The Battle of Manzikert

The Byzantine numbers tend to vary dependant on historian. Anywhere form 60,000-100,000 seems plausible. Meanwhile, Alp Arslan was on a seige of Antioch. He had plans to go further south and carry his war against the Shi'a Buyids in Fatamid held territory. Once he caught wind of the Rumi invasion, however, he sent out his wife with vizier, Nizam al-Mulk to Azerbaijan for reinforcements. Meaning, he didn't have the capability at the time to offer battle without strengthening his numbers.

 

There were many unique factors that came into play prior to the battle. Let's start with the Byzantines. This state was at the peak of power not too far back with the reign of basileus Basil II- the Bulgar Slayer. However after his death in 1025 Byzantine intrigue and state corruption ushered in an imploding era. Being childless also meant that no true male heir was available. While Basil's surpluses dwindled, competing families of the Ducas and the Monomachus clans further drained state wealth. During this slide into instability some of the most revered Byzantine establishments fell into disarray. One of them being the thematic military recruit system. No longer were the citizen soldiers able to afford thier military obligations.

 

More distressing events were to unfold. The current baslieus Constantine IX spent much energy spiffing up his capital with valuable funds for arts and centers of learning instead of military upkeep. In order to raise even more revenue for his projects he disbanded the Armenian themes, which used to be valuable military strongholds. A most dangerous decision since that was about the same time that Oguz Turkmen raiders started to make their presence felt in the same area of the disbanded themes.

 

Important factors continue...

 

Religious schism between the Orthodox and Latin Churches further weakend the Byzantine prospects in carrying the war to the Seljuks. A filoque controversy over the Dual Procession of the Holy Ghost would divide the Christian world. The indecision led to the Great Schism of 1054 and it would assure that religious unity would be fleeting. In the future, when times would get tough and western support was needed, this fractious interplay would result in diminished military support.

 

One more item to our backdropt prior to Manzikert. The lineage of the Monomachus clans, following the death wish of ConstantineIX to safeguard it , would remain in jeopardy. The Ducas families asserted themselves as a political force yet their intrigue led to misfortune time and time again. On his death bed ConstantineIX ordered his wife Eudoxia not to marry, most likely to safeguard from non-familial control of the Capital. His widowed wife had other intentions. She fell for the warrior Romanus Diogenes. Thus he rose to prominance as Basileus after the wedding in 1068. This may have been a much needed shot in the arm to keep from even more dwindling borders. To the Ducas families it was a disgrace and they eventually aimed to take out their angst with full measure. There inevitable act of revenge would soon open pandora's box.

 

 

The reason I spent some time providing this immediate history of the Byzantines prior to the eventful Battle of Manikert is that much needed attention is directed at this fragile situation. A sensitivity that would have diasastrous effects.

 

To continue...

 

While the single minded and stubborn Diogenes needed to prove himself just to survive, the Ducas' had nothing but contempt. In 1070 he gathered as many military forces as he could muster. He would strong arm the disgruntled aristocracy and Church into forking over much need funds. Since the Byzantine military now relied on mercenaries, the cost was large. In order to stabilize his newly gained position Romanus needed to make a profound decision. A guarantee was needed back home while he took the fight against the Turks. He decided to take Andronicus Ducas with him to the battle. This meant that he had an insurance policy from any further palace intrigue while he was away from the capital.

 

Going on through to the point just before the battle was imminent, both the Seljuks and Byzantines had diplomats negotiating offers of peace. All that was needed was for the lands on the border to be respected. Alp Arslan knew that keeping his Turkmen raiders at bay would be a most difficult quest. For Romanus to accept the peace would mean ridicule and weaked sense of purpose. Afterall, he did not go all the way across anatolia just to sign a peace treaty and become fodder for accusations of cowardice. No, both men knew war would be the answer.

 

I won't go into much discussion of the battle or the poor decision making of Romanus other than he had an opportunity to hold his troops together. Instead he split them into hunting groups and expedition forces which met surprised disaster. The lost armies of Tarchaniotis and Roussel were not to be found. Of course much has been made of the numbers that took place in the ensueing battle. Whatever they may actually be, there were a couple more nails to be put in the Byzantine coffin. Romanus ordered a force under Bryennius to look for the rest of the Byzantine forces and call them back to camp. Instead this force was demolished by vigilant Turks, Bryennius somehow made it back.

 

The formations of both armies is an important measure and a telling tale to come. The Byzantines did the usual multiple ranks mostly of marching infantry and heavy cavalry thing. With one twist. Andronicus, the dreaded Ducas, would manage the large rear guard. The Seljuks did their normal steppe thing. They extended tips of riders to encompass the enemy and shower arrows from a distance. The bulk of the numbers being at the center of this concave. Of course for the Turks this formation provided many strategic opportunities. Battle hardened steppe tactics would prove to come in handy. They decided on the hail mary of game closers, the feigned retreat. The Byzantines marched on and intended to create havoc. Dust. August sun. Thirst. Multitudes of men.  Slow and dedicated. It took time. The Turks would retreat as Romanus bulled ahead. Yet hours of indecision led to nightfall. Diogenes ordered a retreat back to his camp. Turning about in a battle, unless done with efficient discipline, is bound to open opportunities for disgrace. This was the exact moment that Ducas used to attain his revenge. Alp Arslan gave the feigned Turks the order to attack now that the bait had been set. The center of the Seljuks lowered their bows and charged with handy swords, spears and maces, while the flanks continued to pepper with arrows. In the mean time the fate of the Byzantine forces would lay with Andronicus. He spread a rumor that the Romanus was captured or killed. Those payed troops for hire listened then had a revelation. Fight as mercenaires in a style that is now surely to be precarious at best or switch sides in the nic of time to those relatives who carry a style of fighting familiar with? Well, this mutiny alongside of the treachery from the withdrawing rear guard of Ducas sealed the Byzantines plight and the purple would lose the day.

 

This victory for Alp allowed his empire to grow. Seljuk arts and places of learning would mushroom. Islamic brotherhoods would move from Iran to Turkish anatolia consisting of Sufi liberalism. Most importantly, Turkish families and style of life would transfrom the landscape in their favor.

 

For Romanus, he was given quarter by Alp. Lost his eyes by Ducas back in Constantinople. Died exiled on an island in the marmara sea. The Byzantines did pull itself up with the leadership from the Komnenos families. The most important effect this family had was its request of troops from the west. After the Great Schism, a somewhat surprisingly favorable reply resulted in the massive invasion of Crusading forces against the Turks in Anatolia and muslims of the Holy lands.

 

 

 

 

AL-Jassas

 

We are already off topic but I'll answer your question regarding Arabic language. The Buyahids were the first dynasty to officially use persian in thier government correspondents. All the other Islamic countries used Arabic. Remember that Al-Bairuni's book about India was an official report to the king of Ghaznah Mahmud and it was written in Arabic. Actually, the overwhelming philosophical and scientific heritage until the fall of Baghdad was written in Arabic and it was mostly done by Persians. The Nizami colledges started by Nizam Al Mulk which taught philosophy and science in addition to jurispudence were all in Arabic until the fall of Baghdad. Even Divan Lughat e-Turk by Kashghari was written in Arabic. The language of administration remained Arabic until the Ghurid came. The adopted Persian because most of the civil servants they employed were persians. The later Saljukes after their schism with the Abbasids lived in either Esfahan or Merv not Baghdad and found that it was more convenient to use Persian rather than Arabic in administration because there were no Arabs. The switch came around the mid 12th century.  

 

Al-Jassas