Alp Arslan (1029-1072) was the Sultan of the Seljuk Empire from 1063 to 1072, succeeding Tughril Beg and preceding Malik Shah. Alp Arlsan was the ruler who defeated the Byzantine Empire at the decisive Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and extended Seljuk rule to Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey.
Biography[]
In the first half of the 11th century, Tugril Beg, a Turkish leader, created a tribal confederation known as the Seljuks and led them on campaigns of conquest. In 1040, he proclaimed the Great Seljuk Sultanate, which established its rule over Mesopotamia, Persia, and regions of Central Asia. Tugril's nephew, Alp Arslan, won the succession after the sultan's death in 1063. Alp Arslan's name meant "valiant lion" and he was a brilliant military leader. In the first year of his reign he seized Armenia and Georgia and was soon leading armies on incursions deep inside Anatolia, the heartland of the Byzantine Empire.
At this stage, the Byzantines were still a major military power. Emperor Romanus IV mounted campaigns that initially forced the Seljuk Turks back into Mesopotamia. But Alp Arslan was a dauntless and subtle opponent. When Romanus led a force north of Lake Van in the summer of 1071, the Seljuk commander sensed the opportunity for a decisive victory. His defeat of the Byzantines at Manzikert was an epoch-making event. It led within a generation to the loss of virtually all Byzantine territory in Anatolia to Seljuk warlords who carved small states out of it.
Alp Arslan was a superb military organizer as well as an outstanding commander. In the territories the Seljuks conquered, he instituted a system of military service in return for land, an arrangement that placed substantial armed forces at his disposal. However, he did not live long enough to exploit the potential of his military reforms. He died at age 42 while on campaign in Central Asia, killed by a prisoner. Alp Arslan had several sons, including Malik Shah, Prince Arslan Shah of Seljuk Sultanate, Prince Muhammad of Seljuk Sultanate, Prince Tutush of Seljuk Sultanate, and Prince Arslan Argun of Seljuk Sultanate. Malik Shah succeeded him on his death.