Malik Shah ( 1ca, مَلِكشاه, fa, ملک شاه), also known as Şâhinşah ( fa, شاهنشاه, lit=

king of kings King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...

) was the

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

of the

Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = By ...

between the years 1110 and 1116.

Reign

Prior to Malik Shah's accession, the throne had remained vacant for three years following the death of

Kilij Arslan I Kilij Arslan ibn Suleiman ( 1ca, قِلِج اَرسلان; fa, , Qilij Arslān; tr, I. Kılıç Arslan or ''Kılıcarslan'', "Sword Lion") (‎1079–1107) was the Seljuq Sultan of Rum from 1092 until his death in 1107. He ruled the Sultan ...

in 1107. Malik Shah was held prisoner in

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

until 1110 when he returned to

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 ...

to assume the throne. Shortly before his death he was defeated by the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Alexios Komnenos at the

Battle of Philomelion The Battle of Philomelion ( Latinised as Philomelium - modern Akşehir) of 1116 consisted of a series of clashes over a number of days between a Byzantine expeditionary army under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and the forces of the Sultanate of Rûm ...

. Malik Shah then signed a treaty with the emperor, allegedly agreeing to let the Byzantines take back all their land in Anatolia, but the treaty was nullified after Malik Shah was deposed, blinded and eventually murdered by his brother Mesud, who succeeded him as sultan. The loss of prestige suffered by Malik Shah due to his defeat by the Byzantines probably precipitated his fall.Birkenmeier, p.79 footnote Malik Shah was described by

Anna Komnena Anna Komnene ( gr, Ἄννα Κομνηνή, Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the ''Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, ...

as a fool who often ignored the strategies of his more experienced generals, to the point where he mocked and criticized his generals.

References

Bibliography

* * Sultans of Rum 1116 deaths Byzantine–Seljuk wars Year of birth unknown {{Turkey-bio-stub