Saljuq (Turcoman) thirteenth century
The early history of the Turks is lost in legend. They are first mentioned in Chinese sources in the fourteenth century BC. In the second century BC they are the warrior tribes Hiung-nu or Hsiung-nu. The name Turks first appears in the sixth century AD, in the Chinese form of Tu-küe, which Greek sources render as Turqos.
Turkish tribes headed westwards, and arrived in Asia Minor in the ninth century, where they came into contact with the Arabians, and accepted Islam. For a time they served as mercenaries of the caliph of Baghdad. In the tenth century, under the rule of Seljuk ben Dukak (Tukak), they formed aunion with the Oghuz group of tribes, and adopted the name Seljuk or Saljuq. Dukak's successor, Tughril Beg, took advantage of Persia's weakness and conquered Khorasan, Azerbaijan, Media and Iran. In 1055 he captured Baghdad, and proclaimed himself King of East and West as Amir al-Umara.
He founded the Saljuq dynasty which would rule from the Bosphorus to
Turkestan for the next 100 years. His successors, Alp Arslan Muhammad
ibn Dawud (1063-72) defeated the Byzantine army at Manzikert in 1071 and continued the drive westwards. Malikshah (1071-92) extended his rule over Syria, Georgia and most of Asia Minor. The Saljuq state was then at the height of its power. After the death of Malikshah, members of the Saljuq dynasty divided the state into Rum (Anatolia) and the Baghdad Caliphate.
The appearance of the Saljuqs and their mass settlement in the Middle East and Asia Minor caused a series of socio-economic and ethnic changes in the area in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Their capture of Jerusalem in 1076 was one of the causes of the Crusades. Although defeated in the First Crusade, the Saljuqs of Rum subsequently blocked the overland route to Jerusalem, and were in constant conflict with the Crusaders.
In their ancestral homeland, in Central Asia, the Turks had subjugated
related nomadic tribes - the Turcomans - and forced them to join the move to the west, but they remained politically unreliable. To keep them occupied and prevent their meddling in internal matters, the Saljuqs tried to keep them engaged in wars and settled them in border areas. The Turcoman warriors at the borders were called ghazis, a name later used for all defenders of the Moslem world.
The bulk of the Saljuq forces facing the Crusaders at the borders consisted of Turcomans. They were excellent riders, and were armed with deadly bows. They used hit-and-run nomad tactics, firing their arrows from about 50 metres/55 ft; even at that distance, they could pierce mail coif. Their equipment was made according to the Asiatic tradition, and richly ornamented in the Arab style.
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