[5] In 1064, Malik-Shah, only 9 years old by then, along with Nizam al-Mulk, the Persian vizier of the Empire,[6] took part in Alp Arslan's campaign in the Caucasus.

[19] In 1089, Malik-Shah captured Samarkand with the support of the local clergy, and imprisoned its Karakhanid ruler Ahmad Khan ibn Khizr, who was the nephew of Terken Khatun.

He then marched to Semirechye, and made the Karakhanid Harun Khan ibn Sulayman, the ruler of Kashgar and Khotan, acknowledge him as his suzerain.

Followers of Sabbah managed to occupy the Alamut fortress near Qazvin, and the army under the command of the emir Arslan-Tash, sent by Malik Shah, could not recapture it.

The Sultan's ghilman, Kizil Sarug, besieged the Daru fortress in Kuhistan, but ceased hostilities in connection with the death of Malik Shah on November 19, 1092, possibly due to poisoning.

The situation within the Seljuk lands was further complicated by the beginning of the First Crusade, which detached large portions of Syria and Palestine from Muslim control in 1098 and 1099.

Principal wives were: Concubines:[30] The 18th century English historian Edward Gibbon wrote of him: On his father's death the inheritance was disputed by an uncle, a cousin, and a brother: they drew their cimeters, and assembled their followers; and the triple victory of Malek Shah established his own reputation and the right of primogeniture.

In every age, and more especially in Asia, the thirst of power has inspired the same passions, and occasioned the same disorders; but, from the long series of civil war, it would not be easy to extract a sentiment more pure and magnanimous than is contained in the saying of the Turkish prince.

As the sultan rose from the ground, he asked his vizier Nizam, who had knelt beside him, what had been the object of his secret petition: "That your arms may be crowned with victory," was the prudent, and most probably the sincere, answer of the minister.

"For my part," replied the generous Malek, "I implored the Lord of Hosts that he would take from me my life and crown, if my brother be more worthy than myself to reign over the Moslems."

The favourable judgment of heaven was ratified by the caliph; and for the first time, the sacred title of Commander of the Faithful was communicated to a Barbarian.

The legend has it that during the years that were hugely successful for Seljuks on all fronts, Malik-Shah, overwhelmed by the imperial might of his dynasty, used to climb to the top of a hill and say the following: "Oh Almighty God, I will somehow cope with the problem of hunger, please save me from the threat of abundance".

Isfahan became securely established as his chief city of residence, although in the latter years of his rule Malik Shah preferred to winter in Baghdad.

Isfahan also served as the burial site of Malik Shah, his descendants, as well as celebrated bureaucrats of the sultanate like Nizam al-Mulk.

Malik Shah's decision of residing in a capital far away from the centers of Turkmen settlement around Merv, Rayy, Hamadan, and Azerbaijan could well be explained by the increasing distance between him and his nomadic subjects.