Battle of Dandanaqan

The Battle of Dandanaqan (Persian: نبرد دندانقان) was fought in 1040 between the Seljuq Turkmens and the Ghaznavid Empire near the city of Merv (now in Turkmenistan).^[6][7] The battle ended with a decisive Seljuq victory, which subsequently brought down the Ghaznavid domination in Greater Khorasan.^[1]

Battle of Dandanaqan
Part of the Seljuk-Ghaznavid Wars
Artwork of the battle of Dandanaqan
Date May 23, 1040 Location Dandanaqan, near Merv Result Seljuk victory^[1]
Belligerents
Ghaznavid Empire	Seljuk Turks
Commanders and leaders
Mas'ud I Ali Daya Ahmad Shirazi Abu Sahl Zawzani Abd al-Razzaq Maymandi Begtoghdi Subashi	Chaghri Tughril Bey Faramurz^[2]
Strength
16,000^[a]-50,000^[4] 100^[3]-300^[4] war elephants	16,000^[5]
Casualties and losses
Unknown, likely heavy	Unknown

Background

Forced out of Transoxiana in 1034 by the Karakhanids, the Seljuks settled in Khwarazm under the advocacy of the Ghaznavid governor Harun.^[8] His murder in 1035, forced them to flee through the Kara Kum desert towards Merv, but they switched instead to Nasa on the edges of Khurasan.^[8] Hearing of this threat, Ghaznavid Sultan Ma'sud sent Iltughdi with a large army to Nasa.^[9] Initially successful having driven off the Seljuk forces, the Ghaznavid army began squabbling over the spoils.^[9] The Seljuk, led by Chaghri, returned and fell upon the disorganized Ghaznavids and defeated them.^[9] As a result, Ma'sud entitled the Seljuk to three cities in Khurasan, Dihistan, Nasa, and Farawa.^[10] After conducting raids as far as Balkh, all of Khurasan fell to the Seljuk Turks.^[11]

Battle

During the march of Mas'ud's army to Sarakhs, the Seljuq raiders harassed the Ghaznavid army with hit-and-run tactics. Swift and mobile Turkmens were better fit to fight battles in the steppes and deserts than was the conservative heavily-laden army of Ghaznavid Turks. Seljuq Turkmens also destroyed the Ghaznavids' supply lines and so cut them off the nearby water wells. This seriously reduced the discipline and the morale of the Ghaznavid army.

On May 23, 1040, around 16,000 Seljuk soldiers engaged in battle against a starving and demoralised Ghaznavid army in Dandanaqan and defeated them near the city of Merv destroying a large part of the Ghazanavid forces.^[4][12][5]

Aftermath

The Seljuks occupied Nishapur, Herat, and besieged Balkh.^[13] By 1047, Tughril had coins minted in Nishapur calling him, al-sultan al-mu'azzam and Shahanshah.^[14]

Mas'ud fled to India, was overthrown, and was finally murdered in prison.^[15]

Coordinates: 37°23′31″N 61°20′43″E / 37.391933°N 61.345353°E / 37.391933; 61.345353

Notes

1. Bosworth states Ma'sud did not take 50,000 men or 300 elephants to Khurasan against the Seljuk Turks. By the time the Ghaznavids met the Seljuks, they were starved, demoralised, and is likely his forces equaled the Seljuk army.^[3]

References

1. Grousset 2002, p. 147.
2. Bosworth 2011.
3. Bosworth 1963, p. 128.
4. Sicker 2000, p. 53.
5. Lambton 1988, p. 5-.
6. Bosworth 2017, p. xliv.
7. Saray 2003, p. 189.
8. Peacock 2015, p. 33.
9. Ibn al-Athir 2002, p. 35.
10. Peacock 2015, p. 35.
11. Peacock 2015, p. 36.
12. Bosworth 1963.
13. Ibn al-Athir 2002, p. 40.
14. Safi 2006, p. 41.
15. Spuler 1991, p. 1051.

Sources

• Bosworth, C.E. (1963). The Ghaznavids:994-1040. Edinburgh University Press.
• Bosworth, C. E. (2011). . Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10.
• Bosworth, Edmund (2017). The Turks in the Early Islamic World. Routledge. p. xliv. In their pursuit of the Turkmens across Khurasan, the Ghaznavid forces...
• Grousset, Rene (2002). The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Rutgers University.
• Ibn al-Athir, Izz al-D in (2002). Hillenbrand, Carole (ed.). The Annals of the Saljuq Turks. Translated by Richards, D.S. Routledge.
• Lambton, Ann K. S. (1988). Continuity and Change in Medieval Persia. SUNY Press. pp. 5–. ISBN 978-0-88706-133-2.
• Mallett, Alex (2013). "Dandanakan, battle of". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.
• Paul, Jürgen (2000). "The Histories of Herat". Iranian Studies. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 33, No. 1/2 Winter - Spring.
• Peacock, A.C.S. (2015). The Great Seljuk Empire. Edinburgh University Press.
• Safi, Omid (2006). The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry. The University of North Carolina Press.
• Saray, Mehmet (2003). The Russian, British, Chinese and Ottoman Rivalry in Turkestan Four Studies on the History of Central Asia. Turkish Historical Society Printing House. p. 189. ...brothers Tughrul and Chaghri, grandsons of Seljuk, the Turkmens defeated the Ghaznavids at Dandanakan....
• Sicker, Martin (2000). The Islamic World in Ascendancy : From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna. Praeger. ISBN 9780275968922.
• Spuler, Bertold (2014). Iran in the Early Islamic Period: Politics, Culture, Administration and Public Life between the Arab and the Seljuk Conquests, 633-1055. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-28209-4.
• Spuler, B. (1991). "Ghaznawids". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, C.; Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. II. Brill.