Malik-Shah I (Persian: ملكشاه; 6 August 1055 – 19 November 1092) was a Turkic ruler, the third sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire.
During his reign (1072–1092) the Great Seljuk Empire reached its widest extent. Its borders stretched from Anatolia to Oman and from the Caucasus to the approaches of India. After Malik-Shah the Seljuks never regained their former strength. Among the most important figures of the age were Omar Khayyam in the field of science and Nizam al-Mulk in that of politics.
Before becoming sultan
Malik-Shah was born on Sunday, 6 August 1055. His childhood was spent in and around Isfahan. His father Alp Arslan took a close interest in Malik-Shah, who drew attention with his ability and courage. Malik-Shah is described as tall, somewhat stout and fair-skinned.
At a young age Malik-Shah took part with his father in the campaign to Georgia. In the same year he was married to Terken Khatun, daughter of the Karakhanid Khan. In 1066 Alp Arslan appointed Malik-Shah heir apparent, and the city of Isfahan was given to him as an iqta (or fief).
In 1071 he set out with his father Alp Arslan on campaign to Syria. His father turned north to halt the advance of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes into Anatolia (and fought the Battle of Manzikert). Malik-Shah meanwhile remained at Aleppo in Syria. In 1072 he was again with his father while the latter was campaigning against the Karakhanids. During this campaign his father was killed by Yusuf al-Khwarizmi, a captured Karakhanid fortress commander.
Malik-Shah took command of the Seljuk army and proclaimed his sultanate. His uncle Kavurt Bey, son of Chagri Bey, did not accept Malik-Shah's becoming sultan. Together with his vizier Nizam al-Mulk, Malik-Shah marched westward into Iran. On 15 April 1073 he engaged Kavurt Bey's army in the "Battle of Karaj" near Karaj (present-day "Arak" in Iran). In this battle many Turkmen soldiers in Malik-Shah's army went over to Kavurt Bey's army during the fighting. Nevertheless Malik-Shah and his army were victorious. Kavurt Bey was executed, and his two sons were blinded by having a hot spike drawn across their eyes. Thus among the emirs of the Seljuk realm Malik-Shah was confirmed as sultan. In 1074, in Baghdad, the Abbasid caliph formally proclaimed Malik-Shah's sultanate.
His reign
After becoming sultan in 1072, Malik-Shah kept in office Nizam al-Mulk, who had been raised to the vizierate in his father's time. The period of Malik-Shah's rule is the most brilliant era of the Great Seljuk Empire. In the first years after he came to the throne his brother rebelled to seize control. Defeating him, Malik-Shah restored order in his country. Meanwhile the Ghaznavid and Karakhanid states, taking advantage of the internal revolt, joined forces and attacked. Malik-Shah defeated both these states. After this defeat the Karakhanid state split in two. The Eastern Karakhanids were destroyed by the Kara-Khitai and the Western Karakhanids by the Khwarazmshahs.
After Malik-Shah came to the throne, the Ghaznavids and Karakhanids attacked Seljuk territory. In 1073 the Ghaznavid sultan Ibrahim, seizing the opportunity of Alp Arslan's death, took the regions of Khurasan north of the Hindu Kush Mountains. But Malik-Shah recovered these lands with a counterattack. Over the following twenty years, relations between the Ghaznavid sultan Ibrahim Khan and Malik-Shah — who were twenty years apart in age — remained good, the borders did not change, and these good relations were reinforced by marriages between members of the two dynasties. By contrast, Malik-Shah began to pursue a more aggressive policy toward his other neighbouring countries. He fought battles and wars to conquer territory with the aim of adding new lands to the Seljuk state. Malik-Shah undertook two great military campaigns to the region of Transoxiana (Mawarannahr), in which he personally took part. In the campaign of 1073/74 he attacked the Western Karakhanids, forcing them to withdraw to the lands on the right bank of the Amu Darya (Ceyhun), and captured the strategic city of Termez. In the campaign of 1089, with the support of the local ulama, he took the important city of Samarkand and had Ahmad Khan ibn Khidr — the local governor and a nephew of his wife Terken — arrested. After this conquest the campaign turned toward the Semirechye region (present-day "Jetisu" in Kazakhstan, or "Semirechye" in Russian), and the ruler of the Eastern Karakhanid state centred on Kashgar, Abu Ali al-Hasan, agreed to accept Malik-Shah's suzerainty.
His legacy
In Malik-Shah's time the borders of the Great Seljuk Empire stretched from the Mediterranean and the Sea of Marmara to Kashgar, and from the Caucasus to Yemen.
When not on military campaign, Malik-Shah lived in the Isfahan region. For this reason Isfahan is considered the capital of the Great Seljuk Empire during Malik-Shah's reign. His personal and state treasury, together with his army's unused weapons, were kept at Dezkuh (or Sahdez), a mountain fortress on the summit of Mount Soffa, 8 km south of Isfahan. In the final period of his reign he had decided to move his own winter residence and the winter seat of the state to Baghdad. For this reason, in 1092, at great expense and investment, he had the city rebuilt and had large residences built for the notables of the state as well.
The various parts of Malik-Shah's realm were not administered according to the same standards. He governed the central regions of the country and areas of strategic importance (for example the cities and regions of Baghdad, Isfahan, Nishapur and Khwarazm) through governors of ghulam-mamluk (slave-soldier) origin, called "shahna", who had distinguished themselves in his army; for example Emir Atsiz was governor of Khwarazm and Emir Gawharayin governor of Baghdad. A similar administration was applied in northern Syria and the Caucasus, which he had gained through military conquest. Emir Savtekin was governor of Ganja, Emir Yagi-Basan of Antioch, Emir Aksungur of Aleppo, Emir Bozan of Urfa (Edessa), and Emir Chökürmish of Mosul. To other newly conquered regions of comparable importance, governors from his own Seljuk dynasty were appointed, and some of them were given the title "melik (king)". Thus his uncle Osman ibn Chagri was appointed to the valley of Valvalij (present-day Kunduz Province); his brother Ayaz (d. 1073) to Tokharistan, then his son Tekish ibn Ayaz (d. 1084), and later the latter's son Ahmad ibn Tekish; his brother Böribars to Herat; his cousins Sultanshah and Turanshah — the sons of his uncle Kavurt Bey, whom he had executed for rebelling — to Kerman; his cousin Isma'il ibn Yaquti ibn Chagri to Azerbaijan; and his brother Tutush to Syria.
Sources
- Turkish Wikipedia: tr.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org