The First Turkestan Expedition of the Seljuk Empire

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The First Turkestan Expedition of the Seljuk Empire
Date1072;953 years ago (1072)
Location
Turkestan
Result The expedition was left unfinished, but Barzam Castle was taken.
Belligerents
Seljuk Empire Karakhanids
Commanders and leaders
  • Shams al-Mulk and Karakhanid Commanders
Strength
200.000 Karakhanids Khan Shams al-Mulk and Karakhanids Army did not dare to confront the Seljuk Army
Casualties and losses
unknown unknown

Sultan Alp Arslan, who had been on a campaign for more than a year, returned to Isfahan after the Battle of Manzikert. Here he accepted the congratulations of the subjects' emirs, administrators and ambassadors for his victory. However, after a while he had to go on a campaign to Turkestan. As it is known, the issue of the dominance of Chaganiyan and Khwarezm in Transoxiana was inherited by the Seljuks as an issue between the Ghaznavids and the Karakhanids. The border conflicts with the Karakhanids, which had not ended during Alp Arslan's reign as the prince of Tokharistan, were now continuing between his son-in-law Shamsulmulk Nasr Khan and his sons Ayaz and Ilyas. Taking advantage of Nasr Khan's preoccupation in the east, the prince of Tokharistan, Ayaz, attacked his lands. The Khan, who returned and defeated Ayaz, inflicted heavy losses on the Seljuk prince. He also beat Alp Arslan's daughter, accusing her of spying for his brother, and caused her death.Following these developments, Alp Arslan set out on an expedition with an army of 200,000 to punish the Karakhanid ruler [1] [2] . [3] [4] [5] It took the Seljuk army a month to cross the Ceyhun River. The Sultan's advance was stopped by the resistance of the Barzam Castle on the Transoxiana border. The castle commander Yusuf al-Khwarizmi, who was said to have an esoteric belief, surrendered when he realized that he could not resist any longer and the Barzam Castle fell into the hands of the Seljuk Empire. However, according to the story, before Yusuf al-Khwarizmi surrendered, he killed his wife and children with his own hands so that his secrets would not be revealed and made an assassination plan. When he was brought before the Sultan, he took out a dagger he had hidden in his boot and jumped on him. Alp Arslan and one of his commanders, Gevheråyin, were seriously wounded. Yusuf was killed by the Sultan's men right there. However, Sultan Alp Arslan also died four days later on November 25, 1072, from the effects of his injuries. His death was kept secret for a while to avoid confusion. His body was later brought to Merve and buried next to his father Çağrı Bey. Sultan Alp Arslan's unfinished expedition was later continued by his son Melikşah I and made the Karakhanids a vassal of the Seljuk Empire. According to legend, when Sultan Alp Arslan went on an expedition against the Karakhanids, the Karakhanids were praying in mosques for the Sultan to return from the expedition and for the expedition to fail.

Alp Arslan's reign was a reign like the afternoon sun, with a long shadow but a short duration, as Ibn-i Kemal likened to the reign of Yavuz Sultan Selim. However, even if all other events are ignored, the victory of Malazgirt, which has a very important place in Turkish, Islamic and World History and which ensured that Anatolia became Turkey, has gone down in history as an immortal service of his and his soldiers.

In addition, Sultan Alp Arslan provided great services to Sunni Islam in the field of thought by building the madrasahs known as Nizamiye against the extreme Shiism that threatened the Islamic world from within and was politicized by the Fatimids.

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Mawdud launched an expedition against the Seljuks in 1042 to recapture the lands conquered by the Seljuks during the reign of his father Masud and to restore the Ghaznavid state to its former power. He briefly occupied Balkh and Herat, and in 1043/4 Mawdud invaded Sistan but was repelled by the Seljuk prince Alp Arslan. Alp Arslan and Chaghri Bey then counter-attacked and conquered the cities of Termez, Kubadiyan, Vahsh, Kunduz (Valvalic) and all of Tohoristan. Chaghri Bey gave the administration of Tohoristan to his son Alp Arslan.

