A POSSIBLE FÂTIMID BACKGROUND TO THE BATTLE OF MANZIKERT

Abstract

The Battle of Manzikert1 in 463 /1071 is an important land-mark in history in so far as it resulted in two important processes-the gradual settlement of the Turks in Asia Minör (along with the Islamisation of the heart-lands of Byzantium), and the beginning of a Byzantine desire to open its territories to western European powers for the launching of the Crusades. The causes of the battle are equally important. First of ali, there was the constant conflict between Byzantium and the central Müslim power, aggravated by the arrival of Turkish tribes and the rise of the Saljüqs in the eleventh century. Second, the Armenian territories played a significant role in providing a setting for this conflict. But one aspect of Manzikert which has never been emphasized, though not altogether neglected, is the active Fâtimid foreign policy connected with frustrating the rise of the Saljüqs in the East. It is this last aspect which I wish to isolate for discussion in the following pages, not so much to contribute new information as to furnish a re-interpretation indicating possible Fâtimid machinations behind the Battle of Manzikert.2