Tutush, Kerbogha & the fall of the Great Seljuk Empire
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There are lots of great men of the Seljuks. This part of the Islamic history is generally unheeded by people but must be understood very well. Great Seljuk empire changed the history of Islam, Christianity and Turks as a people radically. It was the reason of Crusades. It also was the grandfather of the Ottoman empire.
Salaam
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Blurb
The Battle of Manzikert (Malazgirt, Manavazkert) of 1071 was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the new nomadic conquerors from Central Asia - the Seljuk Sultanate. This battle was decisive in changing the ethnic and the religious outlook of Anatolia, and probably was the reason Crusades from Western Europe began.
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Blurb
The Battle of Manzikert (Malazgirt, Manavazkert) of 1071 was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the new nomadic conquerors from Central Asia - the Seljuk Sultanate. This battle was decisive in changing the ethnic and the religious outlook of Anatolia, and probably was the reason Crusades from Western Europe began.
It was a Friday, 26th of august 1071. The khalif in Baghdad requested the ummah to make dua in all masjids for the victory. Alparslan, knowing that, spoke to his army after the Jumah prayer in Malazgirt, just before the battle. He said “ Today I am not standing as a sultan in front of you. Today I am as well a soldier just like you and will fight in the battle field side by you. Today here there is no Sultan other than Allah.” The result was a decisive Muslim victory against a Christian empire after hundreds of years.
May Allah make us a generation worthy of our ancestors.
May Allah make us a generation worthy of our ancestors.
The annimation seems accurate regarding the stages of the battle. It first started with the infantry fights between each side then followed and finished by the Seljuk horse-archers.
Advanced horsemanship and archery allowed Turks to reach until Vienna from Manzikert against the slow and heavy Byzantine and European infantry troops.
Advanced horsemanship and archery allowed Turks to reach until Vienna from Manzikert against the slow and heavy Byzantine and European infantry troops.
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Salaam
Nice, always wanted to read, watch Turkish perspectives.
Some books on the subject.
Blurb
Turks ruled the Middle East for a millennium and eastern Europe for many centuries and it is an undoubted fact that they moulded the lands under their dominion. It is therefore something of a paradox that the history of Turkey and aspects of the identity and role of the Turks, both as Muslims and as an ethnic group, still remain little known in the west and undervalued in the Arabic and Persian-speaking worlds. This book contributes to historical scholarship on Turkey by focusing on its key foundational myth, the battle of Manzikert in 1071 -- the Turkish equivalent of the battle of Hastings.
Manzikert destroyed the hold of Christian Byzantium on eastern Turkey and opened the whole country to the spread of Islam, a process completed with the fall of Constantinople and Trebizond some four centuries later. Translations and a close analysis of all the extant Muslim sources -- both Arabic and Persian -- which deal with the battle of Manzikert are provided in the book. It also looks at these writings as literary works and vehicles of religious ideology and analyses the ongoing confrontation between the Muslim Turks and Christian Europe and the importance of Manzikert in the formation of the modern state of Turkey since 1923.
Blurb
On 26 August 1071 a large Byzantine army under Emperor Romanus IV met the Saljuq Turk forces of Sultan Alp Arslan near the town of Manzikert. The battle ended in a decisive defeat for the Byzantine forces, with the Byzantine emperor captured and much of his fabled Varangian guard killed. This battle is seen as the primary trigger of the Crusades, and as the moment when the power of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire was irreparably broken. The Saljuq victory opened up Anatolia to Turkish-Islamic conquest, which was eventually followed by the establishment of the Ottoman state.
Nevertheless the battle itself was the culmination of a Christian Byzantine offensive, intended to strengthen the eastern frontiers of the empire and re-establish Byzantine domination over Armenia and northern Mesopotamia. Turkish Saljuq victory was in no sense inevitable and might, in fact, have come as something of a surprise to those who achieved it. It was not only the battle of Manzikert that had such profound and far-reaching consequences, many of these stemmed from the debilitating Byzantine civil war which followed and was a direct consequence of the defeat.
Nice, always wanted to read, watch Turkish perspectives.
Some books on the subject.
Blurb
Turks ruled the Middle East for a millennium and eastern Europe for many centuries and it is an undoubted fact that they moulded the lands under their dominion. It is therefore something of a paradox that the history of Turkey and aspects of the identity and role of the Turks, both as Muslims and as an ethnic group, still remain little known in the west and undervalued in the Arabic and Persian-speaking worlds. This book contributes to historical scholarship on Turkey by focusing on its key foundational myth, the battle of Manzikert in 1071 -- the Turkish equivalent of the battle of Hastings.
Manzikert destroyed the hold of Christian Byzantium on eastern Turkey and opened the whole country to the spread of Islam, a process completed with the fall of Constantinople and Trebizond some four centuries later. Translations and a close analysis of all the extant Muslim sources -- both Arabic and Persian -- which deal with the battle of Manzikert are provided in the book. It also looks at these writings as literary works and vehicles of religious ideology and analyses the ongoing confrontation between the Muslim Turks and Christian Europe and the importance of Manzikert in the formation of the modern state of Turkey since 1923.
Blurb
On 26 August 1071 a large Byzantine army under Emperor Romanus IV met the Saljuq Turk forces of Sultan Alp Arslan near the town of Manzikert. The battle ended in a decisive defeat for the Byzantine forces, with the Byzantine emperor captured and much of his fabled Varangian guard killed. This battle is seen as the primary trigger of the Crusades, and as the moment when the power of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire was irreparably broken. The Saljuq victory opened up Anatolia to Turkish-Islamic conquest, which was eventually followed by the establishment of the Ottoman state.
