[September 4] Tughril, shahanshah of Persia

Commemorative monument dedicated to Tughril near Tehran

True Name: Tuğrul (طغرل)
Date of Birth: c. 990
Parents: Seljuk, chief of the Kinik tribe
House: Seljuk

Reign: 1016 – 1063

Summary: When he first appeared on the steppe around 1016, few feared him or worried about his power. Tughril was of the Seljuk line, descended from a Turkoman warrior and leader of a small confederacy of Turkic tribes. In 1025, his brother, Chaghri, and he joined forces with the Kara-Khanid Sultanate of Bukhara, but that year the sultanate was defeated by the Ghaznavid Empire. Tughril settled in Khwarezm where he began army building, while an uncle settled in Khorasan and did the same. When that uncle, Arslan, was defeated, Tughril reacted and conquered the entire region between 1028 and 1029. By 1037, they had sacked Ghazni itself and Tughril took the sultanate of Nishapur for himself. Three years later, the battle of Dandanaqan forced the remnants of the Ghaznavid Empire to flee to the east, leaving massive land gains for the up-and-coming Seljuk leader. With the Ghaznavids out of the way, Tughril moved to consolidate his control over the remainder of Persia, which he accomplished by 1044.

With Persia under direct Seljuk control, Tughril pushed his armies to the doorstep to the Byzantine Empire and was being looked on by the Abbasid Caliphate as a potential savior from their occupation by Buyid raiders. Tughril took the city of Baghdad for himself in 1055 but lost it three years later. He reclaimed the city in 1060, having killed his foster brother to ensure its defeat. To secure his position within the Caliphate, Tughril married the daughter of the caliph. Unfortunately, he died childless three years later in Persia. His nephew, Suleiman, was appointed his successor but Alp Arslan, another Seljuk rival, eventually defeated him and took the throne the next year.

Date of Death: 4 September 1063

Successor: Alp Arsian

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Boniface I, pope of Rome (422)
• Musa al-Kadhim, imam of Shi'a Islam (799)
• Bermudo III, king of León (1037)