| Battle of Damghan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sultan Alp Arslan | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Army of Alp Arslan | Army of Qutalmish | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Alp Arslan | Qutalmish † Suleiman ibn Qutalmish | ||||||
Battle of Damghan was fought during the Seljuk war of succession of 1063.
| Battle of Damghan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sultan Alp Arslan | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Army of Alp Arslan | Army of Qutalmish | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Alp Arslan | Qutalmish † Suleiman ibn Qutalmish | ||||||
Battle of Damghan was fought during the Seljuk war of succession of 1063.
The Seljuks were an Oghuz Turk dynasty that founded the Seljuk Empire in Iran during the 11th century. The founder of the empire, Tughril, died childless and willed the throne to Alp Arslan, son of his brother Chaghri Beg. After Tughril's death however, the Seljuk prince Qutalmish hoped to become the new sultan, because Tughril was childless and he was the eldest living member of the dynasty.
Qutalmish's claim to the sultanate was through his father, Arslan Yabgu who was the eldest son of Seljuk. Arslan, however, was captured by Mahmud of Ghazni and died whilst imprisoned. [1] Consequently, Tughril, Qutalmish's cousin, became sultan.
Tughril died on 4 September 1063. Upon the news of Tughril's death, both Qutalmish and Alp Arslan (Suleiman's elder brother) began marching to capital Rey to seize the throne. Qutalmish held the advantage because his fort Girdkuh was closer to the capital than Alp Arslan's possessions in the east. But Tughril's vizier Al-Kunduri who initially supported Suleiman, feared Qutalmish, and began supporting Alp Arslan. [2] Nevertheless, Qutalmish and his brother Resul easily defeated Al Kunduri's forces and they laid siege to Rey on 15 November 1063. Qutalmish was forced to lift the siege to face the approaching army of Alp Arslan. He moved east and defeated the vanguard forces of Hacib Erdem, a commander of Alp Arslan in Dihinemek, a place close to Damghan. [3]
Alp Arslan's main army was about 15 km east of Qutalmish. Qutalmish tried to change the course of a creek to block Alp Arslan's way. However Alp Arslan was able to pass his army through the newly created marsh land. Once the two Seljuk armies met, Qutalmish's forces fled from the battle. [4] Resul as well as Qutalmish's son Suleiman (later founder of the Sultanate of Rum) were taken prisoner. Qutalmish escaped, but while gathering his forces for an orderly retreat to his fort Girdkuh, he fell from his horse in a hilly terrain and died on 7 December 1063. [3]
Although Qutalmish's son Suleiman was taken prisoner, Alp Arslan pardoned him and sent him into exile. But later this proved to be an opportunity for him; for he founded the Sultanate of Rum, which outlasted the Great Seljuk Empire.
Alp Arslan, born Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri, 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 and northwest, and his victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, in 1071, ushered in the Turkmen settlement of Anatolia.
Year 1063 (MLXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
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Kilij Arslan II or ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kilij Arslān ibn Masʿūd was a Seljuk Sultan of Rûm from 1156 until his death in 1192.
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Abu Talib Muhammad Tughril ibn Mika'il, better known as Tughril, was a Turkoman chieftain, who founded the Seljuk Empire, ruling from 1037 to 1063.
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Suleiman Shah I ibn Qutalmish founded an independent Seljuk Turkish state in Anatolia and ruled as Seljuk Sultan of Rûm from 1077 until his death in 1086.
Qutalmish ibn Arslan was a Turkic prince who was a member of Seljukid house in the 11th century. His son Kutalmışoğlu Suleiman, founded the Sultanate of Rum in what is now Turkey.
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