Terken Hatun, Hürrem Sultan of the Seljuks | Terken Hatun Life Story :
A woman's ambition to reign had cost the Seljuk State very dearly. He had officially dragged the state into civil war, ostensibly for the sake of his son's, and in reality his own reign.
Terken Hatun was the daughter of Tabgaç Han from Karakhanids. We do not know her real name, but she is also known as "Celaliye Hatun" because of the nickname "Celalüddevle ve'd-din" of her husband, the Great Seljuk Sultan Melikşah. “Abandoned” is a title and it is known that many Turkish ruler spouses are called by the same name.
Terken Hatun is the bride of Sultan Alparslan and the wife of Sultan Melikşah, who gave the Seljuks a magnificent period.
She gave birth to four children, Davud, Ahmed, Mahmelek Hatun and Mahmud, from Melikşah. Abbasid Caliph al-Muktadi was a candidate for Mahmelek Hatun, and he sent his vizier to Melikşah and asked for her daughter from her father. However, the Sultan sent the vizier of the Caliph to his wife and left the decision on this issue to himself. Terken Hatun, on the other hand, stated that even the Ghaznavid and Karakhanid sultans wanted her daughter and stated that she would prefer the Caliph if he gave her a bride price of 400 thousand dinars. When the vizier reminded that such a bargain with the caliph would not be appropriate, he agreed to give his daughter on the condition that 50 thousand dinars of milk right, 100 thousand dinars of mahr be paid, and that the caliph did not have another wife or concubine.
From the marriage in 1087, Terken Hatun and Melikşah had a grandchild named Cafer. They requested from Caliph al-Muqtadi that their grandson, Jafar, be declared heir to the Abbasid Caliphate. However, the Caliph did not agree to this. When the pressures didn't work, relations got worse and eventually the Sultan asked the Caliph to leave Baghdad. Through the new Seljuk Vizier Tâcülmülk, the Caliph took 10 days off at the last moment. However, before the time expired, Melikşah died (November 19, 1092).
We do not know for certain whether Melikşah was killed or not. Suspicions are centered on being poisoned. His murder mostly suits the Abbasid Caliph and Terken Hatun.
Also Read:
It is known that after the murder of Nizamülmülk, while the caliph was in fear and depression, his supporters insisted on the heirship of Berkyaruk, and Melikşah was on Berkyaruk's side. It is possible that Terken, who had a terrible passion, consented to the murder of her husband in exchange for placing his son Mahmud on the throne of the Great Seljuks and agreed with the Caliph Muktedi.
Terken Hatun Life Story:
Terken Hatun even concealed the death of her husband, Melikşah, and hid the funeral. Even the funeral prayer of the magnificent ruler, who named a period with his intrigues, could not be held. No one cried or cried. Condolence was not given. Even though it is customary, the tails of the horses were not cut. Terken Hatun, on the other hand, was busy giving out millions of dinars from the state treasury to her orders and soldiers and taking an oath that they would support her son Mahmud.
Terken Hatun sent a message to Caliph Muktedi and asked for her son's reign to be approved. The Caliph, on the other hand, rejected this offer, saying, "Sovereignty is not a child's work." But Terken did not give up the fight. This time, he brought up the issue of the heirship of his daughter Mahmelek and his grandson Cafer, who played a primary role in the decision regarding Melikşah's discord with the Caliph and his removal from Baghdad.
Being aware of the activities of Melikşah and Terken Hatun, and that a special palace was built for Cafer in the Seljuk capital Isfahan and he was addressed as "Emirü'l-mü'minîn" (this title is used for caliphs), the Caliph wanted to bring him with him. He preferred to wait because the time was not suitable. Because he was afraid that Terken Hatun would rekindle the issue.
Terken Hatun Biography:
At this time, Terken Hatun sent her grandson, Cafer, to the office of caliphate, and had her request and request repeated through her child. The caliph was well aware that his mother-in-law would not give up on this task. He had to accept his request, putting forward some conditions.
