Seljuk Sultanate
Seljuk Sultanate
Basic Stats
Monarch: Sultan Malik Shah
Heirs: Mehmed I, Kilij Arslan, Tutush I (Disputed)
Territory: Persia (Ahwaz, Fars, Kirman, Tabaristan, Daylam), Mesopotamia (Iraq, Jibal), Eastern Anatolia, Armenia, Syria, Azerbaijan, Khorasan, Western Afghanistan, Western Khwarizm
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/Maps/Seljuk.JPG
Population: 8-12 million
Religion: Sunni Muslim, with Shiite Muslim, Christian, and Jew minority
Language: Turkic, Arabic, Persian, as well as many minority languages
Ethnicities: Arab, Persian, Turkish, as well as many minorities
Capital: Baghdad
Allies: Sultanate of Rum, Mameluke Empire, Emirate of Tunisia
Enemies: Byzantine Empire, Knights of St John, Knights of Malta, Sicily, Ghaznavid Sultanate, Khorakanid Sultanate, Kiev
Army
Regulars
Roughly 35,000 Guard Army of the Sultan
Highly trained, Armoured Cavalry
Always accompanied Sultan
Irregulars
Up to 100,000 Light Cavalrymen
Up to 25,000 Cavalry Archers
All suited for highly mobile warfare
Mostly accompanied Sultan
History
Beginning in the 11th century, a great wave of Central Asian Seljuk Turks, led by Tughril Beg, conquered Khwarazm and Iran. They entered Baghdad in 1055 and Tughril Beg was proclaimed sultan.
Under his successor, Alp Arslan , the Seljuks conquered Georgia, Armenia, and much of Asia Minor, overran Syria, and defeated the Byzantine emperor Romanus IV at Manzikert (1071), opening Byzantine territory to Seljuk and Turkmen occupation.
Alp Arslan's son, Malik Shah (reigned 1072-), has ably administered and developed his huge empire
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/Turks_SeljukEmpire.asp
Tajistad
12-12-2005, 23:29
Emir Abu Tahir Tamim ibn al-Muizz of Tunisia sends his greetings, Mighty Sultan Malik Shah,
As you probably know, a large force of Chistians (consisting of the Knights of St. John and the Duchy of Malta) are massing to strike your lands in Anatolia.
The Mameluke Empire and Tunisia are all ready organizing a Jiahd to come to your defense. In response to our Jihad, Kiev is sending forces to defend the Byzantines.
First we ask that you make peace with the Mameluke Empire, as they were the ones to call the Jihad to defend you. Secondly, we ask for an alliance and non-agression pact so that when the Jihad arrives, our forces can work together to better defend Islam.
My forces are about to join with the Mameluke Empire's to the west of Alexandria. Until our Jihad arrives, you will have defend yourself from the Christian's attacks. I will pray that Allah grants you many victories.
-Emir Abu Tahir Tamim ibn al-Muizz
The alliance is approved of, and overtures made.
The Sultan's Guard Army (30,000) along with some 20,000 Irregulars and 10,000 cavalry archers are deploying to Anatolia to watch preparations and movement of the Infidel Armies. 20,000 men, mainly Irregulars are being sent to Konya to watch the souther flank of the Rum area. The remaining 20,000 Irregulars, 5,000 men of the Guard and 10,000 archers are preparing for a siege of Antioch in Syria.
Calls for more men have been made, and some 30,000 Irregulars and archers can be expected to join in some month's time.
The Sultan's court will temporarily be in Aleppo, but he will campaign with the troops
Tajistad
14-12-2005, 01:42
The Emir greets you once again, Sultan,
Tunisia's forces have arrived at Alexandria, and after speaking with the Sultan Sulejman, he wishes to revise his last letter (OOC: It's in my thread).
The Emir was orginally against you heading the coalition, but it appears that Sulejman agreed to this. The Emir will not oppose you if the majority of our alliance wishes it. He was also surprised to hear that the Sultan agreed to give up Jerusalem. He did not expect Sulejman to, but as we agreed, we will recogzine this agreement.
The Jihad will hurry to your lands as soon as possible.
- Emir Abu Tahir Tamim ibn al-Muizz
The Sultan is pleased that you agree. But he wants to stress that he is not trying to dominate the relationship, as allies are equals, under Allah. Jerusalem is neutral now, all I wished for was the assurance by Sultan Sulejman that he would leave it and now take it for his own. This simply keeps the peace between our empires. And the army is to be led by myself in my lands, but it is more because my men have knowledge of the areas and how to not disturb the countryside. Do not worry - I expect much of the action to take place outside my borders. I await your arrival.
