ألب أرسلان عضد الدولة بن جغري بك

Alp Arslan, Adud al-Dawla ibn Chaghri Beg, the second of the Seljuk sultans. He was installed as sultan after his uncle Tughril Beg in 455 AH, and the caliph sent him the robes of investiture and appointment. ³

Al-Dhahabi says that he was the first to be mentioned as sultan on the pulpits of Baghdad, that he reached what no king had reached, and that he conquered many lands of the Christians. ³

He appointed Nizam al-Mulk vizier, who cancelled what his predecessor Amid al-Mulk had done in cursing the Ash'aris, supported the Shafi'is, honoured the Imam al-Haramayn and Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri, and built the Nizamiyya; it is said to be the first madrasa built for the jurists. ³

He marched on the lands of the Turks with two hundred thousand horsemen, crossed the Oxus on a bridge in a month, and camped at a town called Farbar. The commander of its fortress, Yusuf al-Khwarazmi, was brought to him, and he ordered four pegs driven for him. Yusuf spoke to him in a wounding phrase, the sultan grew angry and shot him, but missed. Yusuf sprang at him and struck him with a knife in the side. ⁴

He died on Saturday, the tenth of Rabi al-Awwal 465 AH (about 1073 CE; the conversion is derived), and was carried to Merv and buried beside his father and uncle. ⁴

He never entered Baghdad or saw it, though it was within his kingdom. He is the one who built the dome over the grave of Abu Hanifa. ⁴

• The birth date of 424 AH is approximate and derived. The phrase "two hundred thousand horsemen" is as given in the source.