DBA Armies

III/74 SELJUQ TURK 1037 AD - 1276 AD

This list covers the Seljuq Turks from their revolt against the Ghaznavids. Alp Arslan and his son Malik Shah established, a “Great Seljuq” empire, initially stretching from the Byzantine frontier to the Caucasus mountains and Aral Sea in the north, to Afghanistan in the east and to the Syrian provinces of the Fatimids in the south. After the battle of Manzikert in 1071 it also included formerly Byzantine Anatolia. After the death of Malik Shah in 1092, the empire split into the sultanates of Rum in Anatolia, Hamadan in Iran, and the more powerful Merv further east. Merv fell to its revolting Ghuzz mercenaries in 1157 and Hamadan to Khwarizm in 1194. Rum was defeated by the first Crusade in 1096, lost territory to the resurgent Byzantines and split into smaller sultanates and emirates. It had a brief spectacular revival under Kai Kobad and Kai Khosru 1220-1243, but fell to the Mongols in 1276. With plentiful access to real Turks, the Seljuq initially relied on a levy of armoured nobles and lesser tribesmen, supplanted from 1063 in Rum by a guard of home-grown mamluks with bow and lance and a professional free “askar” of armoured cavalry with bow assimilating ex-ghulams of conquered states. Fierce but unreliable Turkoman tribesmen provided an important supplement. Franks were not all western knights. Nothing is known of Agulani except that they and their horses were completely armoured in iron and they fought only with swords. Reference: Armies & Enemies of the Crusades 1. Heath.

III/74a — Rum Army 1063 AD - 1276 AD

List: 1 x General with mamluks (Cv), 2 x askaris (Cv), 5 x Turkoman horse archers (LH), 1 x Armenians or Kurds or Georgians (3Kn or Cv) or Franks (3Kn) or Turkomans (LH), 2 x Armenian or Kurdish foot (3Bw or Ps) or Turkomans (LH), 1 x Agulani (4Kn) or Dailami (4Ax) or Turkomans (LH)
Terrain: Steppe
Aggression: 3
Enemies:
Allies: ['III/11b', 'IV/24a or IV/46']

III/74b — Other Seljuq Turkish Armies 1037 AD - 1276 AD

List: 1 x General with ghulams or nobles (Cv), 2 x Seljuq nobles or ghulams (Cv), 5 x Seljuq tribesmen or Turkomans or Ghuzz (LH), 2 x tribal foot (Ps or 3Bw or 3Ax) or Turkomans (LH), 1 x Dailami (4Ax) or Kurds (Cv or 3Kn), 1 x city militia (7Hd) or Syrian cavalry (Cv) or Bedouin (LH or LCm)
Terrain: Steppe
Aggression: 3
Enemies:
Allies: III/11b or III/54a or II/64b or IV/8