26 - The Heroic Lion

After the death of Tughrul, the founder of the Great Seljuk Empire, the inevitable succession crisis breaks out.  A son of Chaghri named Alp Arslan manages to quickly win the 4-way civil war and succeeds his uncle Tughrul as the Sultan of what is by now the most powerful state in the world.  To secure the loyalty of his wild Turkmen followers, Alp Arslan then gathers the mighty hordes of the Oghuz and invades deep into the Caucuses and Anatolia.  The Turks cut a trail of destruction across the region, and ultimately come before the walls of the great Armenian city of Ani, which is brutally sacked.   Alp Arslan is thus secured on his throne - and the stage is set for a conflict in a decade's time at a place called Manzikert...