Battle of Kerj Abu Dulaf was fought in 1073 between the Seljuk Army of

Malik-Shah I Jalāl al-Dawla Mu'izz al-Dunyā Wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fatḥ ibn Alp Arslān (8 August 1055 – 19 November 1092, full name: fa, ), better known by his regnal name of Malik-Shah I ( fa, ), was the third sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire from 1072 to ...

and Kerman Seljuk army of

Qavurt Kara Arslan Ahmad Qavurt (died 1073), better simply known as Qavurt (also spelled Kavurt) was a Seljuq prince. Upon his brother's death, he led an unsuccessful rebellion against his nephew in an attempt to gain the Seljuk throne. Background T ...

and his son, Sultan-shah. It took place approximately near Kerj Abu Dulaf, the present-day between Hamadan and Arak, and was a decisive

victory. After death Alp-Arslan, Malik-Shah was declared as the new sultan of the empire. However, right after Malik-Shah accession, his uncle

claimed the throne for himself and sent Malik-Shah a message which said: "I am the eldest brother, and you are a youthful son; I have the greater right to my brother Alp-Arslan's inheritance." Malik-Shah then replied by sending the following message: "A brother does not inherit when there is a son.". This message enraged Qavurt, who thereafter occupied Isfahan. In 1073 a battle took place near

Hamadan Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') ( Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ha ...

, which lasted three days. Qavurt was accompanied by his seven sons, and his army consisted of

Turkmens Turkmens ( tk, , , , ; historically "the Turkmen"), sometimes referred to as Turkmen Turks ( tk, , ), are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-weste ...

, while the army of Malik-Shah consisted of ''

ghulam Ghulam ( ar, غلام, ) is an Arabic word meaning ''servant'', ''assistant'', ''boy'', or ''youth''. It is used to describe young servants in paradise. It is also used to refer to slave-soldiers in the Abbasid, Ottoman, Safavid and to a lesser ...

s'' ("military slaves") and contingents of

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

and

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

troops. During the battle, the Turks of Malik-Shah's army mutinied against him, but he nevertheless managed to defeat and capture Qavurt. Qavurt then begged for mercy and in return promised to retire to

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

. However, Nizam al-Mulk declined the offer, claiming that sparing him was an indication of weakness. After some time, Qavurt was strangled to death with a bowstring, while two of his sons were blinded. After having dealt with that problem, Malik-Shah appointed Qutlugh-Tegin as the governor of Fars and

Sav-Tegin Savtegin ( d. 1084) was a prominent emir of the early Seljuk Empire, during the reigns of Tughril I, Alp Arslan, and Malik-Shah I. His full name in Arabic, as given by Münejjim Bāshī Ahmad Effendi, was 'Imād ad-Dawlah Sarhang Sāw Takīn. ...

as the governor of

Kerman Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in ...

References

Sources

* Wikipedia contributors. (2019, August 5). ''Kerman Seljuk Sultanate''. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12:48, September 13, 2019, from https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/سلجوقیان_کرمان * * {{cite encyclopedia , article = MALEKŠĀH , last = Durand-Guédy , first = David , url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/maleksah , editor-last = , editor-first = , editor-link = , encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica , location = , year = 2012 , isbn = Kerj Abu Dulaf Kerj Abu Dulaf 1073 in Asia Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Asia