Suleiman ibn Kutalmiş

Modern monument of the Kutalmischoglu Suleyman Shah in Tarsus

Suleiman I. ibn Kutalmiş , also Kutalmischoglu Sülejman Shah (سُلَیمان بن قُتَلمِش; † 1086 near Antioch ) was the founder of the Sultanate of Rum and ruled from 1077 to 1086.

His father Kutalmisch was a cousin and a rival of Alp Arslan (ruled 1063–72), the Sultan of the Greater Seljuk Empire .

As a military leader under the Great Seljuq Sultan Malik Shah I , Suleiman conquered Antioch from the Byzantines in 1074 . He became governor of the north-western provinces of the Seljuk Empire and in 1075 conquered the Byzantine cities of Nicea and Nicomedia . So strengthened, Suleiman revolted against Malik Shah, called himself "Sultan of Rum" and expanded his territory at the expense of the Great Seljuks. Nicaea became its capital. Weakened by ongoing intrigues among the neighboring Muslim princes, he had to cede Nicomedia and other lands on the Marmara Sea back to Byzantium in 1085 . When Suleiman marched with his army against Aleppo in 1086 , the rulers there called the governor of the Great Seljuks in Syria , Tutusch I , for help. Near Antioch, Suleiman succumbed to him in battle and was killed.

Suleiman's eldest son Kılıç Arslan was captured and taken hostage to Sultan Malik Shah in Isfahan . The Sultanate of Rum came formally under the rule of the Great Seljuks, but the balance of power was chaotic. Nicaea was under the control of the Turkish rebel Abu'l Kasim for six years . It was not until 1092 that Malik Shah was able to drive him out and sent Kılıç Arslan back to Anatolia, where he installed him as governor in Nicaea. When Malik Shah died in the same year, Kılıç Arslan I restored the independent sultanate of rum and made himself sultan.

According to Anna Komnena , Suleiman was married to a daughter of Tutusch I and had at least one other son in addition to Kılıç Arslan I.

Web links

• Süleyman at fmg.ac

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See M. Defrémery (trans.): Histoire des Seldjoukides. Extraite du Tarikhi guzideh ou Histoire choisie d ' Hamd Allah Mustaufi . In: Journal Asiatique, 4.XI. Paris 1848. (French)
2. ↑ ^{a b} Cf. Steven Runciman : History of the Crusades. Cambridge University Press, 1978, p. 76.
3. ↑ See Steven Runciman : History of the Crusades. Cambridge University Press, 1978, pp. 76 f.
4. ↑ See Anna Komnena: Alexiade , around 1148. Book 6, pp. 208/210.

predecessor	Office	successor
-	Sultan of Rum 1077-1086	Kılıç Arslan I.