Suleyman I of Rûm

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Suleyman I (Arabic: سليمان بن قتلمش‎, Sulayman bin Kutalmish) founded an independent Seljuk Turkish state in Anatolia and ruled as Seljuk Sultan of Rûm from 1077 until his death in 1086.

Suleyman was the son of Kutalmish, who had struggled unsuccessfully against his cousin Alp Arslan for the throne of Great Seljuk Empire. When Kutalmish died in 1064, Suleyman fled with his three brothers into the Taurus Mountains and there sought refuge with Turkmen tribes living beyond the borders of the empire. Alp Arslan responded by launching a series of punitive expeditions against them. Of the four brothers, Suleyman alone survived the raids and was able to consolidate his leadership of the Turkmen.^[1]

In 1078, the Byzantine emperor Michael VII sought the help of Suleyman against Nicephorus Botaneiates, the commander of the Anatolikon theme, who had challenged the emperor for the throne. Suleyman intercepted Botaneiates' small force between Cotyaeum and Nicaea, whereupon the usurper persuaded Suleyman to join his rebellion by offering him incentives superior to those of the emperor.^[2] Nicephorus' bid for power was successful, and in return for their support Suleyman's Turkmen were allowed to settle on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, near Constantinople itself. Two years later, Suleyman lent his support to another pretender ,Nicephorus Melissenus.^[3] It was the latter Nicephorus who opened the gates of Nicaea to the Turkmen, allowing Suleyman to establish a permanent base.^[4] All Bithynia was soon under Suleyman's control, a circumstance which allowed him to restrict communication between Constantinople and the former Byzantine subjects in Asia Minor.

In 1084, Suleyman left Nicaea, leaving his kinsman Abu'l Qasim in charge.

Suleyman expanded his realm but was killed near Antioch in 1086 by Tutush I, the Seljuk ruler of Syria. Suleyman's son, Kilij Arslan I, was captured, and Malik Shah transferred him to Isfahan as a hostage. It is uncertain whether Tutush killed Süleyman out of loyalty to Malik Shah I or simply for personal gain.

Upon the death of Malik Shah I, Kilij Arslan I re-established the Sultanate of Rûm.

[edit] References

^ Claude Cahen, Pre-Ottoman Turkey: a general survey of the material and spiritual culture and history c. 1071-1330, trans. J. Jones-Williams (New York: Taplinger, 1968), pp. 73-4.
^ Speros Vryonis, The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century (University of California Press, 1971), pp. 112-3.
^ George Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State, trans. Joan Hussey (Rutgers University Press, 1969), pp. 348-9.
^ Cahen, p. 75