Seljuk Empire · 1037-1092

The Seljuks and Manzikert

Turkish horsemen from Central Asia took over the heart of the Islamic world and beat a Byzantine emperor at Manzikert in 1071. Students explore how this opened Anatolia to the Turks and led to the Crusades.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1100 to AD 1200
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Turkish horsemen from Central Asia took over the heart of the Islamic world and beat a Byzantine emperor at Manzikert in 1071. Students explore how this opened Anatolia to the Turks and led to the Crusades.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Trace the movement of the Seljuk Turks from Central Asia to Anatolia on the map.
  • Describe the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and its results.
  • Explain the difference between a caliph and a sultan.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1100

Turks from the steppe

Open the map in 1100 and find the Seljuk Empire. Then look to the north-east, near the Aral Sea: which Turkish people does the map show there, from whom the Seljuks came?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1071

Manzikert

Move to 1071 and turn on Historical Events. Find the Battle of Manzikert in eastern Anatolia. Near which large lake was it fought?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1200

Anatolia changes

Jump to 1200. Find the Sultanate of Rum in the middle of Anatolia and compare it with the Byzantine lands. How did Manzikert change this map?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Seljuks were Turkish herders who became rulers of Baghdad. How could horsemen from the steppe take over an old empire?
  2. The Abbasid caliph gave Tughril Beg the title sultan. Why did the caliph need a sultan, and why did the sultan want the caliph?
  3. At Manzikert the Byzantine emperor himself was captured. Why was that such a shock?
  4. Nizam al-Mulk founded schools called madrasas. Why might a government want to train its own scholars and officials?
  5. Some people call Manzikert the beginning of Turkey. Do you think one battle can start a country?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Saladin, who rose to power about a century after Manzikert in a Middle East shaped by Turkish and Kurdish soldiers. Discuss: how did warriors from outside the old elites come to rule this region?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.