At a glance
- Era
- The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
- Region
- Persia & Central Asia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Sides
Commanders: السلطان سنجر بن ملكشاه
Commanders: كوخان القراخطائي
Summary
In 536 AH a great battle took place between the sultan Sanjar and the non-Muslim Turks beyond the Oxus 1.
The defeat and its consequences
The Muslims were struck, and Sanjar escaped with a small group, so few that he reached Balkh with only six men. His wife and daughter were taken captive, and 100,000 or more of his army were killed. The Turks numbered 300,000 horsemen, led by Kuhan the Qara Khitai, who, despite the greatness of his state, was just and did not grant any man an iqta' in his realm 2.
Connections
- Occurred at
- Samarqand
- Had participant
- السلطان سنجر بن ملكشاه
People and things also explored
The battle of Dinawar between Sanjar and his nephews in 526· Capture and killing of al-Mustarshid at Maragha· Qutham ibn al-Abbas's Death at Samarqand· Qutayba's Conquest of Samarqand· The lord of Samarqand betrays the Khwarazmians· The Ghuzz capture Sultan Sanjar· Sa'id ibn Uthman's Siege of Samarqand· The Beginning of Timur's Rise
Sources
- Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 591
- Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 591, 594
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Sultan Sanjar's defeat by the Turks beyond the river in 536”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/sanjar-qara-khitai-defeat-536/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.