Editing Alp Arslan (section)

=== Battle of Manzikert (1071) ===
{{Main article|Battle of Manzikert}}
[[File:Battle of Manzikert (1071).webp|thumbnail|A painting depicting the Battle of Manzikert (Istanbul Military Museum)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/image/8057/battle-of-manzikert/ |title=Battle of Manzikert |access-date=April 5, 2025 |language=English |work=World History Encyclopedia |surname=O.Mustafin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250405130532/https://www.worldhistory.org/image/8057/battle-of-manzikert/ |archive-date=April 5, 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>|300px]]

En route to fight the Fatimids in Syria in 1068, Alp Arslan invaded the [[Byzantine Empire under the Doukas dynasty|Byzantine Empire]]. The [[List of Byzantine emperors|Emperor]] [[Romanos IV Diogenes]], assuming command in person, met the invaders in [[Cilicia]]. In three arduous campaigns, the Turks were defeated in detail and driven across the [[Euphrates]] in 1070. The first two campaigns were conducted by the emperor himself, while the third was directed by [[Manuel Komnenos (kouropalates)|Manuel Komnenos]], the brother of future emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos]]. During this time, Alp Arslan gained the allegiance of [[Rashid al-Dawla Mahmud]], the Mirdasid emir of Aleppo.

In 1071, Romanos again took the field and advanced into Armenia with possibly 30,000 men, including a contingent of [[Cuman]] Turks as well as contingents of [[Franks]] and [[Normans]], under [[Roussel de Bailleul|Ursel de Baieul]]. Alp Arslan, who had moved his troops south to fight the [[Fatimids]], quickly reversed to meet the Byzantines.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNXZAAAAMAAJ|title=A Military History of the Western World: From the Earliest Times to the Battle of Lepanto|page=402|isbn=9780306803048 |last1=Fuller |first1=J. F. C. |date=22 August 1987 |publisher=Hachette Books }}</ref> When Alp Arslan arrived in Silvan and learned that Romanos Diogenes had captured [[Malazgirt|Manzikert]], he set out towards [[Ahlat]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=MALAZGİRT MUHAREBESİ |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/malazgirt-muharebesi#:~:text=Silvan%E2%80%99da%20iken%20imparatorun%20Malazgirt%20Kalesi%E2%80%99ni%20zaptedip%20halk%C4%B1n%C4%B1%20k%C4%B1l%C4%B1%C3%A7tan%20ge%C3%A7irdi%C4%9Fini%20%C3%B6%C4%9Frenince%20Erzen-Bitlis%20Bo%C4%9Faz%C4%B1%20yoluyla%20Ahlat%E2%80%99a%20do%C4%9Fru%20yola%20%C3%A7%C4%B1kt%C4%B1 |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |language=tr}}</ref> The two armies met at the Rahve Plain near [[Malazgirt|Manzikert]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turan |first=Osman |title=Selçuklular târihi ve Türk-İslâm medeniyeti |date=2019 |publisher=Ötüken |isbn=978-975-437-470-4 |edition=22. basim |series=Yayın Kültür serisi |location=İstanbul |pages=179}}</ref> Alp Arslan sent a final ambassador to the [[Romanos IV Diogenes]], offering a peace deal. The [[Romanos IV Diogenes]] rejected the peace deal, whereupon Alp Arslan put his army in battle formation and placed some of his cavalry in ambush along the valley. Alp Arslan placed the 4,000-man force he would command in the center line. On the Byzantine side, Emperor Romanos Diogenes also put his army in battle formation. Both armies made their final preparations on August 25.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sevim |first=Ali |url=https://www.kitapyurdu.com/kitap/selcuklu-devletleri-tarihi-siyasetteskilat-ve-kultur/294338.html |title=Selçuklu Devletleri Tarihi Siyaset,Teşkilat ve Kültür |last2=Merçil |first2=Erdoğan |date=2014-01-01 |publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu |isbn=978-975-16-2678-3 |language=tr}}</ref> Before the battle on August 26, Alp Arslan gave the following speech to his army:

{{blockquote|I want to attack the enemy at this hour when Muslims are praying for us in mosques. If we win, the result we desire will be achieved, if we are defeated, we will go to heaven as martyrs. Today, there is neither a sultan giving orders nor a soldier taking orders; I will fight with you as one of you; those who want to come with me can follow me, those who do not want to can freely return.<ref>Malazgirt Muharebesi TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi[https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/malazgirt-muharebesi#:~:text=Ben%2C%20m%C3%BCsl%C3%BCmanlar%C4%B1n%20camilerde,serbest%C3%A7e%20geri%20d%C3%B6nebilirler.%E2%80%9D]</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sevim |first=Ali |url=https://www.kitapyurdu.com/kitap/selcuklu-devletleri-tarihi-siyasetteskilat-ve-kultur/294338.html |title=Selçuklu Devletleri Tarihi Siyaset,Teşkilat ve Kültür |last2=Merçil |first2=Erdoğan |date=2014-01-01 |publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu |isbn=978-975-16-2678-3 |language=tr}}</ref>}}
On August 26, the [[Battle of Manzikert]] began with a Seljuk attack.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turan |first=Osman |title=Selçuklular târihi ve Türk-İslâm medeniyeti |date=2019 |publisher=Ötüken |isbn=978-975-437-470-4 |edition=22. basim |series=Yayın Kültür serisi |location=İstanbul |pages=182, 183}}</ref>  As soon as the war began, the Uz and [[Pechenegs|Pecheneg]] mercenaries in the Byzantine forces immediately went over to the Seljuk Empire side. Seeing this, the Western mercenaries subsequently abandoned the battlefield as well.<ref>{{cite book|title=The First Crusade|first= Steve|last= Runciman|publisher= Cambridge University Press|year=1992}}</ref> To be exact, Romanos was betrayed by general [[Andronikos Doukas (cousin of Michael VII)|Andronikos Doukas]], son of the Caesar (Romanos's stepson), who pronounced him dead and rode off with a large part of the Byzantine forces at a critical moment.<ref>{{cite book| last = Norwich| first = John Julius| title = Byzantium The Apogee| year = 1993| publisher = Penguin| isbn = 0-14-011448-3 }}</ref> The Byzantines were wholly routed.

[[File:BnF Fr232 fol323 Alp Arslan Romanus.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Alp Arslan humiliating Emperor [[Romanos IV]] after the [[Battle of Manzikert]]. From a 15th-century illustrated French translation of [[Boccaccio]]'s ''[[De Casibus Virorum Illustrium]]''<ref>Çoban, R. V. (2020). The Manzikert Battle and Sultan Alp Arslan with European Perspective in the 15th Century in the Miniatures of Giovanni Boccaccio's "De Casibus Virorum Illustrium"s 226 and 232. French Manuscripts in Bibliothèque Nationale de France. S. Karakaya ve V. Baydar (Ed.), in 2nd International Muş Symposium Articles Book (pp. 48-64). Muş: Muş Alparslan University. [https://www.academia.edu/48958867/Giovanni_Boccaccio_nun_De_Casibus_Virorum_Illustrium_Adl%C4%B1_Eserinin_Biblioth%C3%A8que_Nationale_de_France_daki_226_ve_232_Numaral%C4%B1_Frans%C4%B1zca_N%C3%BCshalar%C4%B1nda_Yer_Alan_Minyat%C3%BCrlerde_XV_Y%C3%BCzy%C4%B1l_da_Avrupal%C4%B1_G%C3%B6z%C3%BCyle_Malazgirt_Sava%C5%9F%C4%B1_ve_Sultan_Alp_Arslan_a_Bak%C4%B1%C5%9F Source]</ref>]]