Alp Arslan in February 1064 he set out on a western expedition called the “Ghazâsı of Rum”. The main reason for this was that the Eastern Anatolian plateaus, discovered during his father Çağrı Bey’s raids on Byzantine lands forty-five years earlier, were seen as the most suitable settlement area for the Turkmens. However, there were some small principalities in the area extending from Lake Urmia to the north of Tbilisi, each serving as an outpost for Byzantine policy, and in order to reach Anatolia, the defenses in these areas had to be broken first. Alp Arslan set off from Rey to Azerbaijan, accompanied by his son Melikşah and his vizier Nizamülmülk, whom he had brought from Khorasan, and his army was reinforced on the way by the Turkmen chief Tuğtegin, who was on the expedition. While the forces under the command of Melikşah and Nizamülmülk were capturing the fortified places north of the Aras, the army under the command of Alp Arslan, who entered Georgia, reached Trialet, surrounded by the Kur River, from there to Kvelis-Kür, then to the Taik region via the Şavşat road and, after the Georgian king fled, to Akhilkelek north of Lake Çıldır, conquering many cities and castles. Alp Arslan, who united with the forces of Melikşah and Nizamülmülk in front of Akhilkelek, captured this fortified city in June 1064. In the meantime, the prince of Lori, Kuirike (Georgi), who saw that Akhilkelek had also fallen, accepted to be subject to the Seljuks and to pay the jizya. After this, Alp Arslan went to Eastern Anatolia and besieged Ani, the most fortified city in the region, which was in the hands of the Byzantines. After a siege and fierce fighting that lasted more than a month, the city fell into the hands of the Seljuks. The conquest of Ani, which was thought to be impossible to capture the Byzantine and Greek empires, by the Muslims had great repercussions in the East and the West, and the Caliph Kāim-Biemrillāh sent a letter with his special envoy expressing his appreciation and congratulations, and gave Alp Arslan the title of “Ebü’l-feth”. After the fall of Ani, the prince of Kars, Gagik (Hayık), invited Alp Arslan to Kars, welcomed him with great ceremonies and offered his allegiance.

In February 1064, during the western campaign called the "Ghazâ of Rum", the forces under the command of Melikşah and Nizamülmülk captured the fortified places north of the Aras River, while the army under the command of Alp Arslan entered Georgia and reached Trialet, surrounded by the Kur River, from there to Kvelis-Kür, then to the Taik region via the Şavşat road and, after the Georgian king fled, to Akhilkelek north of Lake Çıldır, conquering many cities and castles. Uniting with the Melikşah-Nizâmulmülk forces in front of Akhilkelek, Alp Arslan captured this fortified city in June 1064. In the meantime, the prince of Lori, Kuirike (Georgi), who saw that Akhilkelek had also fallen, accepted to be subject to the Seljuks and to pay the jizya.

Alp Arslan marched on the Caucasus for the second time in early 1068.This time, his aim was to annex all of Azerbaijan to the Seljuks without causing any more unrest. Because after the first Caucasian campaign, which was left unfinished due to Kavurd's previous rebellion, almost all the princes had rebelled. Alp Arslan, accompanied by Nizam al-Mulk and his famous commander Savtegin, took control of the small principalities ruling various regions of Azerbaijan, including Tbilisi, Kartli, Shirak, Vanand, Nig, Gugark, Arran and Ganja, as well as the Shaddadi emirs. However, the definitive Seljuk domination of these princes, who declared their loyalty to Alp Arslan and even accepted Islam of their own free will, was only possible with the operation of Savtegin, who was sent back to the region the following year. While the Caucasus campaign was continuing, when the Karakhanid ruler Ibrahim Khan died and the throne fights that started between his sons became detrimental to the Seljuk interests, Alp Arslan was forced to return to his country. However, when Shams al-Mulk Nasr, whom Ibrahim Khan had personally enthroned before his death, took control of the situation, he gave up on intervening.

