Toghrul III
Toghrul III (Persian: طغرل سوم) (died 1194) was the last sultan of the Great Seljuq Empire.
| Toghrul III | |
|---|---|
| Last Sultan of the Great Seljuq Empire | |
| Reign | 1176-1194 |
| Predecessor | Arslan Shah |
| Successor | Office abolished |
| Died | March 19, 1194 killed near Rey |
| Father | Arslan Shah |
The son of sultan Arslan Shah, he succeeded him in 1175 or 1176. In 1190 he tried to free himself from the tutelage of the Atabeg of Azerbaijan, Qizil Arslan, but he was overthrown and imprisoned by the latter, who proclaimed himself sultan.[1] The usurper was assassinated the following year and Toghrul regained his throne. During his brief reign, Toghrul would become quite proficient in Persian poetry.[2]
On 19 March 1194, he was defeated and killed near Rey[3] in the war that he had waged against the Shah of Khwarezm, Ala ad-Din Tekish. Toghrul's head was sent to the Caliph Al-Nasir who displayed it in front of his palace in Baghdad. The Great Seljuq Empire disappeared with Toghrul's death.
References
- Grousset, Rene, The Empire of the Steppes, (Rutgers University Press, 1991), 158.
- A.C.S. Peacock, The Great Seljuk Empire, (Edinburgh University Press, 2015), 185.
- Grousset, 167.