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Malik Shah was the successor to Alp Arslan to the throne of the Seljuk Empire. He, however, only reigned for twenty years, before he was assassinated in 1092. It is suspected that it was the Abbasid caliph who ordered his death.
After Malik's death, many claimants to the title of Seljuk sultan sprung up, causing a civil war in the realm. The christians who were participating in the First Crusade took advantage of this political confusion to gain land in Syria and the Levant, estabilishing the first crusader states.
But what if Malik Shah had discovered the plot to assassinate him before it was too late, prompting his survival?
What would happen to the Seljuk Empire had it been more united for the beginning of the 12th century? Would the crusades even be as successful as OTL?
How further threatened would Constantinople be here?
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