Kilij Arslan II

Biography

Early life and personality

Born in 1113, Kilij was the son of Mesud I, sultan of the Sultanate of Rum. In 1148 he captured the city of Marash, after the surrounding region had been devastated by the Danishmendids in 1136-1137. Historical sources mentioned that Kilij Arslan II was a hunchback, and the discovery of his skeleton confirmed this. The study revealed that he actually stood 1,83 meters (6 feet) tall, but his hunchback gave an impression of a shorter height.

Reign

In 1158, the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos marched back to Constantinople from Syria through the lands of the Sultanate despite having been denied passage. At Kotyaion Kilij’s forces attacked and inflicted a defeat on the emperor, beginning the Byzantine–Seljuk War of 1158–1162. Shortly after the battle, Manuel made reprisal raids against Seljuk territories. Kilij then sacked Laodikeia and the emperor planned a major campaign against Iconium. In 1160, Manuel's nephew John Contostephanus defeated Kilij, and the sultan travelled to Constantinople in a show of submission either in late 1160 or 1161.

As Arnold of Lübeck reports in his Chronica Slavorum, he was present at the meeting of Henry the Lion with Kilij during the former's pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1172. When they met near Tarsus, the sultan embraced and kissed the German duke, reminding him that they were blood cousins ('amplexans et deosculans eum, dicens, eum consanguineum suum esse'). When the duke asked for details of this relationship, Kilij informed him that 'a noble lady from the land of Germans married a king of Russia who had a daughter by her; this daughter's daughter arrived to our land, and I descend from her.'

In 1173, Kilij, now at peace with the Byzantines, allied with Nur ad-Din against Mosul. The peace treaty with the Byzantines lasted until 1175, when Kilij refused to hand over to Manuel the territory conquered from the Danishmends, although both sides had for some time been building up their fortifications and armies in preparation for a renewed war. Kilij tried to negotiate, but Manuel invaded the sultanate in 1176, intending to capture Iconium itself. He was able to defeat Emperor Manuel I Komnenos's army at the Battle of Myriokephalon, the Sultan forced the emperor to negotiate a fragile peace.

In 1179, Kilij captured and held to ransom Henry I, the renowned count of Champagne, who was returning overland from a visit to Jerusalem. The ransom was paid by the Byzantine Emperor and Henry was released, but died soon afterwards. The same year, Pope Alexander III wrote to Kilij, whom he had heard was interested in converting to Christianity and desired information. According to the German chronicler Otto of Sankt Blasien, writing about thirty years later, the sultan also reached out at the same time to the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, seeking a marriage with the emperor's daughter, Beatrice. According to Otto, Kilij offered to convert to Christianity along with his subjects. Frederick agreed to the marriage, but Beatrice died before it could take place. It is probable that Kilij's overtures to pope and emperor were less about religion than about counterbalancing the Byzantines by pursuing warm relations with the west.

Feud with Nur al-Din Muhammad

Nur al-Din Muhammad was the caliphal vassal Artuqid ruler of the Diyar Bakr, the northernmost region of Mesopotamia. He had married a daughter of Kilij Arslan II, but neglected her in favour of a singing girl. Angered, Kilij Arslan threatened Nur ad-Din, who sought the protection of Saladin in 1179.

According to contemporary accounts, only a few months after their wedding, Nur al-Din Muhammad turned away from Seljuki Khatun and treated her badly. Ibn al-Athir (1160–1233/34) wrote:

“Nur al-Din Muhammad married the daughter of Kilij Arslan. She remained with him for some time, but then he fell in love with a singer and married her. He turned away from the daughter of Kilij Arslan and left her in neglect.”Michael the Syrian (c. 1126–1199) also stated:

“A quarrel arose between Sultan Kilij Arslan and his son-in-law Nur al-Din because the latter divorced and drove away the Sultan's daughter because of a devilish love for a certain loose woman.”The French translation is similar, but the English translation of the text differs somewhat:

“A war arose between the Sultan and Nur al-Din, because Nur al-Din hated his wife, who was the daughter of the Sultan.”Bar Hebraeus (1226–1286) did not provide further details, writing:

“This man was the Sultan's son-in-law, and he committed a great folly with the Sultan's daughter and involved her in a situation of adultery.”Historians have described the woman for whom Seljuk Khatun was rejected by her husband as either a singer or a dancer.

Unaccustomed to such neglect, the princess became indignant and wrote to her father.

When Sultan Kilij Arslan II learned of his son-in-law's treatment of his daughter, he immediately sent an envoy demanding that Nur al-Din either return the dowry or leave the singer. When no response was received, Kilij Arslan attacked his son-in-law. It is possible that Kilij Arslan intended to use this as a pretext for annexing the Artuqid territories. His army invaded Muhammad's lands.

Death of Nur al-Din Muhammad and remarriage of his daughter with the caliph al-Nasir

When Nur al-Din's estranged wife arrived in Baghdad from Mecca after Hajj, news came that her husband, Nur al-Din Muhammad, had died in 1185. The caliph al-Nasir proposed Seljuk Khatun for marriage. She was uncertain about marrying the Caliph, but al-Nasir ordered her to be brought to the palace and married her.

Thus his widow became wife of his overlord, the caliph al-Nasir.

Al-Nasir sent an honourable escort for her. She arrived in Baghdad, where the marriage was concluded, and the Caliph presented her with jewels “worthy of caliphs and rulers”.

Children

In 1186, Kilij decided to divide the Sultanate among his 11 sons and 3 daughters as follows:

Qutb al-Din (Sivas, Aksaray)

Rukn al-Din (Tokat and its surroundings)

Nur al-Din (Kayseri and its surroundings)

Muqsed al-Din (Elbistan)

Muizz al-Din Caesar Shah (Malatya)

Muhyiddin Mesut (Ankara, Çankırı, Kastamonu and Eskişehir)

Kaykhusraw I (Uluborlu, Kutahya)

Naser al-Din (Niksar, Koyulhisar)

Nizam al-Din (Amasya)

Arslanshah (Niğde)

Sancarshah (Ereğli and its south)

Fülane Khatun

Gawhar Nasiba Khatun

Seljuki Khatun