Accordingly, the sultanate nominally belonged to Mahmud, the sermon would be read in the name of the Caliph, the army command and the administration of the country would be given to Emir Üner, and he would act together with Tâcülmülk on this issue. Tax collection and the appointment of tax collectors would also be within the jurisdiction of Tâcülmülk.
Terken Hatun's answer was strange, she did not want to accept it. But he was compelled by the words of Imam Ghazali, the famous scholar of the period, "Your son is a minor, he cannot be a ruler according to Islamic law". Mahmud was declared sultan with the title "Nasıru'd-dunya ve'd-din". On Friday, November 25, 1092, a sermon was delivered on his behalf.
Terken Hatun had achieved her goals. Now it was his turn to defeat his son's most dangerous enemy, Berkyaruk. Upon the death of Melikşah, Terken Hatun sent the emirs Kürboğa and Kumac to the capital Isfahan as a precaution and had Berkyaruk arrested. By showing the Sultan's seal, Kürboğa succeeded in seizing the Isfahan Castle as if it were his edic
Putting things right in Baghdad, Terken Hatun took the body of Melikşah with her and set out for Isfahan. Meanwhile, Nizamülmülk's men, who received the news of the Sultan's death, rose up. They liberated Berkyaruk, who was in prison, and proclaimed him the Sultan of the Great Seljuks, and gave a sermon in Isfahan. When Terken Hatun approached Isfahan, they kidnapped Berkyaruk to Rey and declared Sultan there.
Running Towards Disaster:
The gulams affiliated to Nizamülmülk took a stand against Berkyaruk as they saw Terken Hatun's vizier Tâcülmülk as the murderer of their master. Emir Erkuş, one of the influential men of Nizamülmülk, also joined Berkyaruk. The struggle between Terken and Berkyaruk reached the level of war. Terken Hatun distributed an enormous amount of 30 million dinars to her soldiers and sent them to war. The parties shared their trump card on 17 January 1093 in Burucird near Hamadan.
However, Berkyaruk won the war when some of the commanders in Terken Hatun's army crossed to the opposite side. Terken Hatun fled to Isfahan. Berkyaruk's army followed him and besieged Isfahan. Tâcülümülk, on the other hand, was caught while fleeing the battlefield and was brought before Berkyaruk. Although he was afraid of Nizamülmülk's men, he distributed valuable items and 200 thousand dinars to them, but the former vizier's regent argued that Tâcülmülk should be killed. Thereupon, in February 1093, the supporters of Nizamülmülk killed Tâcülümülk and dismembered his body.
Terken Hatun, who was in a difficult situation, generously distributed money for his men to defend successfully. Unsuccessful, he agreed to give Berkyaruk 500 thousand dinars from his father Melikşah's inheritance if he lifted the siege. They came to an agreement. The provinces of Isfahan and Fars would be left to the administration of Terken Hatun and her son Mahmud, and Berkyaruk would dominate other provinces as a Sultan. Thus ended the siege.
Terken Hatun still did not give up on her passions. This time, Berkyaruk's uncle, the Azerbaijan melik İsmail b. Alp-Sungur promised Yakutî that he would marry him if he killed Bekyaruk. The offer impressed Ismail very much, he started to serve the ambitions of Terken Hatun with the ambition of being a sultan.
Also Read:
- Best Turkish Historical Dramas List
- Alp Arslan Season 2 Update
- Kurulus Osman Season 4 Update
- Teskilat Season 3 Update
He gathered many soldiers from Azerbaijan under his administration, and Savtekin, one of the famous Seljuk commanders, entered his service. Terken Hatun also sent various war materials, equipment, weapons and money, and some other orders, especially Kürboğa, to help him.
Sultan Berkyaruk won the battle that took place in Kerec between Hamadan and Isfahan in February 1093. Defeated, İsmail fled to Terken Hatun, to Isfahan. He received great attention and hospitality from his wife. Terken Hatun delivered a sermon on his behalf, minted coins on behalf of his son Mahmud and him. When the marriage between them was about to take place, the leading commanders, especially Üner, opposed the marriage.
