Sykes' History of Persia Vol 2 (pdf) - Heritage Institute

ALP ARSLAN.
CHAPTER L11I
THE DISRUPTION OF THE SELJUK EMPIRE
They adore the wind and live in the desert :
they eat no bread and drink no
wine, but endure a diet of raw meat and, being destitute of noses, breathe only
through two small holes. RABBI BENJAMIN OF TUDELA.
Sultan Sanjar at thejlelght of his Fame. Sultan Sanjar
is famous in History not only for his
pow and success,
which gained him the reputation of being invincible, but
also for his sudden and tragic fall, which involved that of
his dynasty. According to native chroniclers, during the
forty of yfiflr& his rule as King of Khorasan, Sanjar made
nineteen conquests.
After he had attained the position
of Great Seljuk by the defeat of his nephew, his successes
continued, and in A.H. 524 (i 130) he invaded Mavaranahr, 1
or Transoxiana, in order to reduce Ahmad Khan, who
had ceased to pay tribute. He besieged Samarcand and
took Ahmad Khan prisoner, but subsequently
restored
him to power. Six years later Bahram Shah, of the
Ghaznavid dynasty, rebelled, but soon tendered his
submission ;
in A.H. 535 (i 140) Samarcand again revolted
and for six months endured a siege by Sanjar, who when
he captured
it
displayed unusual clemency towards its
inhabitants. To the north his campaigns against the
the earlier
rising power of Khwarazm, or Khiva, during
years of his reign kept that state in check.
Mohamed Ibrahim mentions in his history that
Sanjar, who had designs on the Kerman province,
Literally
Beyond the River."
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