Zaheer-ul-Daulah Artuk Beg, known as Artuk Bey, was a Turkmen commander of the

Seljuk Empire The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to ...

in the 11th century, chief of the Oghuz tribe of Döğer, and eponymous founder of the Artuqid dynasty. His father's name was Eksük. He was the Seljuk governor of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

between 1085–1091. Although the Artuqid dynasty was named after him, actually the dynasty was founded by his sons Sökmen and

Ilghazi Najm ad-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq (died November 8, 1122) was the Turkmen Artukid ruler of Mardin from 1107 to 1122. He was born into the Oghuz tribe of Döğer. Biography His father Artuk Bey was the founder of the Artukid dynasty, and had bee ...

after his death. He was also father to Alp-Yaruq, Bahram, Abd al-Jabar, and three other sons.

In Anatolia

Artuk Bey was one of the commanders of the Great Seljuk Empire army during the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and ...

in 1071. After the battle, he took part in the conquest of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

on behalf of the Seljuk Empire. He captured the Yeşilırmak ( grc, Ἶρις) valley in 1074. In 1075, Artuk captured on behalf of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

the Norman rebell Roussel de Bailleul and handed him over to the future emperor

Alexios Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

. He also served the sultan by quashing a rebellion in 1077. His next mission was a campaign in 1086 to capture

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortres ...

(Amid) from the Marwanids. In this campaign he quarreled with the commander-in-chief Fakhr al-Dawla ibn Jahir who tended to make peace with Marwanids. In a surprise attack he defeated reinforcements to Marwanids. However, when the sultan Malik Shah I heard about the event he accused Artuk.

In Syria

Artuk left the battle field and attended to Tutush I who was Malik Shah's discordant younger brother in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in 1084. In 1086 he was instrumental in defeating Suleiman ibn Qutulmish, the sultan of Seljuks of Rûm in the battle of Ain Salm between Süleyman and Tutush.

In Jerusalem

Tutush granted him

al-Quds Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

(Jerusalem) as an iqta and Artuk was governor there until his death in 1091. His grave is in a tomb next to his

khanqah A khanqah ( fa, خانقاه) or khangah ( fa, خانگاه; also transliterated as ''khankah'', ''khaneqa'', ''khanegah'' or ''khaneqah''; also Arabized ''hanegah'', ''hanikah'', ''hanekah'', ''khankan''), also known as a ribat (), is a buildin ...

near the Gate of al-Dawadariya, known as Gate of King Faisal today.

In popular culture

In the Turkish TV series, '' Diriliş: Ertuğrul'', he is portrayed as a close companion of Ertuğrul by the Turkish actor,

Ayberk Pekcan Ayberk Pekcan (22 May 1970 – 24 January 2022) was a Turkish actor and former civil servant, politician and labourer. Life and career Born on 22 May 1970 in Mersin, Ayberk Pekcan spent his childhood and youth in Adana and his birthplace. After ...

. This is anachronistic as Ertuğrul died in 1280 and their live spans most likely did not overlapped.

Citation

Sources

* * {{Seljuk-bio-stub Generals of the Seljuk Empire 1091 deaths 11th-century births Artuqids Medieval Jerusalem 11th-century Turkic people Turkic rulers