Who Is Sultan Meliksah?

Awakening Who is the Great Seljuk Sultan Melikşah?

Here is the place and importance of Sultan Melikşah in history… Sultan Melikşah (I. Seljuks lived their most brilliant period during the Melikşah period. Here is information about the life of Sultan Melikşah, who is also mentioned in the series Awakening Great Seljuk

BEFORE BEING SULTAN

Melikşah was born on Sunday, August 16, 1055. His childhood passed in and around Isfahan. His father, Alparslan, was closely interested in Melikşah, who drew attention with his talent and courage. Melikşah is depicted as tall, somewhat fat and with white skin.

Melikşah joined the Georgia expedition with his father at a young age. In the same year, he was married to Terken Hatun, daughter of Karahanlılar Han. Alparslan appointed Melikşah as the crown prince in 1066 and the city of Isfahan was given as “ikta (or timar)”.

In 1071 he went on a campaign to Syria with his father Alparslan. His father headed north (and made the Battle of Manzikert) to stop the advance of the Byzantine Emperor Roman Diogenes in Anatolia. Meanwhile, Melikşah stayed in Aleppo in Syria. In 1072, when his father was on a campaign against the Karakhanids, he was with him. He was martyred by Yusuf Harzemi, a Karahanli castle commander, whose father was taken prisoner during this expedition.

Melikşah became the head of the Seljuk army and declared his Sultanate. Kavurt Bey, the uncle of Çağrı Bey, did not accept Melikşah to be a Sultan. Melikşah marched west into Iran with the Vizier Nizam-ül Mülk beside him. He embarked on the “Battle of Karach” on 17 April 1073 near Karach (nowadays “Erak” in Iran) with Kavurt Bey’s army. In this battle, many Turkmen soldiers in Melikşah’s army joined Kavurt Bey’s army during the battle. Despite this, Melikşah and his army prevailed. Kavurt Bey was executed and his two sons were blinded by their eyes. Thus, Melikşah Sultan was determined as one of the emirs in the Seljuk country. In 1074, he officially declared the new Abbasid caliph Melikşah in Baghdad as the Sultan.

SULTAN MELIKŞAH PERIOD (1072-1092)

In the first years of his reign, his uncle Kavurt, who rebelled twice during the reign of Sultan Alparslan and was forgiven, rebelled again. This rebellion was suppressed and he was executed by strangling it with the beam of Kavurt bow. Marching to the land of the Karakhanids, Melikşâh captured the region up to Semerakant. Kinship was established between both dynasties. The Ghaznavids also faced the same fate and had to accept the supreme sovereignty of Melikshah.

He sent Kutlamış’s son Süleyman Şâh to Anatolia and appointed him as his ruler to this country. Kutlamış-his son Süleyman Şâh captured the whole of Anatolia in a short time. He laid the foundations of the Anatolian Seljuk Dynasty, with Izmit being the capital (1077). Seljuk Empire reached its broadest borders during the reign of Melikşâh. From Seyhun River and Tanrı Mountains in the east to the Mediterranean and Straits in the west, from the Caucasus Mountains in the north to the Indian Sea in the south.

One of the most important internal events of the Melikşâh period is the Batınî movement, in which Hasan Sabbah was the leader. Hasan Sabbah had established a sect with his false heaven in Alamut Castle and started to assassinate many Turkish and Muslim notables with the fedayeen who belonged to his sect. Sultan Melikşâh, who was dealing with Batınîler in the last years of his reign, died from poisoning when he was 38 years old (1092).

END OF THE GREAT SELJUK EMPIRE

Shortly after the death of Sultan Melikşâh, Vizier Nizam’ül-Mülk was killed by Batınîs. The Empire disintegrated as Kirman Seljuks, Syrian Seljuks and Anatolian Seljuks, depending on the Great Seljuk Sultans in Iraq and Khorasan. Although his 5-year-old son Mahmud was ascended to the throne after Melikşâh, Berkyaruk did not recognize him.

Berkyaruk also died in 1104. His brother Muhammed Tapar (1105-1118) ascended the throne in Isfahan. After Tapar, Sultan Sançar (1118-1157), the last great ruler of the Seljuk State, ascended the throne. He paid the Ghurids, the Karakhanids, the Harezmşahs again. He put an end to the caliph’s efforts to seize political power again, leaving him only religious duties. However, he was defeated by the Karahıtaylar in Katvan in 1141. This defeat was a turning point for Sultan Sançar and he could not gather again. In 1153, he was captured by the nomadic Oghuzs. Sultan Sançar, who was rescued after three years of captivity, died in 1157 at the age of 72.