Nevertheless the battle itself was the culmination of a Christian Byzantine offensive, intended to strengthen the eastern frontiers of the empire and re-establish Byzantine domination over Armenia and northern Mesopotamia. Turkish Saljuq victory was in no sense inevitable and might, in fact, have come as something of a surprise to those who achieved it. It was not only the battle of Manzikert that had such profound and far-reaching consequences, many of these stemmed from the debilitating Byzantine civil war which followed and was a direct consequence of the defeat.
The reasoning given in this video is the same reasoning the secular Turkish education system gives for the Turkish conquest of Anatolia. In fact it is the same reasoning given for the entire Turkish mass-migration from the Central Assian homeland to the world which took place in different periods of time. Central Assia was getting drought and we needed new fertile lands. Although it has some truth in practice, the narrator forgets the Islamic Jihad and conquest belief. Byzantine Empire was a thread for the Seljuks and Islam and should have been stopped. As a consequence it became ours.
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Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan, aka "heroic lion" was a Seljuq Sultan who is widely credited with beginning Anatolianism (the beginning of modern Turkish culture) and bringing about the irreversible decline of the Eastern Roman Empire by defeating the Byzantines at Manzikert, and took the Byzantine Emperor himself as a prisoner of war. Under his rule, the Seljuq Empire spread over much of western Asia and firmly became the dominant power in the region.
Alp Arslan, aka "heroic lion" was a Seljuq Sultan who is widely credited with beginning Anatolianism (the beginning of modern Turkish culture) and bringing about the irreversible decline of the Eastern Roman Empire by defeating the Byzantines at Manzikert, and took the Byzantine Emperor himself as a prisoner of war. Under his rule, the Seljuq Empire spread over much of western Asia and firmly became the dominant power in the region.
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You guys always do this to me. Now I'm going to have to spend hours and hours researching the Seljuk Empire because I know nothing about it and it looks terribly interesting. Yes, I am a big nerd! [emoji848] I will watch these videos when I have time (I'm on my way to work). Do any of you have book recommendations that go more in-depth on this point in history?
Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan, aka "heroic lion" was a Seljuq Sultan who is widely credited with beginning Anatolianism (the beginning of modern Turkish culture) and bringing about the irreversible decline of the Eastern Roman Empire by defeating the Byzantines at Manzikert, and took the Byzantine Emperor himself as a prisoner of war. Under his rule, the Seljuq Empire spread over much of western Asia and firmly became the dominant power in the region.
So was he..
But this word “Anatolianism” is an alien word for us Turks. It seems a new western terminology. I dont think we have such a concept. Atleast I dont know what it stands for. The Turkish nationalism calls for the union of all Turks, not just the “Anatolians”.
Seljuks were a crucial point in the history of Islam, specifiically Sunni Islam. They defeated the Shia Buwayhid and Fatimid empires and Christian Byzantine empire and fought with the Crusaders. I dont know so many books in English but try to read the books from Turkish and Islamic pov also.
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You are getting me more excited about learning this new subject. That's a very good point about studying it from the Islamic and/or Turkish point of view. In fact, I would much rather read a book about this written by a Turkish historian. I will have to look that up and see what is available in English.
Ah atleast I can correct a misconception..It must be transliterated into English as “Selchuk” not Seljuk. Western historians have these sort of misconceptions. Also it must “Osmanli” or simply Osman not Ottoman. We dont have such a name in Turkish. It sounds a European name more than a Turkish name LOL!
Greetings,
I finally got to watch the 1st video in the series Junon posted above (thanks Junon!). It's not only interesting and educational, it's an exciting story as well. Some general impressions from my initial experience:
Thanks for reading my thoughts. And thanks again to Junon and Anatolian for providing this hungry mind with a wonderful new subject matter.
:shade:
--Dan Edge
I finally got to watch the 1st video in the series Junon posted above (thanks Junon!). It's not only interesting and educational, it's an exciting story as well. Some general impressions from my initial experience:
- My knowledge of Middle Eastern history is pitiful. I am of course aware that history classes in the US focus primarily on Western Europian history, but I was astounded how little I know about the Middle Ages period in the Islamic world.
- This video introduced many more questions than answers in my mind. For example, in 750 the Umayyad Caliphate ruled over a vast region, but by 1000 this empire had broken up into a bunch of small cheifdoms. What happened? Was this the result of the initial seperation of Sunni and Shiite? I'll have to look into it more.
- The Seljuk Empire, while vast, was very short lived. I'm guessing there was some pre-existing weaknesses in the founding of the empire that made it succeptible to fragmentation. While polities in the Islamic world were not explicitly a heredity monarchy like in Europe, most of the rulers of the various fiefdoms were related by blood. This may be part of the weakness. For instance, Barkiyaruk gave both his sons and other of his relatives sweeping, almost autonomous powers over large city states like Aleppo. They very quickly began to war with each other, which resulted in terrible consequences when a huge European army arrived on their doorstep.
- The Crusades were disastrous for both the invaders and the defenders, and the civilian population bore the brunt of the destruction. However, ironically I see an unintend benefit for both sides of this multi-generational war: unity. For several hundered years after the launching of the Crusades, the great European powers stopped warring as much with each other and focused their military strength on conquering the Holy Lands. Similarly, the Islamic States were faced with the choice to unify or be destroyed. I'm not familiar enough with the history of the region to make any real judgments, but I'm guessing that Muslims became very unified militarily and politically, and that this led directly to the birth of the Ottoman Empire. And of course they won the war decisively. I'm looking forward to reading more about it from an Islamic perspective.
Thanks for reading my thoughts. And thanks again to Junon and Anatolian for providing this hungry mind with a wonderful new subject matter.
:shade:
--Dan Edge
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