[December 15] Alp Arslan, shah of Persia

Local Name: Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri (آلپ ارسلان)
Sobriquet: "Alp Arslan" (Heroic Lion)
Parents: Chaghri Beg, governor of Khorasan
Date of Birth: 20 January 1029
House: Seljuq
Spouse(s): Aka
Predecessor: Toghrul I
Reign: 1063 – 1072

Brief: Though raised as the grandson of the first Seljuq shah, Alp Arslan began his career as a regional governor in Khorasan. A conflict broke out when his uncle, Toghrul I, died leaving the Seljuq throne open to a brother, Kutalmish, and Alp Arslan. After five years of civil warfare, Alp Arslan finally defeated his uncle and became the sole ruler of Persia. As one of his first moves, he appointed his son, Malik, his heir and successor, to avoid future civil war. He followed the civil war with an expansion campaign, quickly defeating and conquering Armenia and Georgia and annexing them to his empire. In 1068, Alp Arslan pushed into the Byzantine Empire, being defeated in 1070. In 1071, the Byzantines counter-attacked but at the Battle of Manzikert, a large contingent of Byzantine soldiers defected to the Persians, routing the Byzantine army. In the battle, he captured Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes and then released him, with a heavy life debt and guilt. Most of Anatolia fell under Seljuq authority, establishing the current Turkish presence in the peninsula. Alp Arslan reformed the bureaucracy of Persia to make it more stream-lined between Turkish nomads and sedentary Persians. He placed his relatives as governors throughout the lands to satisfy and pacify them. Alp Arslan was in the midst of a campaign to retake Turkestan, the Turkish homeland, when a defeated prince drew a dagger and killed the shah. Alp Arslan's attacks against the Byzantines forced them to call for help from the West, prompting the First Crusade.
Date of Death: 15 December 1072

Successor: Malik-Shah I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Basil II, emperor of Constantinople (1025)
• Otakar I, king of Bohemia (1230)
• Håkon IV, king of Norway (1263)

[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)

[August 11] Möngke Khan, great khan of the Mongol Empire

True Name: Мөнх хаан
Parents: Tolui, great khan of the Mongol Empire, and Sorghaghtani Beki of the Kereyid Clan
Date of Birth: 10 January 1209

House: Borjigin

Spouse(s): (1) Qutuqui of the Ikheres Clan, (2) Oghul-Khoimish of the Oirats Clan, and (3) Chubei

Predecessor: Güyük Khan
Reign: 1251 – 1259

Summary: The greatest expander of Genghis Khan's empire, Möngke was born to Genghis' son, Tolui, although he was raised by another son, Ogedei. In 1230, Möngke followed his uncle to war against the Jin Dynasty of Manchuria. His father died in 1232 and he became the ruler of Tolui's expansive khanate. In 1235, Möngke was once again sent out by his uncle to defeat the Russians and Bulgars in the Ural Mountains. After his victories there, he went south to subdue the Caucasus region. By 1240, Möngke was helping his brothers and cousins in conquering Kiev. He wished to save the city but when the defenders refused an offer of surrender, the Mongol army sacked it. Möngke returned to Mongolia in 1241 whereupon his uncle, Ogedei, died. Ogedei's son, Güyük was elected thereafter but met harsh resistance from Genghis' brother, Temuge Odchigen. Möngke and Orda Khan were to preside over the trial of Ordchigen when Güyük suddenly died in 1248. Möngke suddenly became the chief claimant to the Mongol throne. His competitor, Batu, was ill and decided to support Möngke in his bid, which allowed the young khan to become the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Horde in succession to Genghis Khan. Up to 300 Mongol aristocrats may have died in the brief succession dispute that followed, but by 1252, Möngke was the uncontested ruler of the Horde.

