So the Gallic TL and Bosporan TL seemed to die very quickly and I have no idea if anyone is still reading my Raphia TL so I'm going to take a break from all of them and do something I have been wanting to do for a while a TL of the Saljuqid Empire. So, enjoy. Also in my description of the Sunni/Shia split and the old Caliphates I'm sorry if I am massively off.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malik Shah I of the Saljuqid Empire (often called the Seljuk Empire) came to the throne in 1072 at the age of only 17 having been born on 8th August 1055. Upon ascension to the throne he was immediately met with resistance from his uncle Qavurt who claimed the throne. His reign would be full of near constant warfare as he expanded the borders of the Saljuqid Empire to their greatest extent by 1092. However back home Malik held only nominal power as the majority of power rested in his vizier Nizam al-Mulk.
1092
The Saljuqid Empire in 1092 AD
In 1092 Malik Shah I returned to Isfahan within the Iranian plateau which, in 1092, was the capital of the Saljuqid Empire. Over the past 20 years he had been heavily campaigning throughout the Middle East and expanding the borders of the empire especially in the East and North-East. His campaigning had allowed him to subdue various enemies and strengthen the borders of the empire as a whole.
But back home Malik Shah was not in a good position politically and socially, the state itself was largely run by his vizier Nizam al-Mulk. Not just that but his relations with the Caliph had been steadily breaking down especially as he had ambitions to establish his grandson as Caliph. Therefore he was, politically, surrounded by enemies who would conspire against him and were strong and powerful.
Primarily the main threat came from his vizier Nizam. Nizam was powerful and ambitious and it would have been political suicide to try and remove him from office as the man held enough influence in the court to stage a coup in retaliation. As it was Malik knew that the worst thing that could happen was his death or removal from the throne as his eldest son was only 4 in 1092 and his ascension would have torn the empire apart. But as it was Malik was under constant threat of Nizam simply turning to usurp his throne anyway. Therefore he began making preparations to remove Nizam. Ultimately his decision came down to assassination which was the only way that Nizam could reasonably be removed. The perfect time for such an assassination would come in October 1092 when he began the trip from Isfahan to Baghdad to meet with the Caliph. While no declaration had been made it was likely that the Caliph knew of Malik's intentions to remove him and was potentially conspiring with Nizam to remove Malik. Therefore what may have been disguised as an innocent trip could have been to meet with his co-conspirator, al-Muqtadir, the Caliph. However he would never make it as he was ambushed on the road shortly after leaving by members of the Hashashins and murdered. The assassination was ultimately staged to look like a bandit raid so as to cover suspicion away from Malik himself. While the cover of banditry would work initially with the majority of people, some of Nizam's more staunch supporters soon began to suspect treachery on Malik's part.
The assassination of Nizam al-Mulk
At this point we need to establish the Hashashins who, by 1092, played a very major part in politics. The Hashashins or Assassins were a secret order of assassins who formed a sect of the Islamic faith known as the Nizarite sect. Their name in the West popularised the term "assassin" and came from their habit of smoking a type of drug known in the West as hashash which they were said to have smoked prior to assassinations. While they were granted land by leaders, they held no army and focused on protection of states and sultans while they focused on espionage and murder. By 1092 they had become powerful political tools owing to their extraordinary ability for assassinations. By this point they could be called upon to assassinate leaders of states and rarely failed. Their infamy would even make them a feared force in the West at later dates and they would soon become intertwined massively with Seljuk and Islamic politics. Their ability to assassinate would mean that eventually the very nature of power for a sultan and his ability to remain in power would heavily depend on the Hashashins. However the events of the next few years would define their rise heavily. With Nizam dead Malik Shah set up a new vizier in his place by the name of Taj al-Mulk Abu'l Ghana'im. Ultimately Taj's skill in the position came second to his lack of ambition and influence although he would be relatively skilled in the position itself.
