Battle of Damghan was a battle fought during the

Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * Seljuk (warlord) (di ...

war of succession A war of succession is a war prompted by a succession crisis in which two or more individuals claim the Order of succession, right of successor to a demise of the Crown, deceased or deposition (politics), deposed monarch. The rivals are typic ...

of 1063.

Background

The

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

were an

Oghuz Turk The Oghuz or Ghuzz Turks ( Middle Turkic: ٱغُز, ''Oγuz'', ota, اوغوز, Oġuz) were a western Turkic people that spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation convent ...

dynasty that founded the

Seljuk Empire The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turko-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total are ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

during the 11th century. The founder of the empire,

Tughril Abu Talib Muhammad Tughril ibn Mika'il ( fa, ابوطالب محمد تغریل بن میکائیل), better known as Tughril (; also spelled Toghril), was a Turkmen"The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

, died childless and willed the throne to

Alp Arslan Alp Arslan was the second Sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. He greatly expanded the Seljuk territory and consolidated his power, defeating rivals to the south and northwest, and his v ...

, son of his brother

Chaghri Beg Abu Suleiman Dawud Chaghri Beg ibn Mikail, widely known simply as Chaghri Beg (989–1060), ''Da'ud b. Mika'il b. Saljuq'', also spelled Chaghri, was the co-ruler of the early Seljuk Empire. The name ''Chaghri'' is Turkic (Çağrı in modern Turk ...

. After Tughril's death however, the Seljuk prince

Qutalmish Qutalmish ibn Arslan ( 1ca, قُتَلمِش, fa, قتلمش) (alternative spellings: Qutalmis, Kutalmish, ) was a Turkic prince who was a member of Seljukid house in the 11th century. His son Kutalmışoğlu Suleiman, founded the Sultanate of R ...

hoped to become the new sultan, because Tughril was childless and he was the eldest living member of the dynasty. Qutalmish's claim to the sultanate was through his father,

Arslan Yabgu Arslan Isra'il, also known as Arslan Yabgu (died 1032) was a Turkic chieftain, who was from the Kınık tribe, which would later establish the Seljuk Empire. His name Arslan means "the lion". Arslan was son of the warlord Seljuk and uncle to th ...

who was the eldest son of

. Arslan, however, was captured by

Mahmud of Ghazni Yamīn-ud-Dawla Abul-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sebüktegīn ( fa, ; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi ( fa, ), was the founder of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 998 to 1030. At th ...

and died whilst imprisoned. Consequently, Tughril, Qutalmish's cousin, became sultan.

Early moves

Tughril died on 4 September 1063. Upon the news of Tughril's death, both Qutalmısh and

(Suleyman's elder brother) began marching to capital Rey to seize the throne. Qutalmısh held the advantage because his fort

Girdkuh Gerdkuh was a castle of the Nizari Isma'ili state located near Damghan in the region of Qumis (modern-day Semnan Province of Iran). Gerdkuh is a "fortified mountain"—a high vertical rock of 300 m in height with buildings on its summit a ...

was closer to the capital than Alp Arslan's possessions in the east. But Tughril's vizier

Al-Kunduri Amid al-Mulk Abu Nasr al-Kunduri ( fa, عمیدالملک ابونصر الکندری; 1024 – 29 November 1064), commonly known as al-Kunduri (; also spelled Kunduri), was a Persian; bureaucrat, who served as the vizier of the first Seljuk ...

who initially supported Süleyman, feared Qutalmısh, and began supporting Alp Arslan. Nevertheless, Qutalmısh and his brother Resul easily defeated Al Kunduri's forces and they laid siege to Rey on 15 November 1063. Qutalmısh was forced to lift the siege to face the approaching army of Alp Arslan. He moved east and defeated the vanguard forces of Hacib Erdem, a commander of Alp Arslan in Dihinemek, a place close to

Damghan Damghan ( fa, دامغان, translit=Dāmghān) is the capital of Damghan County, Semnan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 57,331, in 15,849 families. It is situated east of Tehran on the high-road to Mashad, at an elevatio ...

The clash

Alp Arslan's main army was about 15 km east of Qutalmısh. Qutalmısh tried to change the course of a creek to block Alp Arslan's way. However Alp Arslan was able to pass his army through the newly created marsh land. Once the two Seljuk armies met, Qutalmısh's forces fled from the battle.Izz al-Din ibn al'Athir, ''The Annals of the Saljuq Turks'', transl. D.S. Richards, (Routledge, 2002), 151. Resul as well as Qutalmısh's son Suleyman (later founder of the

Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = By ...

) were taken prisoner. Qutalmısh escaped, but while gathering his forces for an orderly retreat to his fort Girdkuh, he fell from his horse in a hilly terrain and died on 7 December 1063. Islam Encyclopedia Vol 26 p480-81 ()
/ref>

Aftermath

Although Qutalmısh's son Suleyman was taken prisoner, Alp Arslan pardoned him and sent him into exile. But later this proved to be an opportunity for him; for he founded the

Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = By ...

, which outlasted the

Great Seljuk Empire The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to t ...

References

{{reflist 1063 in Asia 11th century in the Seljuk Empire

Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Asia