Möngke was most instrumental in the safe passage afforded to the Silk Road. He turned local princes into salaried bureaucrats and made merchants using the road subject to specific taxes. He sent out investigators to ensure that merchants and princes were not overtaxing caravans along the route, as well. During conquests, Möngke punished soldiers that plundered without authorization. Möngke also used people from throughout his empire—Christians, Muslims, Jews; Chinese, Arabs, Indians—to manage the Empire. To stabilize the economy, Möngke began limiting the issuance of paper money and create the Department of Monetary Affairs. An extensive census was held during the entirety of his reign, covering such vast a region as Iran, Afghanistan, Georgia, Armenia, Russia, Central Asia, and North China. He used the data from this to fairly tax the people throughout the empire based on percentage quotas. In 1253, Möngke conquered Tibet but made the entire Buddhist network in the country exempt from taxes. Möngke was Buddhist and most of his family was also Buddhist until the Persian and Arab conquests caused many to convert to Islam. Still, to ensure peace throughout the Empire, Möngke generally allowed regions to retain their local religions. The conquests of the Mongol Empire between 1251 and 1259 were significant. Korea was conquered then allowed to rule as a vassal state. China was surrounded, with Yunnan in northern India, Vietnam, and Tibet all conquered in a relatively short time.  In Delhi, Möngke became the de facto ruler after assisting the legitimate king to reclaim his throne. In the Middle East, Möngke's brother Hulegu invaded Iran and sacked Baghdad in 1258, then continued on to Syria where he took Damascus, Aleppo, and Gaza. Möngke was in the midst of the conquest of China when he caught dysentery or cholera in August 1259. The Mongol expansion ceased for a time and war broke out between his brothers, Kublai Khan and Ariq Koke. Kublai won the war, but the unified Mongol Empire ended with Mönke's death, leaving numerous successor states throughout Asia.

Date of Death: 11 August 1259
Successor: Kublai Khan

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Magnentius, usurper of Rome (353)
• Flavian, archbishop of Constantinople (449)
• Wilfred I, count of Barcelona (897)
• Guttorm, king of Norway (1204)

[July 27] Mohammad Reza, shah of Iran

True Name: محمدرضاشاه پهلوی

Parents: Reza Shah, shah of Iran, and Tadj ol-Molouk

Date of Birth: 26 October 1919
Royal House: Pahlavi
Spouse: (1) Fawzia, daughter of Faud I, king of Egypt, and Nazli Sabri, then (2) Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, daughter of Khalil Esfandiary, Iranian ambassador to West Germany, and Eva Karl, then (3) Farah, daughter of Captain Sohrab Diba, and Farideh Ghotbi
Predecessor: Reza Shah
Reign: 1941 – 1979
Summary: The victim of American intervention and revolutionary sentimentality, Mohammad Reza was the last shah of Iran and ruled for almost four decades before the Iranian Revolution removed him from power. Born in 1919 to Reza Shah, the twin brother of Ashraf Pahlavi, his sister, Mohammad did not become officially royalty until his father became shah in 1925. In 1930, Mohammad was sent to boarding school in Switzerland, the first Iranian prince to be sent abroad for his education. When he returned in 1936, he joined a local military academy in Tehran. Although Iran was neutral in World War II, Britain and the Soviet Union invaded the country in 1941 to secure oil reserves. Iran had been helping the allies through the Persian Gulf during the first two years of the war and it became known as the Persian Corridor. Reza Shah was deposed by the invading Allied Powers due to pro-German sympathies and a lack of modernization in the empire. Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Foroughi fought to keep a Pahlavi on the throne and ensured the succession of Mohammad Reza in September 1941.

