ALP ARSLAN, or AXAN, MOHAMMED BEN DA`UD (IO29-72), the second sultan of the dynasty of Seljuk, in Persia, and great-grandson of Seljuk, the founder of the dynasty, was born in the year A.D. IO29 (421 of the Hegira). He assumed the name of Mohammed when he embraced the Muslim faith; and on account of his military prowess he ob tained the surname Alp Arslan, which signifies "a valiant lion." He succeeded his father Da`ud as ruler of Khorassan in 1059, and his uncle Togrul Bey as sultan of Oran in 1063, and thus became sole monarch of Persia from the river Oxus to the Tigris. In con solidating his empire he was assisted by Nizam ul-Mulk, his vizier. Peace and security being established in his dominions, he convoked an assembly of the States and declared his son Malik Shah his heir and successor.
With the hope of acquiring immense booty in the rich church of St. Basil in Caesarea, the capital of Cappadocia, he placed himself at the head of the Turkish cavalry, crossed the Euphrates and entered and plundered that city. He then subdued Armenia and Georgia, in Io64. In io68 Alp Arslan invaded the Roman Empire. The emperor, Romanus Diogenes, assuming the com mand in person, met the invaders in Cilicia. In three arduous campaigns, the first two conducted by the emperor himself, the third by Manuel Comnenus, the Turks were defeated in detail and finally (I o70) driven across the Euphrates. In I o71 Ro manus again took the field and advanced with I oo,000 men, including a contingent of the Turkish tribe of the Uzes and of the French and Normans, under Ursel of Baliol, into Armenia.
At Manzikert, on the Murad Tchai, north of Lake Van, he was met by Alp Arslan; and the sultan having proposed terms of peace, which were scornfully rejected by the emperor, a battle took place (I o71) in which the Greeks, after severe losses, were totally routed, a result due mainly to the rapid tactics of the Turkish cavalry. Romanus was taken prisoner and conducted into the presence of Alp Arslan, who treated him with generosity, and terms of peace having been agreed to, dismissed him, loaded with presents and respectfully attended by a military guard. Alp Arslan now prepared to march to the conquest of Turkistan, the original seat of his ancestors. With a powerful army he advanced to the bar Ks of the Araxes (Oxus) . Before he could pass the river with safety it was necessary to subdue certain fortresses, one of which was for several days vigorously defended by the governor, Yussuf Kothual, a Kharizmian. He was, how ever, obliged to surrender and was carried a prisoner before the sultan, who condemned him to a cruel death. Yussuf, in des peration, drew his dagger and stabbed the sultan, who died within a few hours (Dec. 15, 1072).
See Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. by J. B. Bury (1898), vi. pp. 235 et seq., and authorities there cited.