By Konstantine Trtiambelas
The Seljuks first appear at the beginning of the eleventh century when they enter the service of Mahmud of Ghazni. Upon his death, they set out on their own; and when his son tries to bring then back into line, they crush him so thoroughly that they put an end to the Ghaznavid Empire.
Between 1040 and 1092, the Seljuqs were caught in the westward migratory flow with the Huns before them and the Mongols after them. They conquered Baghdad, Syria, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, and the coast of Arabia, and reduced Georgia to tributary status, creating thus an empire the size of which the Islamic world had not known since the heyday of the Ummayads.
While the Caliph in Baghdad maintained a spiritual supremacy, the real power throughout the Seljuk Empire was exercised by the Sultan. Great Sultans of this period are Alp Arslan (victor at Mantzikert in 1071) and his grandson, Malik Shah.
Around the time of the First Crusade the impetous in Seljuk expansion was curbed. The nomadic nature of the Turks had not prepared them for the challenges of governing a vast Empire. After the death of Malik Shah, the last powerful Sultan, centrifugal tendencies appeared and local rulers (emirs) began totake over. By 1130 there are three major Sultanates and a number of minor Emirates that make up the Seljuk world:
The Sultanate of Rum, centered in Asia Minor with its capital at Iconium (Konya);
The Sultanate of Hamadan with Baghdad as its capital; and
The Sultanate of Merv, which encompasess all the Eastern provinces all the way up to Aral Sea.
The Sultanates were dotted with many minor local power seats (e.g., Sivas in A. Minor, Damascus, Mosul, Shiraz on the Gulf) whose Emirs were practically the equals of the Sultans they're supposed to be under.
By 1170, Merv is out of the picture having been replaced by tribes of Ghuzz Turks who, in turn, were pushed southward by the first of the flood of Mongolian tribes. In the Middle East, the new power was Zenghi, Emir of Mosul, whose successors, Nureddin and Saladin chipped away at both Hamadan and Rum. A resurgence of Iranian power enthroned the Khwarizmian Shah in Baghdad in the early 1200's while the last of the Seljuq Sultanates, that of Rum, become a Mongol tributary thereafter.
1x3Cav, 3x3Cav or 2LH, 5x2LH, 2x3Aux or 2LH,1x2Ps.
Ghaznavid (#115), Nikephorian Byzantine (#117), Fatimid Egyptian (#118), Georgian (#121), Cuman (#130), Cilician Armenian (#132), Comnenan Byzantine (#138), Early Crusader (#138), Medieval Syrian (#139), Later Crusader (#141), Ayyubid Egyptian (#143), Khwarizmian (#146), Late Byzantine (#153), Mongol (#154), Mamluk Egyptian (#158), and Ilkhanid(#159a).
Although their star shone for only 150-or-so years, the Seljuks represent a potent military force. They reorganized the system of the old Arab Empire in a way that resembles feudalism: every province was responsible for providing their own troops under the leadership of the Emir, although there is no such thing as liege allegiance (i.e., the troops were subjects of their Emir, not the Sultan).
The Sultan's bodyguard together with those of the Emirs are the backbone of the army and they are called Askaris. These are the Cav (and probably the Cav in the Medieval Syrian army) options in the DBA army and the one of those should be the General's element.
In times of war the Askaris were supplemented with large numbers of Turcoman mercenary horse archers and feudal levies who also fought mounted but with shield and spear, not bow. These are the maximum of 10 LH elements available in the DBA army list, although I have a feeling that the DBM list is more detailed and offers more tailoring possibilities (i.e. some horse archers would be S with possibility of long range shooting while the feudal levies could be represented as O or I). A solution would be to play Big Battle DBA and use the variant rule for S, O,and I troops.
With their military system, the Seljuks were able to mobilize large numbers of troops, while every province had the military potential of using its own forces to delay the enemy until the main army arrived. It is known that during the 1st Crusade the most powerful Emirates in Syria, those of Aleppo and Damascus, were each able to field up to 2000 Askaris while in the 13th century the Sultan in Baghdad would command 120,000 horsemen (that's the total for the army, the size of his askar is unknown).
Infantry forces seem to have been unimportant; the DBA option for 2x3Aux must represent lighly armed local troops, perhaps feudal levies who did not have the possibility of equipping themselves for mounted warfare. The Medieval Syrian army (in essence the Seljuk Emirs who broke away from central control) includes a 1x4 Sp which must be the city militia of Damascus, comparable in size and drill to that of a western European city of the same period.
I have no idea about how actually the Seljuks fought, other than the general loose-swarm, half-moon formation of steppe armies that cannot be simulated in DBA anyway. I usually deploy with the Cav in the middle and the LH on the flanks (I rarely choose the Aux option). A fast dash for the opponent's camp is not the only tactical choice for a LH army; you'll be surprised of how easy it is to destroy the enemy with a couple of overlaps, even with the puny +2 of LH. Keep in mind that you're faster than most of your opponents and use that to your advantage. I like to meet the enemy at least half way on the board so there's plenty of room for maneouvering. Pit your Cav against the heaviest part of your enemy's line and give time for your LH to gnaw away.
If your attack gets beat back, no problem; pull back, regroup, attack again. If a destroyed element leaves a gap in your formation, again no problem; chances are that some LH element will be nearby and will rush to fill in faster than your opponent can blink. If you destroy an element in the formation and your rival general has not been wise enough to leave a couple of elements behind as a second line (a good choice when fighting against LH armies), hurray, there's nothing between you and the camp, go straight forward for it.
Thus the incessant, pestering action of LH armies is very well simulated in the game. If a large portion of the enemy's army (half or more) is made up of infantry (e.g., Komnenan, Cilician) go for them! They can't kill your LH but you can kill them with a double. Keep your LH away from any kinds of projectiles unless you want to get stuck. Cav stand up much better to Bw/Cb fire.
Go crazy with colors! Islamic armies used bright, stand-out colors and the Turks were no exception. All kinds of purples, lavender, blue, green, turquoise, are all suitable. Go bonkers on your general; I got mine painted by someone else and he did a really nice job (if rather expensive) with leopard spots on the coat. Paint little cuffs, collars, and hems, even if there weren't any original lines on the lead figures. Paint striped tunics. Shields can be an outlet for your creativity; no heraldry here, just lots of colors in naturalistic motiffs. Have fun; it was fun for me and a good break from heraldry and chainmail.
You have to get the New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History by Colin McEvedy. Short, simple text and a new map for every 50 years give you a really nice sense of the succession of peoples in the area, plus you get a good understanding for all these rather odd names that can be encountered in History.
Men at Arms Series #75 "Armies of the Crusades" is a good source on the military organization of the Seljuqs.
Paul Magdalino's "The Empire of Manuel I Comnenos, 1143-1180" is THE source so far on Byzantium and Asia Minor in the High Middle Ages. Very nice socio-economic history with lots of military information and a section on towns in Asia Minor and how they changed from Byzantine to Seljul rule and back. Check it out if you can, though it's out of print. The publisher is Cambridge University Press.
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My thanks to Konstantine Trtiambelas for contributing this essay. Comments, questions or suggested additions to this page can be sent to Chris Brantley, brant@erols.com.
Last Updated: Dec. 23, 1998