Mohammad Reza served as the figurehead leader of the Iranian government during World War II but by the 1950s, he was under duress. His new prime minister, Dr. Mosaddegh, wanted to nationalize the oil industry which was controlled in part by Britain. He was successful and the British were pushed out, endangering their own economy. US president Harry Truman supported the take-over but Eisenhower did not and fears ran wild that Iran was in the midst of a communist coup. The United States attempted to remove the new prime minister with the help of Mohammad Reza, but the plan backfired and the shah spent six months on the run from Baghdad, then to Rome. A second coup attempt succeeded and the shah was allowed to return to Iran. When Mohammad regained his office, he became increasingly fearful of technocrats and intellectuals and he barred them from government, leaving the government in the hands of conservatives. He feared communist influence in his country. He became actively involved in local royal politics, supporting the Yemeni royal family against republicans in the late 1960s and assisting the sultan of Oman in a rebellion in 1971. The shah worked to increase his standing with the other Persian Gulf states. His government, however, was in constant conflict with Iraq concerning especially shipping rights on a shared canal and the two countries almost went into open war numerous times. The shah was personally responsible for funding weapons in Kurdistan to fight against Iraq. In an interesting twist, Iran was the first Muslim leader to recognize the State of Israel, though he was constantly critical of the power of Jews in America. By the last years of his reign, Mohammad Reza became increasingly autocratic, outlawing rival political parties and installing his photograph through Iran. The disparity of wealth in Iran was made obvious in the 2,500-year anniversary celebration the shah held for the Iranian monarchy in 1971. It cost around $100 million while nearby villages were starving. The revolts began soon after. In 1977, the first major protests began. The next year, nation-wide strikes crippled the economy and millions marched against the shah. On 16 January 1979, Mohammad Reza left Iran at the suggestion of his prime minister. By the 17th, much of the iconography of the Pahlavi dynasty was destroyed. Thousands of political prisoners were released and Ayatollah Khomeini, a Shi'a religious leader, was allowed to return to Iran after years in exile. Khomeini was offered a Vatican City-like state in Qom where he could establish a home for Shi'a Islam. Instead, Khomeini appointed his own government and took over Iran. By 11 February 1979, the monarchy was dissolved and in its place, a theocracy was installed ruled directly by Ayatolla Khomeini. The former shah jumped from country to country for two years, trying to find a new home. He was finally allowed in the United States to undergo surgical treatments for gallstones. When the US Embassy in Tehran was stormed, the US promptly booted the shah from the United States. He fled to Panama and then Egypt where he soon died from complications from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He was buried in the Al Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo, the final resting place of the last king of Egypt as well. His son, Reza, succeeded him in his pretention to the Iranian throne.

Date of Death: 27 July 1980
Successor: Farah (as pretender)

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Celestine I, pope of Rome (432)
• Conrad, king of Germany & Italy (1101)
• James I, king of Arágon (1276)
• Rudolf IV, duke of Austria (1365)

[June 10] Alexander III, king of Macedon

Surnamed: "The Great"
Parents: Philip II, king of Macedon, and Olympias of Epirus

Date of Birth: 20 July 356 BCE

House: Macedonian

Spouse: (1) Roxana, daughter of Osyartes of Bactria, (2) Stateira II, daughter of Darius III, shahanshah of Persia, and Stateira I, and (3) Parysatis II, daughter of Artaxerxes III, shahanshah of Persia

Predecessor: Philip II

Reign: 336 – 323 BCE

Summary: Alexander was born in Pella, the capital of Macedon located somewhere in northern Greece or Macedonia. Alexander was tutored be Leonidas and Lysimachus in the manner of a Macedonian noble. When he was ten, he received his first horse, which he named Bucephalas. Alexander kept this horse until the end of his days. In 343 BCE, King Philip chose the philosopher Aristotle to tutor his son, and the Temple of the Nymphs at Mieza was the appointed classroom. Alexander fell in love with the epics of Homer while also learning every known science. When Philip left for war, Alexander remained in Pella as the regent and heir apparent. He was given his first chance to rule when Thrace rebelled and Alexander leveled it and founded a new settlement there populated by Greeks called Alexandropolis. It would not be the last city Alexander named after himself. Philip continued to give his son powers and increased the size of his army. In 338 BCE, the two marched together to Thermoplyae and then continued marching south to subdue Greek city-states that were rebelling against Macedonian rule. Once in the far south of Greece, Philip established the League of Corinth between almost all the city-states in Greece and declared war against the Persian Empire. Upon his return to Pella, Philip fell in love with a local lady and Alexander was forced to flee to Illyria. Six months later, the two parties were reunited. In 336 BCE, Philip was assassinated by the captain of his bodyguards. Alexander was proclaimed king at the age of 20.