Since Ismail was afraid of the commanders, he sent a message to his brother Zübeyde Hatun and said that he wanted to leave Terken Hatun and join his nephew Berkyaruk. When Berkyaruk's mother Zübeyde gave permission, he joined Berkyaruk in August 1093. However, when it was understood that his main aim was to kill Berkyaruk and seize the sultanate, he was killed immediately (August-September 1093).
Suspicious death of Caliph:
Meanwhile, Caliph al-Muqtadi died strangely on February 4, 1094. In fact, just before his death, the sultanate of Sultan Berkyaruk was presented to him for the tugra to be drawn. After reading and thinking about it, the Caliph made a tughra and approved it. After a while, he ate the food brought and washed his hands. Then he suddenly collapsed to where he was. He had died on the spot. Like Melikşah, he was only 38 years old. His young age raises doubts about his death.
Terken Hatun, who could not get the result she wanted from her alliance with İsmail, started to look for a stronger candidate than him. There was only one candidate left who could oppose Berkyaruk: Syrian Seljuk Meliki Tâcüddevle Tutuş.
Terken Hatun now approached her brother-in-law and offered him an alliance. He wanted to benefit from Tutuş's political and military experience. However, Terken Hatun, who left Isfahan to cooperate with Tutuş, fell ill and had to return. When he realized that he was going to die, he summoned Üner and Sermez, whom he trusted very much, and asked them to rule the country in the name of his son Mahmud. He could not recover from his illness and died in September or October 1094. Before he died, he had Isfahan and a cavalry force of 10 thousand.
Terken Hatun The Great Seljuk:
His ambition to reign had cost the Seljuk State very dearly. He squandered the state's treasury. He dragged the state into a civil war, apparently in order to establish his son's reign, but in reality, caused the weakening of the Seljuk army, the killing of valuable commanders, the economic depression of the state, the period of interregnum and the loss of prestige of the state before its enemies. It is a fact that his negative activities had a great share in the collapse of the Seljuk State.
Although there is no precise information available, it seems that Tâcülmülk and Terken Hatun abolished Vizier Nizamülmülk and Sultan Melikşah by making an agreement with the Abbasid Caliph. Nizamülmülk and Melikşah's men eliminated Tâcülmülk, Caliph and Terken Hatun.
Two traces of him remain. As the Terken Hatun Madrasa was built for Hanafis in Baghdad, the domed section on the north side of the Isfahan Friday Mosque courtyard was built in 1088 in the name of Terken Hatun.
Suspicious Deaths During Terken Hatun Life:
In the history of the Seljuks, the strange deaths that followed one another signaled that something was wrong and was ringing the alarm bells.
First, the mighty vizier of the state, Nizamülmülk, was assassinated, and then Melikşah, the greatest and most powerful ruler of the Seljuks, was poisoned and killed. The new vizier Tâcülmülk, who was thought to have been involved in these events, was also killed in February 1093, and his uncle İsmail b. The murder of Alpsungur Yakuti in August-September 1093 followed, followed by the sudden death of Caliph Muktedi on February 4, 1094, and finally, Terken Hatun fell ill while she was about to make a military and material alliance with her uncle Tutuş against Berkyaruk. It can't be a coincidence that he died.
In short, the parties had annihilated each other with secret or open schemes, but what happened was the state and the nation.
Strange Timing In Life Of Terken Hatun :
The most important factor that pushed Terken Hatun to act against Nizamülmülk and Melikşah was the heirship of her son Mahmud. Nizamülmülk supported Berkyaruk, the eldest and most qualified of the surviving sons of the Sultan, in determining the new heir after the death of Crown Prince Ahmed. The vizier had obtained the consent of Melikşah in this matter. Terken Hatun also considered every means permissible to reach her goal in the struggle she embarked on on behalf of her son. That's why she was hostile to Nizamülmülk and tried to appoint Tâcülmülk Ebu Ganaim, who was her vizier, by putting pressure on her husband Melikşah to dismiss him from this position. He did not succeed in this. However, it is quite meaningful that the old and experienced vizier Nizamülmülk was killed by an esoteric body in these days (October 14, 1092).
Also Read:
0 Comments