Kilij Arslan II of Rum (1153-1192) was the Sultan of the Sultanate of Rum from 1156 to 1192, succeeding Mesud I and preceding Kaykhusraw I.
Biography[]
Kilij Arslan was born in 1153, and he was partially descended from Sviatoslav II of Kiev through his granddaughter, who was the daughter of a German prince. For this reason, he embraced Henry the Lion when he made his pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1172, as he was his blood cousin. In 1159 the Turks attacked Manuel I of Byzantium and won a victory, but he was later defeated and was forced to ally against Nur ad-Din of Mosul in 1173. In 1176 he defeated the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Myriocephalum, ending the last attempt by the Byzantines to retake the interior of Anatolia from the Muslims. In 1180 he took over much of southern Anatolia after the death of Manuel I, and he allied with Saladin, fighting against the Third Crusade. Frederick Barbarossa led an army into Anatolia, but his death destroyed his army, and the Germans were forced to retreat. Kilij Arslan died in 1192.