The Seljuk Turks. History of Asia

Some of the most formidable medieval Asian conquerors were the Seljuk Turks. They for several decades were able to create a huge empire of their time, which, however, soon disintegrated. But these fragments of the empire gave life to an even more powerful state. Let's find out what the Seljuk Turks were, who they are and where they came from.

Ethnogenesis of Seljuk

First of all, we need to determine where the Seljuk Turks came from. Their appearance still contains many mysteries for historians.

According to the most common version, they are one of the offshoots of the Turkic Oguz people. Oguzes themselves, most likely, were the fruit of mixing in the territory of Central Asia of local Ugric and Sarmatian tribes with alien Turks, with a numerical and cultural predominance of the latter. Like other Turkic peoples, Oguzes were engaged in nomadic livestock raising, as well as raids on other tribes. Originally they were vassals of the mighty Khazar Khaganate, but then separated and organized their own state on both sides of the Syr Darya with the capital in Yangikent, which was ruled by the yabgu.

Education of the Seljuk State

In the 9th century, the noble Oguz Tokak ibn Lukman of the Kynyk tribe moved along with his subordinates to the service of the Khazar Khaganate. But with the decline of the Khazar power, he returned to Central Asia, where he began to serve the Oguz Yabgu Ali, thereby becoming the second most important person in the Oguz State.

Tokak had a son named Selcuk, who at one time served with his father in the Khazars. After the death of Tokak, Selcuk received from yabgu the title of a shubashi (commander of the army). But over time, relations between Selcuk and the ruler of the Oguz state were disrupted. Fearing for his life and the lives of his loved ones, Selcuk was forced in 985 to retire with members of his tribe south to the Muslim lands where he converted to Islam. He moved to the service of the Samanids, who were nominally regarded as governors of the Caliph in Central Asia, and in fact were completely independent rulers.

Then, typing people, Selcuk, under the banner of the new faith, returned to the Oguz state, leading the fight against the yabgu. Thus, the personal enmity of Seljuk and Ali has developed into a Muslim jihad. Soon the young general succeeded in capturing the large city of Jend and settling there. He was able to unite other Turkic peoples, thus establishing his own still small state. The capital city was Jend. And all the tribes that came under the banner of the Seljuk became known in history as the Seljuk Turks.

Strengthening the state

Meanwhile, in the beginning of the 11th century, the state of the Samanids fell under the pressure of another powerful Turkic union, the Karakhanids. Initially the Seljuks supported the Samanids in their struggle, for which they received great privileges and independence in the management of their lands, but after their fall they moved to the service of the Karakhanids.

After Seljuk's death, the state was ruled by his five sons: Israil (Turkic name Arslan), Mikail, Musa, Yusuf and Yunus. The chief was the eldest son of Israel. He further strengthened the power of the Seljuks in the region.

Israil was married to the daughter of the ruler of Karahanid Ali-Tegin. He sent two of his nephews, the sons of Mikail - Togrul and Daoud (Chagry-bek) to Bukhara to serve in the city of Bukhara, the great conquests of which we will discuss below.

At this time, the powerful ruler of Ghana Mahmud joined the conflict with the Karakhanids, supported by the Seljuks. He succeeded in capturing Israil in 1025, imprisoned and died seven years later. This event marked the beginning of the struggle between the Ghaznavids and the Seljukids, whose head was Mikail, fortified in Bukhara.

Great gains

After the death of Mikail, his sons - Togrul and Chagry-bek inherited the power, the first of which was considered the main one. The conflict between them and the Ghaznavids was aggravated, until in 1040 it was resolved by the great battle of Dandakan, in which the Seljuk Turks won a complete victory. After the conclusion of peace, they received in their possession the entire Khorasan, taken from the Ghaznavids, and Togrul was rightly now called the Sultan.

In the coming years, the Seljuk Turks conquered Khorezm and all of Iran. In 1055 the capital of the caliphate was conquered - the city of Baghdad. But Togrul, being a faithful Muslim, left spiritual power to the Caliph, and in return from him received the supreme secular authority and the title of the king of the East and the West.

