from the river Oxus to the Tigris . In 1064 he led a campaign in Georgia during which he captured the regions between Tbilisi and the Çoruh river, Akhalkalaki and Alaverdi. Bagrat IV submitted to paying jizya to the Seljuks but the Georgians broke the agreement in 1065. Alp Arslan invaded Georgia again in 1068 . He captured Tbilisi after

2976-416: The time, for it was considered to be a border district between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Empire . In 1526, during the reign of king ( shah ) Tahmasp I ( r.   1524-1576), Ahlat was in Safavid hands, and its governor was Delu Montasha Ustajlu. In 1533, during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555 , Ahlat was taken by the Ottoman army led by Grand Vizier Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha . In 1548, Ahlat

3038-399: The town could be used to control the Kurds with an iron fist since it was located 'in the heart of Kurdistan'. Ahlat and its surroundings are known for a large number of historic tombstones left by the Ahlatshah dynasty, also known as the Shah-Armen, Shah-i-Arman, or Ahlat-Shah dynasty. Efforts are presently being made by local authorities with a view to including the Tombstones of Ahlat

3100-401: The town of "Akhlat" ( Persian : اخلاط , Axlāt ) is mentioned. According to the Institute of Ismaili Studies (who cite Thackston, W. Wheeler McIntosh, ed. trans., Nasir-i Khusraw’s Book of Travels (Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2010), 8.), the excerpt goes as follows: "From there ( Harran ) we arrived in the city of Akhlat on the 18th of Jumada al-Awwal [November 20 CE]. This city is

3162-403: The wars against Georgia in alliance with their neighbours to the north, the Saltukids . They also acquired links with the branch of the Artuqids based in Meyyafarikin (now Silvan ), becoming part of a nexus of principalities in Upper Mesopotamia and Eastern Anatolia. The Ahlatshahs reached their brightest period under the fifty-seven-year reign of Sökmen II (1128–1185). He was married to

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3224-414: The young sultan: He was exceedingly imperious and awe-inspiring and, because he was so earnest and fanatical in his beliefs and disapproved of the Shafi‘i rite , I lived in constant fear of him. 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

3286-413: Was "possible for a man, and which kings are bound to do, and I have fallen short in nothing. But God has fulfilled his will. And now, do what you wish and abandon recriminations." Purportedly declaring Romanos "too trivial... to kill", Arslan then led him about the camp to sell the prisoner to one of his men. The Seljuk soldiers initially refused to spend any money on buying the emperor, until one man traded

3348-406: Was Akka Khatun. She had been formerly the wife of Sultan Tughril . Alp Arslan married her after Tughril's death in 1063. Another of his wives was Shah Khatun. She was the daughter of Qadir Khan Yusuf, and had been formerly married to Ghaznavid Mas'ud I . Another wife was Ummu Hifchaq also known as Ummu Qipchaq. Another of his wives was the daughter of King of Tashir Kiurike I, who was married to

3410-422: Was associated with the Kurdish Marwanids (centered in Diyar Bakr ), which sprang from Bāḏ. In the winter of 998, the Curopalates David III of Tao besieged Khlat but was unable to capture it, partly because of his contemptuous treatment towards its Armenian population. In 1057, Herve Phrangopoulos retreated here with 300 Norman knights after breaking with Michael VI but was betrayed by Aponosar (Abu Nasr),

3472-542: Was brought before him, the Sultan ordered that he be shot, but before the archers could raise their bows Yusuf seized a knife and threw himself at Alp Arslan, striking three blows before being slain. Four days later on 24 November 1072, Alp Arslan died and was buried at Merv , having designated his 18-year-old son Malik Shah as his successor. One of his wives was Safariyya Khatun. She had a daughter, Sifri Khatun , who in 1071–72, married Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadi . Safariyya died in Isfahan in 1073–74. Another of his wives

3534-460: Was destroyed by another wave of Turkic nomads, the Kara Khitai. In Asia Minor, a variety of states arose during the late eleventh and twelfth centuries, virtually independent of Iran and often inimical toward each other. The most important of these were the Danishmendid state centered at Sebastia/Sivas, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum (or Iconium) centered at Iconia/Konia and the state of the Shah-Armens centered at Khlat. The Byzantines, who had destroyed

3596-415: Was married to Mas'ud III of Ghazni and was his first wife. Another daughter was Sara Khatun. 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. The 2nd Training Motorized Rifle Division of the Turkmen Ground Forces

3658-411: Was recaptured by the Safavids, who then sacked it. During Suleiman the Magnificent 's reign (1520-1566), Ahlat eventually became a solid part of the Ottoman Empire. However, "in practise", Ahlat remained de facto under the control of various local Kurdish chiefs until the mid-19th century, when the central Ottoman government in Constantinople imposed direct rule on the town. Vital Cuinet estimated

3720-471: Was the Persian title Shah-i Arman ("Shah of Armenia"), often rendered as Ermenshahs . This dynastic name, which the rulers adopted, was established through the "ethnic make-up and political history" of the region they ruled, which was primarily Armenian. The Beylik was founded by the Sökmen el-Kutbî who took over Ahlat ( Khliat or Khilat ) in 1100. Ahlatshahs were closely tied to Great Seljuq institutions, although they also followed independent policies like

3782-573: Was the second sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk , the eponymous founder of the dynasty. He greatly expanded the Seljuk territory and consolidated his power, defeating rivals to the south, east and northwest, and his victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert , in 1071, ushered in the Turkmen settlement of Anatolia . Historical sources differ about his actual birth date. His birth year, which some early sources of medieval period mentioned 1032 and 1033 in khorasan - iran 1 while later sources gave 1030. However,

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3844-484: Was the son of the contender for Arslan's throne; he was appointed governor of the north-western provinces and assigned to complete 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. Contemporary descriptions portray Alp Arslan as "very awe-inspiring, dominating,"

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