The Battle of Nisa took place between the Seljuk Turks and the Ghaznavid Empire following the death of the former leader of the Seljuks, Israil.[2]
| Battle of Nisa | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Seljuk-Ghaznavid Wars | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Ghaznavid Empire | Seljuk Turks | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Hajib Begtughdi |
Mikail Chaghri Beg Tughril Beg | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 15,000 | Around 10,000[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
In 1016 Chagri Beg, son of Israil, led an incursion into eastern Anatolia, he defeated Armenian forces near Lake Van.[2] In 1020-1021 Israil seized Bukhara in cooperation with the Karakhanids.[2] The Ghaznavids watched the Seljuks apprehensively. A meeting was held in Transoxiana in 1025 between the khagan of the Karakhanids and the sultan of the Ghaznavids.[2] During this meeting it was decided that the Seljuks were to be rounded up and transferred away from Transoxiana and Turkestan before they caused any problems for the Ghaznavids.[2] Israil was apparently lured to Samarkand where he was arrested and exiled to India where he died in 1032.[2]
The death of Israil caused a sudden collapse of authority among the Seljuks, however Mikail, the brother of Israil, was able to reassert the Seljuks as a cohesive force and pose a challenge to the Ghaznavid state for control of Khorasan.[2] On June 19, 1035, a 15,000 strong Ghaznavid force under the command of Hajib Begtughdi left for Nisa.[3] The Seljukids shocked the Ghaznavids and inflicted a serious defeat against them at Nisa in 1035.[2] In battle the Seljuks used the feigned flight tactic and managed to use a stimulated withdrawal to lure their enemy into a surprise attack.[4]
Due to this serious defeat the Ghaznavids offered the Seljuk Turks three provinces in Khorasan, this was part of a treaty that included a grant of tribal autonomy within the Ghaznavid state.[2] The Seljukids did not comply and continued to raid as far as Balkh and Sistan.[2]
References
edit- ^ Kafesoğlu, İbrahim. Selçuklu tarihi. Milli egitim basımevi, 1972.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sicker, Martin. The Islamic world in ascendancy : from the Arab conquests to the siege of Vienna. United Kingdom: Praeger, 2000.
- ^ Hashmi, Yusuf Abbas. Successors of Mahmūd of G̲hazna: In Political, Cultural, and Administrative Perspective. Pakistan: South Asian Printers & Publishers, 1988.
- ^ Morton, Nicholas. The Crusader States and Their Neighbours: A Military History, 1099-1187. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2020.