Having left sufficient soldiers to capture the Damascus, Alp Arslan departed from Aleppo. As it can be observed, he firstly oriented towards the east and made his preparations for war. Then, he provided the proper forces and turned to the north. When he heard of the threat of Diogenes against Manzikert, he accelerated his movement. In the course of the forced movement, most of the horses and camels had died and particularly some of the heavy transports were damaged in the course of passage over the Euphrates River. He discharged the old and tired detachments of Iraqi Acem who had been in service since the period of Tugrul Bey. He provided a young and robust army composed of fewer people and arrived in Ahlat. Then, he sent his vizier Nizam'ul-Mulk together with his wife and the other princes to Hamedan in order to suppress any possible disorders that can occur in the other regions of the country and to send fresh and young forces to the battlefield. Then, he sent a troop of cavalrymen to the forefront in order to take information about the situation of the Byzantine army. Therefore, the fight that occurred between the vanguard pioneers of the Turkish army and the Byzantien forces that we have stated above resulted with the victory of Turks. Seljuk cavalrymen defeated and Basilakes who had considered them as the soldiers with the limited numbers connected to the Ahlat garrison and notified this situation to the emperor and they took him as prisoner. N. Bryennios who was sent by the Emperor to help him had to retreat when he was injured. A valuable cross that was despoiled in the course of this first success among the spoils had been considered as the omen of the victory. Therefore, this cross was sent to Nizam'ul-Mulk in Hamedan that would be forwarded to the caliph in Baghdad. Diogenes who had information from the Bryennios who had run away departed from Manzikert and advanced towards Ahlat and came to the desert of Zahva that was within a distance of 10-12 km to Manzikert. He saw that the hills that overlooked this valley were taken by the detachments of Turks and he established his headquarters in the place that he had arrived. Turkish archers had started to disturb the Byzantine army since the dark hours of that night and the small cavalrymen groups that penetrated into the headquarters of the enemy had organised continuous marauds and wore them out. Turkish and Byzantine armies had taken up opposite position in the morning of Friday on the date of 26th August 1071.

The difference in respect of the number was of great significance between the two armies. The army of Diogenes was composed of Cappadocia, Phrykia and Elcezire forces and the soldiers from the Balkan provinces as well as the Armenians, Georgians and the paid soldiers of Franks, Normans, Slavs, Uz and Pecenek people. Their number was not below one hundred thousand and most of them were infantrymen. However, there was not a full harmony and understanding among various groups within this army that could only proceed with slow movements in mass war technique. The number of the commanders that were related with victory was rather few. Even in the early hours of the date of 26th August, most of Pecenek and Uz detachments had left their sides and taken side with Seljuk people who were of the same race. Diogenes had a suspicion about the situation of the foreign soldiers and he made the rest of Uz and Pecenek people who had stayed in his headquarters take an oath of fidelity. He ordered to Trakhaniotes and Frank Urselius to return with their forces that he had dispatched to Ahlat as we have stated before. However, when these two commanders had perceived that the sultan had personally came to Ahlat, they retreated to the Euphrates River together with their forces.

Nevertheless, the total number of the army of the sultan was estimated as 15-20 thousands of soldiers together with his brigades of guards (Ibn'ul-Cevzi, 20.000; Sibt, Ibn'ül-Adîm, Ahbar, Ibn'ül-Esîr, 15.000; Imâd'üd-dîn 14.000; Ibnü Munkiz, 13.000). Under the command of the distinguished commanders such as Suleymanshah, Mansur, Gevherayin, Porsuk, Bozan and Sav-tigin, etc., this army was composed of cavalrymen resistant to the difficulties that were trained in accordance with the steppe war techniques. Each of these soldiers who were talented in shooting arrows with the capability of serial manoeuvres had one reserve horse for them. Probably we should add the Turkmen troops under the command of Artuk Bey, Tutak and the other Turkmen beys who were experienced and strong as the same as the cavalrymen that were trained in the course of the raids. There was not any disorder or conflict among the Turkish troops that knew to move under discipline.

The common opinion of holy war and the target of the conquest of Anatolia were the elements that united them. Turks who had held the initiative power in the course of the expeditions for destruction towards Anatolia were the dominant factor in the last moment of their doomsday. Alp Arslan had matched the date of the great battle with Friday that was the holy day of Muslims. In order to reinforce the moral values of his army, he had provided a mobilisation with the Islam world through the mediation of the caliph. The prayer arranged by el-Kaaim the text of which is registered within Ahbâr-üd-Devlet'is-Selçukiye was sent to every region for the delivery as the prayer in all mosques on Friday. The good news about the definite victory stated by Ebû Muhammed b. Abd'il-Melik'il-Buhârî who was the Muslim jurist and imam of the sultan was announced to the entire army.

Alp Arslan proposed for the state of peace before the blow. But the emperor did not receive his committee that he had sent under the chairmanship of the Muslim judge, Ibn'ul-Mahleban and the commander Sav-tigin. He interpreted the demand of the sultan directed towards the peace as its fear from the battle. Therefore, he stated that the negotiations could only be started in Rey, the capital city of Seljuk State. He had even stated that he aimed to spend the winter in Isfahan and to send his animal herds to Hamedan. As a combatant of Islam, it was natural for the sultan to propose the state of peace. However, the rejection of the proposal helped to increase the determination of the army. Having postponed the hour of the battled until the prayer time on Friday, The sultan who had worn in white clothes had given a speech to the soldiers after the prayers performed all together. In his speech to the soldiers, he bequeathed that he would be buried in the place where he was shot in case that he was killed as a martyr, and the rest statesmen and the commanders and their sons would submit to the management of the prince, Melikshah.

Then, he declared that he would fight for the sake of the state and religion like a soldier, rather than an Emperor and those who did not want to fight would be free to leave the battlefield. In order to show that he did not have any difference from any soldier within the army, he bonded the tail of his horse with his hand. He took his sword and war club leaving his arrows and bows in order to indicate that he would fight in the forefront lines. At the same time, there were religious ceremonies that were carried out in the military encampment of the Byzantine, hymns were sung and the aristocrats and the priests of the army who were wandering among the lines with colourful flags and big crosses tried to reassure the soldiers.

to be continued