The Imperial family of the Seljuk Empire, the House of Seljuk, was a member of the Kinik Oghuz Tribe. The Kinik tribe was living north of the Aral Sea in the 9th century, when it was ruled by the Oghuz Yabgu Kaghanate. Under the ledarship of Seljuk (originially Selchuk), their leader, they migrated to Jend, a town located near the border, and became Muslim in the mid-10th century. The Seljuks helped the Samanids in their struggle against the Western Qarakhanids, but the Samanid capital Bukhara fell and the Samanid lands were overrun by the Qarakhanids and Gaznavids. Tughrul Begh, grandson of Seljuk, struggled with both powers but the newly-formed Seljuk state soon fell to the Gaznawids.

Minature showing Tughrul Begh

Tughrul (Toghrul), together with the help of his brother Chaghri (Cagri), migrated to Khorasan with some of the Oghuz tribes and started their struggle against the Gazhawids. The united Oghuz forces defeated a large Gaznawid army at the Nesa Plains in 1035, which was the first Seljuk victory over the Gaznawids. The Seljuks demanded more lands, and their raidings resulted with the Battle of Serahs in 1038. After this victory, Tughrul Begh entered Nishapur and declared his independence. Two years later, 20.000 Seljuk light riders crushed a large Gaznawid army composed of 300 war elephants and 50.000 troops (mainly heavy cavalries and infantries) at the Battle of Dandanaqan; the battle was won with the hit-and-run attacks of the Seljuks. The Seljuks withdrew to the desert, the Gaznawids followed them, but their forces were left without food and water, and the weakened Gaznawids broke in a single charge. This victory marked the foundation of the Seljuk Empire, which was now rapidly expanding towards West.

Seljuk ceramic plate with lustru - painted decoration from Ray, Iran

Tughrul Begh's generals soon conquered Kerman, Sistan and Bust in Persia, Maqran on the Indian Ocean coast and Kharezm. During the campaign against the Gaznawids, important Khorasani towns like Balkh and Jurjan were captured. A peace treaty was signed between the Seljuks and Gaznavids, and the Hindikush Mountains became the border between the two empires. Cagri Begh died in Serahs in 1060, at the age of 70, and was buried in Merv. After Cagri Begh's death, the Seljuks continued to expand: Towns like Kazven, Isfahan, Ray (modern Tahran) and Hamadan; and areas like Azerbaijan were brought under the Seljuk rule.

The Seljuks now planned to conquer Asia Minor, which was rich in resources. The Oghuz (now called as Turcomans) tribes needed extra space to live, since the Central Asian steppes were too dry. Tughrul Begh send his Turcoman raiders to raid the Eastern parts of Asia Minor, and these Turcomans won a victory over the Byzantine-Georgian forces at Pasinler in 1048. While these raids were happening, a revolt was started by Ibrahim Yinal, but was put down quickly. A new campaign was made on the Shi'a Buyids, and the Buyid lands (which were consisted of some parts of Iraq, Fars, Ahwaz, Khuzistan and Al-Jazira) were invaded. In 1055, Tughrul Begh entered Baghdad and freed the Abbasid caliph from Buyid pressure. He earned the title "Ruler of the Lands of East and West" from the caliph and became the protector of the Caliphate.

Ibrahim Yinal revolted again, but was defeated near Ray and killed. While Tughrul Begh was dealing with him, the last remnants of the Buyids re-captured Baghdad and sent the Abbasid caliph into exile. Tughrul Begh returned quickly and expelled the Buyids. He died in 1063 in Ray and was buried there.

Alp Arslan's Reign (1064 - 1072)

Tughrul Begh didn't have a child, and he was succeded by Cagri Begh's son Alp Arslan. However, the Grand Vizier Qunduri and some generals like Qutalmish supported Amir Suleiman to become the sultan. Alp Arslan crushed the rebel forces near Ray and began planning a new conquest of Asia Minor. He besieged the fort of Ani and captured it after a succesful siege. He returned to his capital and marched on the Oghuz tribes living north of the Aral Sea. Those tribes accepted Alp Arslan's rule and entered the Seljuk protectorate. While he was touring the Eastern provinces, his generals like Afshin, Sunduq, Ahmet Shah, Dilmach, Mehmed, Sav Tegin, Ay Tegin and Gumush Te

Alp Arslan

gin raided the Eastern provinces of the Byzantine Empire. After returning from the East, Alp Arslan marched on the Fatimids of Egypt and captured Aleppo. He returned to Eastern Anatolia because the Byzantines had already sent an army to expel the Turcoman raiders.

Drawing showing a Turcoman leader, a Seljuk Ghulam and a drummer

Alp Arslan united his forces with the raiders of his generals and crushed the Byzantines at the Battle of Malazgirt (Manzikert) in 1071. This victory caused the Byzantines to lose their Anatolian provinces, a place they had recruited many men. This resulted in the decline of the Byzantine army, which was already weakened due to the abolishment of the Theme System. Alp Arslan didn't enter Anatolia himself and ordered his Turcoman generals to conquer all the Byzantine lands. He also allowed them to create small principalities of their own, but also ordered them to be loyal to him. The Turcomans overran Asia Minor in two years and went as far as the Aegean Sea. Many small Turcoman "beghliks" were founded throughout Asia Minor: Saltuqis in Northeastern Anatolia, Mengujeqs in Eastern Anatolia, Artuqis in Southeastern Anatolia, Danishmendis in Central Anatolia, Rum Seljuks (Beghlik of Suleiman Shah, which later moved to Central Anatolia) in Western Anatolia and the Beghlik of Chaka Begh in Izmir (Smyrna). These beghliks form a very different topic, so I'll not write about them much.

After his Anatolian Campaign, war broke out between the Seljuk governor of Kharezm and the Qarakhanids. Alp Arslan marched on the Eastern border to end the war, besieged the Fort Barzam but was assasinated by Yusuf Kharezmi, commander of the fort.Yusuf was cut down by Alp Arslan's ghulams (guards) but Alp Arslan died after a short time.