Malik-Shah I

Malik-Shah I
Miniature of Malik-Shah I
Sultan of the Great Seljuq Empire
Reign	15 December 1072 – 19 November 1092
Predecessor	Alp Arslan
Successor	Mahmud I
Born	8 August 1055
Died	19 November 1092 (aged 37) Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate, now Iraq
Burial	Isfahan
Spouse	Terken Khatun Zubayda Khatun Safariyya Khatun
Issue	Barkiyaruq Muhammad Tapar Ahmad Sanjar Mahmud I Ahmed Shuja Dawud Mah-i Mulk Khatun Sitara Khatun Gawhar Khatun Ismah Khatun
House	House of Seljuq
Father	Alp Arslan
Religion	Islam

Jalāl al-Dawla Mu'izz al-Dunyā Wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fatḥ ibn Alp Arslān (8 August 1055 – 19 November 1092, full name: Persian: معزالدنیا و الدین ملکشاه بن محمد الب ارسلان قسیم امیرالمومنین‎‎), better known by his regnal name of Malik-Shah I (Persian: ملکشاه‎‎), was sultan of the Seljuq Empire from 1072 to 1092.

During his youth, he spent his time participating in the campaigns of his father Alp Arslan, along the latter's vizier Nizam al-Mulk. During one of such campaigns in 1072, Alp Arslan was fatally wounded and died only a few days later. After that, Malik-Shah was crowned as the new sultan of the empire, however, Malik-Shah did not access the throne peacefully, and had to fight his uncle Qavurt, who claimed the throne. Although Malik-Shah was the nominal head of the Seljuq state, the vizier Nizam al-Mulk held near absolute power during his reign. Malik-Shah spent the rest of rest waging war against the Karakhanids on the eastern side, and establishing order in the Caucasus.

Malik-Shah's death to this day remains under dispute; according to some scholars, he was poisoned by the Caliph, while others say that he was poisoned by the supporters of Nizam al-Mulk.

Although he was known by several names, he was mostly known as "Malik-Shah", a combination of the Arabic word malik (king) and the Persian word shah (which also means king).

Malik-Shah was born on 16 August 1055 and spent his youth in Isfahan. According to the 12th-century Persian historian Muhammad bin Ali Rawandi, Malik-Shah had fair skin, was tall and somewhat bulky. In 1064, Malik-Shah, only 9 years old by then, along with Nizam al-Mulk, the Persian vizier of the Empire, took part in Alp Arslan’s campaign in the Caucasus. The same year, Malik-Shah was married to Terken Khatun, the daughter of the Karakhanid khan Ibrahim Tamghach-Khan. In 1066, Alp Arslan arranged a ceremony near Merv, where he appointed Malik-Shah as his heir and also granted him Isfahan as a fief.