Origins & Early Life

Kilij Arslan I ibn Suleiman (Old Anatolian Turkish: قِلِیچ اَرسلان; Persian: قلیچ ارسلان, romanized: Qilij Arslān; Turkish: I. Kılıç Arslan or Kılıcarslan, lit. "Sword Lion") (‎1079–1107) was the Seljuk sultan of Rûm. He reigned from 1092 until his death in 1107.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He ruled the Sultanate during the time of the First Crusade and thus faced the earliest attacks from Christian forces. He also re-established the Sultanate of Rum after the death of Malik Shah I of the Seljuk Empire and defeated the Crusaders in three battles during the Crusade of 1101. Kilij Arslan was the first Muslim and Turkish commander to fight against the Crusaders, commanding his horse archers as a teenager. After the death of his father, Suleiman ibn Qutalmish, in 1086, he became a hostage of Sultan Malik Shah I of Great Seljuq in Isfahan, but was released when Malik Shah died in 1092 in the wake of a quarrel among his jailers. Kilij Arslan then marched at the head of the Turkish Oghuz Yiva tribe army and set up his capital at Nicaea, replacing Amin 'l Ghazni, the governor appointed by Malik Shah I.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Following the death of Malik Shah I the individual tribes, the Danishmends, Mangujekids, Saltuqids...

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