Kilij Arslan II

Kilij Arslan II (Persian: قِلِج اَرسلان دوم) or ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kilij Arslān ibn Masʿūd (Persian: عز الدین قلج ارسلان بن مسعود) (Modern Turkish Kılıç Arslan, meaning "Sword Lion") was a Seljuk Sultan of Rûm from 1156 until his death in 1192.

Kilij Arslan II
Sultan Kilij Arslan II in a tile from Alaeddin Palace, Konya, 1156-92.[1]
Seljuq Sultan of Rum
Reign	1156–1192
Predecessor	Mesud I
Successor	Kaykhusraw I
Born	1113
Died	August 1192 (aged 78-79) near Aksaray, Turkey
Issue	Kaykhusraw I Suleiman II Qutbuddin Malik Shah Nuruddin Tughril ibn Kılıç Arslan II Muizz Muhyiddin Mesut Naser Nizam Arslanshah Sancarshah Gevher Nesibe Seljuki Fülane
Names Izz al-Dīn Qilij Arslān bin Mas'ūd
House	House of Seljuq
Father	Masud I
Religion	Islam

Reign

In 1159, the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos marched back to Constantinople from Syria through the lands of the Sultanate despite having been denied passage. At Kotyaion Kilij Arslan’s forces responded and inflicted a defeat on the emperor. The scale of the battle is impossible to determine from surviving sources, but shortly thereafter Manuel made reprisal raids against Seljuk territories. Kilij Arslan then sacked Laodikeia and the emperor planned a major campaign against Iconium (Konya). In 1160, Manuel's nephew John Contostephanus defeated Kilij Arslan, and the sultan travelled to Constantinople in a show of submission either in late 1160 or 1161.^[2][3]

As Arnold of Lübeck reports in his Chronica Slavorum, he was present at the meeting of Henry the Lion with Kilij-Arslan during the former's pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1172. When they met near Tarsus, the sultan embraced and kissed the German duke, reminding him that they were blood cousins ('amplexans et deosculans eum, dicens, eum consanguineum suum esse'). When the duke asked for details of this relationship, Kilij Arslan informed him that 'a noble lady from the land of Germans married a king of Russia who had a daughter by her; this daughter's daughter arrived to our land, and I descend from her.'

Sultan Kilij Arslan II enthroned in a tile from Alaeddin Palace, Konya, 1156-92.^[1]

In 1173, Kilij Arslan, now at peace with the Byzantines, allied with Nur ad-Din against Mosul. The peace treaty with the Byzantines lasted until 1175, when Kilij Arslan refused to hand over to Manuel the territory conquered from the Danishmends, although both sides had for some time been building up their fortifications and armies in preparation for a renewed war. Kilij Arslan tried to negotiate, but Manuel invaded the sultanate in 1176, intending to capture Iconium itself. Kilij Arslan was able to defeat Emperor Manuel I Komnenos's army at the Battle of Myriokephalon,^[4] the Sultan forced the emperor to negotiate a fragile peace.

In 1179, Kilij Arslan captured and held to ransom Henry I, the renowned count of Champagne, who was returning overland from a visit to Jerusalem.^[5] The ransom was paid by the Byzantine Emperor and Henry was released, but died soon afterwards.

In 1179, Pope Alexander III wrote to Kilij Arslan, whom he had heard was interested in converting to Christianity and desired information.^[6] According to the German chronicler Otto of Sankt Blasien, writing about thirty years later, the sultan also reached out at the same time to the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, seeking a marriage with the emperor's daughter, Beatrice.^[6][7] According to Otto, Kilij Arslan offered to convert to Christianity along with his subjects. Frederick agreed to the marriage, but Beatrice died before it could take place. It is probable that Kilij Arslan's overtures to pope and emperor were less about religion than about counterbalancing the Byzantines by pursuing warm relations with the west.^[6]

Coinage of Kilij Arslan II, 1156-1192

In 1180, the sultan took advantage of the instability in the Byzantine Empire after Manuel's death to secure most of the southern coast of Anatolia, and sent his vizier Ikhtiyar al-Din to conclude an alliance with Saladin, Nur ad-Din's successor, that same year. Then in 1182, he succeeded in capturing the city of Cotyaeum from the Byzantines. In 1185, he made peace with Emperor Isaac II Angelus, but the next year he transferred power to his eleven sons, who immediately fought each other for control. Despite Kilij Arslan's alliance with Saladin, he promised the armies of the Third Crusade, led by Frederick Barbarossa to freely pass through his territories; however, his sons who were local chieftains disagreed and fought against the Crusaders at the Battle of Philomelion and Battle of Iconium.^[8] Following the Crusaders' departure, his eldest son Qutb al-Din who led the Turks in the latter battle then fled afterwards, came back to control Konya; hence, Kilij Arslan II escaped and took refuge in Kayseri. Later on, Qutb al-Din declared himself to be the new Sultan, but his father and his brother Kaykhusraw I drove him out of Konya in 1192, then chased him to Aksaray, and besieged the city.

The Tomb of Kilij Arslan II in the courtyard of Alâeddin Mosque, Konya

Tomb of Kilij Arslan II (second from front)

Kilij Arslan II died during the siege of Aksaray in August 1192, aged 77, after promising Kaykhusraw I the succession.^[9] Then he was buried in the Alâeddin Mosque in Konya.^[a] Kaykhusraw I's brothers continued to fight for control of the other parts of the sultanate.^[11]

Issue

In 1186, Kilij Arslan II decided to divide the Sultanate among his 11 sons and 3 daughters as follows:^[12][13]

1. Qutb al-Din (Sivas, Aksaray)
2. Rukn al-Din (Tokat and its surroundings)
3. Nur al-Din (Kayseri and its surroundings)
4. Muqsed al-Din (Elbistan)
5. Muizz al-Din Caesar Shah (Malatya)
6. Muhyiddin Mesut (Ankara, Çankırı, Kastamonu and Eskişehir)
7. Kaykhusraw I (Uluborlu, Kutahya)
8. Naser al-Din (Niksar, Koyulhisar)
9. Nizam al-Din (Amasya)
10. Arslanshah (Niğde)
11. Sancarshah (Ereğli and its south)
12. Fülane Hatun
13. Gevher Nesibe Khatun
14. Seljuki Khatun

Notes

1. During the late 12th century, at the behest of Kilij Arslan II, the Seljuq palace Alâeddin Kosku was built in Konya.^[10]