The Seljuks began to conquest Transoxiana during the reign of Alp Arslan. At that time, the Seljuks began to establish themselves as respected rulers in their circles. Sultan Alp Arslan emerged as a very bright figure with the policies he implemented both in the east and west from the moment he ascended to the throne. In the month of December 1065-January 1066, he organized an expedition to Khwarezm by traveling around the Aral Sea region and the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea. Setting out for Khwarezm with a large army, Alp Arslan drove the Mangyshlak Turkmen tribes, who cooperated with the Turks and Mongols who did not accept Islam and who were harming the Seljuk Empire, attacking caravans and creating chaos, towards the steppes. He then engaged in a fierce battle with the Kipchaks in the region with his army and defeated the Kipchak Emir Kefshud and the Kipchak army of thirty thousand. After this victory, Alp Arslan sent an ambassador to the Qipchaq Emir Kefşud. When Kefşud came and announced his surrender, Sultan Alp Arslan forgave him for his crimes. Alp Arslan's eastern campaign, which he started to restore order, resulted in the Seljuk rule of most of the lands from the Caspian Sea to Tashkent without a fight. He visited the tomb of his ancestor Seljuk in the city of Cend on the Syr Darya and completed his campaign by annexing the lands of Cend Khan, who welcomed him from afar with gifts, to the Seljuks under the command of Melikşah.

In 1070, Alp Arslan had the sermon read in the name of Caliph Qaim-Biemrillâh again in the Haremeyn-i Şerifeyn and for this reason he received the title of "Burhânü Emiri'l-mü'minîn". After this incident, Hamdanid ruler Nasırüddevle, who wanted Syria to pass to the Seljuk State, asked Alp Arslan for help against the Fatimids. Seizing this opportunity, Alp Arslan moved with a large army and captured the castles of Malazgirt and Erciş at the beginning of the strategic road extending from Azerbaijan to the southwest and descended to the Meyyâfârikîn (Silvan) and Amid (Diyarbakır) regions. After receiving the regional emirs who declared their loyalty, he came to Urfa and after taking a tribute of 50,000 dinars from Urfa, which resisted his siege for two months, and conquering some Byzantine castles, he headed towards Aleppo, which was in the hands of the Mirdasids. When the emir of Aleppo refused to appear before him and locked himself in the castle, the city was besieged. However, after a while, the emir came before Alp Arslan with his mother, dressed in Oghuz clothing, which caused him to be pardoned and left in his place. In the meantime, while Alp Arslan was planning to march on Damascus, a Byzantine ambassador came and informed him that the emperor wanted to leave Manbij, which he had conquered two years earlier, to the Seljuks in exchange for Manzikert and Ahlat. Alp Arslan, who gave a negative answer to the ambassador, did not change his plan, relying on the report he received from Emir Afşin, who had returned to Ahlat from Western Anatolia, stating that there was no serious Byzantine threat in Anatolia. However, on the same day, when news came that Diogenes was moving to Anatolia with a large army, it was understood that the Byzantine ambassador was sent as a delaying tactic to create the feeling that the emperor did not want war. Alp Arslan divided his army into two and sent one part to Egypt, and went to Anatolia with the remaining army.

The Battle of Rey took place in 3 August 1059; İbrahim Yınal rebelled for the second time and besieged Tughrul in Hemedan. Thereupon, the sons of Çağrı Bey, Alp Arslan, Kavurt and Yakuti, came to rescue Sultan Tughrul and the Battle of Rey took place between the two sides. İbrahim Yınal and his nephews, who lost the battle, were taken prisoner.

References

  1. ↑ Osman Turan 2019.
  2. ↑ Agacanov 2006.
  3. ↑ Kafesoğlu 1972.
  4. ↑ Turan, Osman (2019). Selçuklular târihi ve Türk-İslâm medeniyeti. Yayın Kültür serisi (22. basim ed.). İstanbul: Ötüken. ISBN   978-975-437-470-4.
  5. ↑ Köymen 1972.

Prof. Dr. Abdülkerim Özaydın Seljuk historical sources and studies series; no. 1 IRCICA, 2023 ISBN 978-92-9063-419-5

  1. ↑ Turan, Osman (2019). Selçuklular târihi ve Türk-İslâm medeniyeti. Yayın Kültür serisi (22. basim ed.). İstanbul: Ötüken. ISBN   978-975-437-470-4.
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