Seljuk attack/Jihad RP:http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread....7#post10094347
The harsh sands of the desert whipped along the feet of many men, the quiet loudness that made the bleakness a wonder to any man who truly beheld it for what it was. The silence was all the more to behold for the backdrop it loomed over. The desert on this day was painted by more than just grey, sand, and silence - it was populated by something seen a thousand times, yet new in every way. The long line stretched back into the darkness, creating a confused feeling that this inestimable line was nothing more than a mirage.
Yet it was much more than that. The dark shape stretched forth was his army. The army he had led across the far, deserted corners of the world, and now, past them. The Great Sultan Malik, Shah of the Seljuks, stood in stark stillness that contrasted greatly with what he watched pass him. His army... 72,100 men, the best he had to offer, divided into many, many groupings. Each of his mighty corps carried a legacy, the idea of the great horseman of the steppe, the cavalryman, the archer, the independent man in the service of something so much less individual than could ever be imagined. Each of these men, independent each - was the servant of the Him, not just the sultan, but the caliph, and all were servants of Allah, he whose message was brought so many years ago by Muhammad, without whom they were all lost...
God is great, the Sultan's thought screamed in the silence. And here they were to prove it. In his younger years he would have been content to lead a mighty empire, to administer and teach to those who would come after him. Be a strong leader, be righteous with all subjects, help the poor. Yet now was a new time. News had reached him, as if across a great divide that he could not remain in seclusion forever. The accursed Infidels, carriers of the bent Cross would not leave, would not be taught. A letter had arrived starkly in his lap, happily in his capital of beauty and wonder. Amazed at the print yet turning it over softly, he remembered the feeling it had beholden in him. He still had the letter, tucked far into his royal sack, where no man could see into its darkness. And the land of Allah will burn...
So it had come to this finality. The powers of evil had reached into his happiness, into his serene power, and torn him from his love, his children, oh... Christian knights were gathering along his border, and the storm clouds of many more loomed behind them. They were men, if any could be called that. They fought well and were fierce behind their walls of stone, steel, and resolve. The fools were strong, but our men were the smarter. The enemy can be overcome, as they had many times before. It was in his lifetime, he mused, that the powerful Romans had been overcome - he had seen them run, their leader captured, their lands overrun. It was only time until the Roman Empire, fell. But others lay behind, and the time for that encounter was nigh. And so the Sultan watched his men, and watched them well. My brothers, my sons, your history will be written forever, the tales of your bravery retold over and over.
For these are the times men are made for, times of silence and times of death. For a moment all was dark as a heavy branch of sand in the clouds obscured all. Many men bent low, shielding their eyes for fear of pain. Oh yes, there was fear, for only a fool would disagree with that. And then once again the Army marched. The Sultan's great force was headed for one destination, Antioch. The ancient capital, the city of bulwarks and tall men. From their, perhaps a greater city, and more worthy foe, yet none could tell. The Sultan knew the time had come to act, and so the string of strong cities stretching along the Great Sea woud be stormed and they would be taken, Constantinope would be the last.
The Sultan knew that his army would be backed by fellow Muslims, protectors of the Crescent. The Mamelukes and Tunisians were proud peoples, oft enemies, greater as allies. Now behind him they gathered, they would aid his jihad, their jihad. For if the Great Infidel wants a war, then perhaps more than just the lands off Allah will burn, but the lands of the Eternal City would be upended, the courses of mankind turned. Now is when man fought. The sand hid the great army as it marched north. Antioch and destiny lay ahead.
The letter was scratched out in parchment, inked black in a flowing style. The smooth movements over the parchment was not aided by the incessant rocking created by the desert, but such was life. Still deep in the deserts of Syria, the Great Sultan continued at the head of his great army, looking to the matters of the empire all along. It was his burden of responsibility and his land to create in the image Allah would wish.
Sweeping his wrist across the third page in the artistic style taught to all heirs of the Turkish throne, Malik Shah softly breathed on the ink to dry it. This first letter, though the simplest, was the most important to the future of his campaign. It was to be copied many times by the multitude of scribes and sent to the far corners of his empire, wherever he had ordained that they go. The letter held text that expressed the Sultan's wish to see his sons and greatest governors in Damascus by the end of the campaigning season.
The same letter was being sent to his allies in Rum, Egypt, and Tunisia, though they might already be there by the time the letter reached them. His family as well as the governors and allies were invited to his court for the celebration of Ramadan. The campaign would have to wait for the winter by then and they would be able to gather for a month to ask Allah for blessings and worship him.
Yes, this joyous festival would be best in Damascus, the ancient city. Incurring Allah's blessings would be all they would need to defeat the Infidels, and it was a special time indeed.