Then the Seljuks began their raids in the Transcaucasus and Asia Minor, at that time belonging to Byzantium. Some areas Togrul directly attached to his state, in others he put on the throne of relatives, in the third - left power to local rulers, taking from them a vassal oath.

The Seljuk Empire

Towards the end of Togrul's life a real Seljuk empire was formed, stretching from the Aral Sea in the east to the Caucasus and the limits of Asia Minor in the west. The great military leader died in 1063, transferring the supreme power to his nephew Alp-Arslan, who was the son of Chagry-bek.

However, Alp-Arslan did not stop at the achievements of his uncle, but continued to expand the empire. He managed to conquer Georgia and Armenia, and in 1071 not only dealt a crushing defeat to Byzantium under Manzikert, but also captivated her emperor. Soon after, almost all of Asia Minor belonged to the Seljuk Turks.

In 1072, when Alp-Arslan sent his army against the Karakhanids, an attempt was made on him. From the received wounds the Sultan soon died, having bequeathed the throne to his minor son Malik-shah.

Despite the early childhood, the new sultan managed to suppress the outbreak of insurgencies. He was able to take Syria and Palestine from the Fatimid state, which did not recognize the authority of Khalifa, and also forced to recognize the vassal dependence of the Karakhanids. Under him, the state of the Seljukids reached its maximum power.

The decline of the Seljuk Empire

After the death of Malik Shah in 1092, the decline of the great empire began, which was actually divided among the sons of this sultan, who were constantly involved in internecine wars. The situation was aggravated by the beginning of the Crusades of the West European knights from 1096, and also the strengthening of Byzantium under the Comnen dynasty. In addition, from the empire began to fall away areas in which the lateral branches of the Seljukids ruled.

In the end, after the death of the other brothers, the remnants of the empire in 1118 were in the hands of Ahmad Sanjar. This was the last supreme sultan, recognized by the Seljuk Turks. The history of the Seljukid empire ends in 1153 with his death.

The final disintegration of the Seljuk power

Long before Sanjar's death, entire countries, which were ruled by representatives of the lateral branches of the Seljuk dynasty, fell from the empire. So, in 1041 the Karman sultanate was founded in southwestern Iran, which lasted until 1187. In 1094 the Syrian Sultanate separated. True, his existence was limited to 23 years. In 1118, the foundation of the Iraqi sultanate falls, the fall of which dates back to 1194.

But of all the fragments of the Seljuk Empire, the Koni Sultanate (or Rum), located in Asia Minor, lasted the longest. The founder of this state is the nephew of Alp-Arslan Suleiman ibn Kutulmysh, who began to reign from 1077.

The heirs of this ruler strengthened and expanded the sultanate, which reached its highest power at the beginning of the 13th century. But the invasion of the Mongols in the middle of the same century shook the last state of the Seljuks. Eventually, it disintegrated into a multitude of Beylik (regions), which were formally subordinated to the Sultan. Finally, the Koni Sultanate ceased to exist in 1307.

The arrival of the Ottomans

Even before the final death of the Koni Sultanate, one of its rulers, Kay-Kubad, in 1227 allowed to move to the territory of his state to one of the Oguz tribes - kayi led by Ertogrul. Prior to this, this tribe lived in the territory of modern Iran.

The son of Ertogrul Osman founded a new Turkish state in the territory of Asia Minor, which later became known as the Ottoman Empire. With his successors, this power captured a significant part of Asia, Africa and Europe, territorially exceeding the size of the Seljukid empire. As we see, the Seljuk Turks and the Ottoman Turks are links of one chain of alternating state formations.

The significance of the conquests of the Seljuk Turks

The conquests of the Seljuk Turks were of great importance for history. It was they who opened the period of wide penetration of the Turkic tribes into western Asia. They had a significant impact on the formation of a number of modern ethnic groups: Azerbaijanis, Turks, Kyzylbashs and a number of other peoples.

In addition, we should not forget that the great successor of the Seljuk state was the great Ottoman Empire, which had a very great influence on the historical processes not only in Asia, but also in Europe.