Emperor Romanos himself was captured in battle and presented to Alp Arslan. It is reported that upon seeing the Roman emperor, the sultan leaped from his throne, commanded Romanos to kiss the ground, and stepped on his neck. He repeatedly berated the emperor, including for spurning his emissaries and offers of peace. Romanos remained unrepentant, asserting that he had merely done what was "possible for a man, and which kings are bound to do, and I have fallen short in nothing. But God has fulfilled his will. And now, do what you wish and abandon recriminations."<ref name="auto">Carole Hillenbrand. (2007).[https://academic.oup.com/edinburgh-scholarship-online/book/18976 Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert ] Oxford University Press</ref> Purportedly declaring Romanos "too trivial... to kill", Alp Arslan then led him about the camp to sell the prisoner to one of his men. The Seljuk soldiers initially refused to spend any money on buying the emperor, until one man traded a dog for him.<ref name="auto"/> Next, wishing to test Romanos, Alp Arslan asked Romanos what he would do if their situation were reversed and Alp Arslan was imprisoned by the Byzantines. Romanos bluntly answered "The worst!" His honesty impressed Alp Arslan, who then decided to spare Romanos's life and instead ransom him back to his homeland. After agreeing on a ransom, Alp Arslan sent Romanos to Constantinople with a Turkish escort, carrying a banner above the disgraced emperor that read: "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger".<ref name="auto"/>

The reason Alp Arslan spared Romanos was likely to avoid a two-front war. The Fatimids were launching devastating raids on the Seljuk domains during this period, Alp Arslan may have worried that executing the Roman emperor might escalate his conflict with the Byzantines. Romanos himself had told the sultan that "killing me will not be of any use to you".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJ67QgAACAAJ|title=Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert|year=2007 |page=71|isbn=9780748625734 |last1=Hillenbrand |first1=Carole }}</ref>

After hearing of the death of Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes, Sultan Alp Arslan pledged: "The Byzantine nation has no God, so this day the oath of peace and friendship taken by both the Persians and Byzantines is nullified; henceforth I shall consume with the sword all those people who venerate the cross, and all the lands of the Christians shall be enslaved."<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=leqqBgAAQBAJ | isbn=9780748631155 | title=Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert|page=244|date=21 November 2007 | last1=Hillenbrand | first1=Carole }}</ref>

Alp Arslan and his successor [[Malik-Shah I|Malik Shah]] urged Turkish tribes to invade and settle Anatolia where they would not only cease to be a problem for the Seljuk Sultanate but also extend its territory further. Alp Arslan commanded the Turks as follows:
{{blockquote|Henceforth all of you be like lion cubs and eagle young, racing through the countryside day and night, slaying the Christians and not sparing any mercy on the Roman nation.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rmHCwAAQBAJ | isbn=9781780965055 | title=Manzikert 1071: The breaking of Byzantium|page=92| date=20 August 2013 | publisher=Bloomsbury }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sExoAAAAMAAJ | isbn=9780819189530 | title=Armenia and the Crusades: Tenth to Twelfth Centuries : The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa|pages=135–136|year=1993 | publisher=National Association for Armenian Studies and Research }}</ref>}}

Alp Arslan's victories changed the balance in western Asia completely in favor of the [[Seljuq Turks]] and [[Sunni]] Muslims. While the [[Byzantine Empire under the Doukas dynasty|Byzantine Empire]] was to continue for nearly four more centuries, the victory at Manzikert signalled the beginning of Turkic ascendancy in Anatolia.<ref name="anatolia"/> The victory at Manzikert became so popular among the Turks that later every noble family in Anatolia claimed to have had an ancestor who had fought on that day.<ref name="anatolia2">{{cite web |last1=Cahen |first1=Claude |title=Alp-Arslan |url=https://www.britannica.com:443/biography/Alp-Arslan |website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=12 February 2024 }} "Later, every princely family in Asia Minor was to claim an ancestor who had fought on that prestigious day."</ref>