page_title: Byzantine–Seljuq wars
section_title: Seljuq Turks
hierarchical_section_title: Byzantine–Seljuq wars / Analysis / Seljuq Turks
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Romain IV et Alp Arslan lors de la Bataille de Malazgirt (1071). Boccace, De casibus (traduction Laurent de Premierfait), France, Paris, XVe siècle, Maître de Rohan et collaborateurs.
context_page_description: The Byzantine–Seljuq Wars were a series of decisive battles that shifted the balance of power in Asia Minor and Syria from the Byzantine Empire to the Seljuqs. Riding from the steppes of Central Asia, the Seljuq replicated tactics practiced by the Huns hundreds of years earlier against a similar Roman opponent but now combining it with new-found Islamic zeal; in many ways, the Seljuq resumed the conquests of the Muslims in the Byzantine–Arab Wars initiated by the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abassid Caliphate in the Levant, North Africa and Asia Minor.
  Today, the Battle of Manzikert is widely seen as the moment when the Byzantines lost the war against the Turks; however the Byzantine military was of questionable quality before 1071 with regular Turkish incursions overrunning the failing theme system. Even after Manzikert, Byzantine rule over Asia Minor did not end immediately, nor were any heavy concessions levied by the Turks on their opponents – it took another 20 years before the Turks were in control of the entire Anatolian peninsula and not for long either.
context_section_description: The war's outcome was determined as much by the weakness of the Byzantines as the strengths of the Seljuqs. Nonetheless, the latter, just like the Arabs many years earlier, failed to destroy the Byzantine Empire. The Seljuq Turks, having originated from the steppes, possessed many advantages. At the Battle of Manzikert, the Byzantine heavy cavalry was defeated using simple hit and run tactics, with the faster light cavalry of the Turks outflanking and outmaneuvering the exhausted cavalry.
  Asia Minor was not completely overrun by the Turks after Manzikert but the resulting chaos that followed was easily exploited – Turkic soldiers had been used as Mamluks by the Arabs before seizing power themselves – the same occurred in Asia Minor, with Byzantine factions inviting Turkic mercenaries to garrison towns. As Imperial rule was re-imposed in Byzantium, these factions, which were secured by Turkic soldiers, became part of the Seljuq Turk domains. Some Greeks fled conquered areas, others stayed to become second-class citizens in an Islamic world (though under Islamic rule were protected provided they paid the jizya tax). More importantly, others converted and were assimilated into the settling population of Turks. Orthodox churches were replaced with Mosques and the crippling Imperial taxes levied by the government and the accompanying Church were lowered.
caption: A 15th-century French depiction of Manzikert (Paris, BnF ms. fr. 226, fol. 256r[49]), with no accuracy applied to the weapons, tactics or clothing worn by the combatants.[50][unreliable source?] On the right, Alp Arslan steps on Romanus
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