[1] Suleiman was the son of Qutalmish, who had struggled unsuccessfully against his cousin Alp Arslan for the throne of the Great Seljuk Empire.

When Qutalmish died in 1064, Suleiman fled with his three brothers into the Taurus Mountains and there sought refuge with Turkoman tribes living beyond the borders of the empire.

Thereupon, sultan Malik-Shah I recognized him as a ruler of Rum, while the Abbasid caliph Al-Qa'im sent him a firman (edict) and a khalat for his success.

[5] Nicephorus' bid for power was successful, and in return for their support, Suleiman's Turkmen were allowed to settle on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, near Constantinople itself.

[7] All Bithynia was soon under Suleiman's control, a circumstance which allowed him to restrict communication between Constantinople and the former Byzantine subjects in Anatolia.