Sultan of the Great Saljûq Empire (1094-1105). The eldest son of Sultan Malik Shâh I, Barkyârûq came to power at the age of thirteen after defeating his brother Sultan Mahmûd I (d. 1094). His reign was characterized by continuous civil wars with his uncles and brothers throughout his vast empire, which took place while the First Crusade (10961099) was penetrating his dominions in Syria.
Barkyârûq’s uncle Tutush I, king of Syria, disputed his claim to the sultanate and occupied western Persia, having won the recognition of the ‘Abbâsid caliph in Baghdad. However, in February 1095 Barkyârûq killed Tutush in battle at Dashlu in Persia, which had devastating consequences for Saljûq unity in Syria. A long civil war broke out between Tutush’s sons, Ridwan, who ruled Aleppo and northern Syria, and Duqâq, who ruled Damascus and southern Syria. Barkyârûq himself was occupied by another rebellion led by his uncle, Arslan Arghun, in Khurasan in 1097. This was followed by another challenge to power by the sultan’s younger brother Muhammad Tapar in 1098, which continued for the rest of the reign, exhausting Saljûq military power and crippling the economy of the empire. The struggle between Barkyârûq and Muhammad took place mostly in Iraq, Persia, and Transoxania. Saljûq Syria was neglected to such an extent that when a Syrian delegation traveled to Baghdad to urge the sultan and caliph to intervene after Jerusalem fell to the crusaders, the caliph pleaded helplessness, as Barkyârûq was fighting in Khurasan. When his cousin Duqâq was killed in 1104, Barkyârûq was unable to prevent the atabeg Tughtigin from seizing control of Damascus from the Saljûq dynasty. Barkyaruk died of tuberculosis in January 1105 after nominating his four-year-old son Malik Shâh II as successor.