Now Malik Shah finally turned his attention to steadily gaining further political control throughout the empire and abroad by establishing his control over one of the most important parts of life in 1092: Religion. To this extent he had designs on completely controlling the Sunni caliphate by removing the current caliph. Success in replacing the Caliph would have granted him almost unparalleled spiritual influence however such a move would have been near impossible to successfully pull off peacefully. Ultimately Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims believed various different things in regards to the caliphate at the time. Within Shia the idea was that the Caliph should be a descendant of Muhammad himself while the Sunni believed that the Caliph should be elected by Muslims themselves. In 1092 the Saljuqid Sultanate was Sunni and theoretically the Caliph should have been in an elected position which would have been hard to prove as invalid. However the position had become a largely hereditary position by this point and Malik knew that he could use this to claim that the entire position itself was invalid due to the Caliph having arisen to the position in an invalid way. However the very idea within the Sunni faith that the Caliph was to be removed from his position appointed by God and the Islamic faith would be a major problem for Malik in attempting to remove him. Ultimately he knew that any attempts to remove him would have met with resistance when, in November, Malik sent a message to the Caliph demanding he leave Baghdad and retire to another part of the empire.
Effectively Malik was demanding al-Muqtadir step down from his position as Caliph in the hope that he could establish his grandson, Ja'far as the new Caliph. However al-Muqtadir had no intention of complying as he had made preparations for Malik Shah's death. Later that month, while out hunting, Malik Shah I was poisoned by the Caliph and supporters of Nizam al-Mulk. However the poison would fail in it's job of killing Malik. However the poison did do the job of stalling Malik who grew ill and was confined to his chamber in Isfahan for 3 months following the incident.
1093
The 3 months in which Malik was bedridden would be hugely important for the Caliph as he began quickly building up support to challenge the shah should he make another attempt to take the Caliphate from him. Effectively this was less building up support for if Malik made such a move but for when he made it. Officially he had already delivered the ultimatum but his illness prevented him from following it through until early February 1093 when he finally had recovered enough to deliver the ultimatum again.
For about two months, al-Muqtadir and his diplomats stalled for time to try and build up further support from within the state and for these two months it worked. However in May 1093 BC Malik finally grew tired of the stalling and demanded an answer of he would take the position by force. By this point he had fully recovered and had even began preparations for a fight against the Caliph. With no time left al-Muqtadir sent out missives to the various nobles and governors he had managed to gain the support of, informing them of the development. On 22nd May 1093 al-Muqtadir refused Malik's ultimatum thus beginning the Saljuqid civil war.
Once the war began news spread quickly of what had happened. Soon the people had begun to turn against Malik for having the audacity to try and remove the caliph from his spiritual position. Initially this manifested in protests and strikes but by June 1093 this had manifested by full scale riots and rebellions. Meanwhile the Saljuqid Empire was ripped in two by the civil war itself.
Moving quickly, Malik descended on Baghdad itself at the head of 40,000 soldiers and proceeded to besiege the city itself. However the response to his move was rapid and in early July 1093, Malik was forced to retreat in the face of a massive army of Muslims who had risen to defend the Caliph from attack. Beset by a huge army of 60,000, Malik had little choice but to retreat and break the siege of Baghdad.
With the siege broken, al-Muqtadir proceeded to bring his spiritual might to bear by declaring Malik an enemy of Islam. He then called for spiritual aid to defend the Caliphate and crush the Shah's forces. The response was huge and came in the form of a further 30,000 who rose up from the Eastern territories to defend him. Not wanting to risk losing his influence in the East, Malik moved quickly to defeat this second army and tore across the Iranian Plateau to defend his position. On the way he made attempts to reinforce his army but found little support from the peasantry some of whom even attacked his army en route to defeat the supporters of the Caliph.
En route Malik was even attacked by the peasantry in hit and run attacks as he attempted to move quickly. This ultimately slowed his journey down by months between Ardakan and Naysabur until November 1093. Finally in October 1093 Malik came face to face with the Eastern rebels who had swollen from 30,000 to 45,000.
The Battle of Naysabur would ultimately be a tactical victory for the Saljuqid Empire in which Malik succeeded in defeating the rebels and forcing a retreat of their army East. However by no means did he inflict heavy casualties due to increasing pressure in the West where the rebels had reached Isfahan itself and were heavily besieging the city itself. The threat to the capital was enough to prevent Malik from pursuing his enemies and forced his own retreat from Naysabur back to relieve his capital.