The new king quickly killed his rival family members. Much of Greece rebelled soon after and Alexander spent the first months of his reign consolidating power in the south. Once secured, he moved north and secured his northern borders. The south rebelled again, and Alexander was forced to raze Thebes to the ground and split it between other rival cities. Once all his rebellions were ended, he moved on toward Persia leaving a lieutenant, Antipater, behind as regent. In twelve years, Alexander conquered all of Persia, Egypt, Asia Minor, and Afghanistan. He marched his army directly toward the Tigris River, sacking or conquering everything he passed. One-by-one, he took Syria, the Levant, Tyre, and Egypt. Jerusalem saw Alexander as a savior against the autocratic rule of the later Persian overlords. In Egypt, he founded Alexandria, a city that would soon become the wealthy center of Ptolemaic Egypt. Alexander then moved north to Mesopotamia and conquered it all before continuing into the Persian heartland. Darius III, emperor of Persia, continued to flee, abandoning the old Persian capital at Susa and the new one at Persepolis. Darius was finally stabbed by Bactrian captors and a pretender arose and fled into the mountains. Alexander eventually defeated the usurper and took the title King of Kings (Shahanshah) and adopted some Persian dress. India became the next target of Alexander's desire, but it would overstretch him. He crossed the Indus at the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BCE and subdued the local lord, making him the new satrap of India. His horse, Bucephalas, died during the engagement. Near the Gnages River, Alexander's army finally mutinied. He never passed into the Indian heartland but was forced to turn for home. In Persia, Alexander began to centralize his rule and established well-defined satrapies throughout his realm. He returned to Babylon and died there after a short fever in 323 BCE. His tomb became a pilgrimage site for many centuries to come. Alexander's empire became the stuff of legend but was divided between his posthumous son, Alexander IV, and a half-brother, Philip III. Within months, though, a civil war broke out that saw the rise of four separate kingdoms formed from former satrapies. In Egypt, the Ptolemys took control. In Persia and Mesopotamia, the Seleucids. In Asia Minor, Pergamon briefly took control, and in Macedon, Alexander and Philip were soon murdered and replaced by upstart generals.

Date of Death: 10 June 323 BCE

Successor: Alexander IV and Philip III

Other Monarch Deaths:

Ernest, margrave of Austria (1075)

Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor (1190)

Ernest, duke of Austria (1424)

Hsinyushin, king of Burma (1776)

[May 23] Ismail I, shahanshah of Persia

True Name: Abū l-Muzaffar bin Haydar as-Safavī (شاه اسماعیل‎;)
Parents: Haydar, leader of the Safaviyya, and Martha

Date of Birth: 17 July 1487

House: Safavid
Spouse: the daughter of Shirvanshah II

Predecessor: Aq Qoyunlu

Reign: 1507 – 1524

Summary: The future of Persia changed because of Ismail's actions throughout his life. His father, Haydar, was the last leader of the Safaviyya Sufi order and a direct descendant of its founder. That made him the heir to his father's legacy. At only a year old, his father died in battle against the Shi'a community in Azerbaijan. Ismail was raised by his mother, who was a half-Greek Turkman. Ismail learned both Persian and Azeri as a child. As the young leader of the Safaviyya Order, he went into hiding until he was old enough to rule. He vowed to make Twelver Shi'a Islam his official religion, and to spread that sect throughout Persia. The people of Azerbaijan and Anatolia were with him, and in 1500, at the age of 13, he led an army of 7,000 troops into Persia where they defeated the local sultan. In 1501, Ismail was crowned shah of Azerbaijan, choosing Tabriz as his capital. Within a decade, the rest of Persia followed. In 1502, he crowned himself Shahanshah ("King of Kings") of Persia. He was young and in charge. 


Many famous legends and stories come from Ismail's reign. In 1510, he defeated a Sunni Uzbeg tribe, defeating a army nearly twice the size of his own, and turning the skull of his rival into a jeweled drinking goblet. Between 1512 and 1514, Ismail and Selim I of the Ottoman Empire exchanged threatening letters then went into open warfare. Selim attacked and captured Tabriz, but was forced to quickly retreat before his campaign was completed. Unfortunately, the defeat against the Ottomans destroyed Ismail. Although he quickly reclaimed his occupied possessions, he fell into heavy drinking and retired from the government. His minister, Mirza Shah-Hussayn, a Timurid, took over rule for the shahanshah. Throughout his reign, Persia reached its arms into Afghanistan, Asia Minor, the Levant, Iraq, and Arabia. Ismail also was a renowned poet under the name Khata'i. Most of his poems were written in Azeri, though many were in Persian as well. He wrote of Sufi love, Shi'a doctrine, and even of his family's politics. He claimed descent from 'Ali, Muhammed's son-in-law and the founder of Shi'ism, and emphasized that in many of his poems. Ismail had many children, but his eldest son, Tahmasp, succeeded him in 1524 when Ismail died at an early age.

Date of Death: 23 May 1524

Successor: Tahmasp I

Other Monarch Deaths:

Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1125)

Ashikaga Yoshitane, shogun of Japan (1523)

Ferdinando II, grand duke of Tuscany (1670)