Editing Muhammad I Tapar (section)

==Reign==
Muhammad was born in 20 January 1082.<ref name="Houtsma">{{cite book | last=Houtsma | first=M.T. | last2=Brill | first2=E.J. | last3=Houtsma | first3=M.T. | last4=van Donzel | first4=E. | title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913-1936. Morocco - Ruzzīk | publisher=Brill | series=First Encyclopedia of Islam 1913-1936 | issue=v. 6 | year=1993 | isbn=978-90-04-09796-4 | page=673}}</ref>{{sfn|Bosworth|1993|p=408}} He succeeded his nephew, [[Malik Shah II]], as Seljuq Sultan in [[Baghdad]], and thus was theoretically the head of the dynasty, although his brother [[Ahmad Sanjar]] in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] held more practical power. Muhammad I probably allied himself with [[Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan|Radwan]] of [[Aleppo]] in the battle of the Khabur River against [[Kilij Arslan I]], the sultan of [[Sultanate of Rum|Rüm]], in 1107, in which the latter was defeated and killed.<ref>''Anatolia in the Period of the Seljuks and the Beyliks'', Osman Turan, '''The Cambridge History of Islam''', Ed. Peter Malcolm Holt, Ann K. S. Lambton and Bernard Lewis, (Cambridge University Press, 1970), 239.</ref> Following the internecine conflict with his half brother, [[Berkyaruq]], he was given the title of ''malik'' and the provinces of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Dissatisfied by this he revolted again, but had to flee back to Armenia. By 1104, Berkyaruq, ill and tired of war, agreed to divide the sultanate with Muhammad.<ref>''Barkyaruq'', Cl. Cahen, '''The Encyclopedia of Islam''', Ed. H.A.R.Gibb, J.H.Kramers, E. Levi-Provencal and J.Schacht, (E.J.Brill, 1986), 1052.</ref> Muhammad became sole sultan following the death of Berkyaruq in 1105.

In 1106, Muhammad conquered the [[Nizari Ismaili state|Ismaili]] fortress of [[Shahdiz]], and ordered the [[Bavandid]] ruler [[Shahriyar IV]] to participate in [[Muhammad Tapar's anti-Nizari campaign|his campaign against the Ismailis]]. Shahriyar, greatly angered by the message Muhammad sent him, refused to aid him against the Ismailis.{{sfn|Bosworth|1968|p=28}} Shortly after, Muhammad sent an army headed by Amir Chavli, who tried to capture [[Sari, Iran|Sari]] but was unexpectedly defeated by an army under Shahriyar and his son [[Qarin III]]. Muhammad then sent a letter, which requested Shahriyar to send one of his sons to the Seljuq court in [[Isfahan]].{{sfn|Madelung|1984|pp=747–753}} He sent his son [[Ali I (Bavandid ruler)|Ali I]], who impressed Muhammad so much that he offered him his daughter in marriage, but Ali refused and told him to grant the honor to his brother and heir of the Bavand dynasty, Qarin III. Qarin III then went to the Isfahan court and married her.

In 1106/1107, [[Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk]], the son of the famous [[vizier]] [[Nizam al-Mulk]], went to the court of Muhammad I to file a complaint against the [[rais]] (head) of [[Hamadan]]. When Ahmad arrived to the court, Muhammad I appointed him as his vizier, replacing Sa'd al-Mulk Abu'l-Mahasen Abi, who had been recently executed on suspicion of heresy. The appointment was due mainly to the reputation of Ahmad's father. He was then given various titles which his father held (Qewam al-din, Sadr al-Islam and Nizam al-Mulk).

Muhammad I, along with his vizier Ahmad, later campaigned in [[Iraq]], where they defeated and killed the [[Al-Mazeedi|Mazyadid]] ruler Sayf al-dawla Sadaqa ibn Mansur, who bore the title "king of the Arabs". In 1109, Muhammad I sent Ahmad and Chavli Saqavu to capture the [[Nizari Ismaili state|Ismaili]] fortresses of [[Alamut]] and Ostavand, but they failed to achieve any decisive result and withdrew.{{sfn|Bosworth|1968|p=118}} Ahmad was shortly replaced by Khatir al-Mulk Abu Mansur Maybudi as vizier of the Sejluq Empire. According to [[Ali ibn al-Athir]] (a historian who lived about a hundred years later), Ahmad then retired to a private life in [[Baghdad]], but, according to the contemporary biographer, [[Anushirvan ibn Khalid]], Muhammad I had Ahmad imprisoned for ten years.{{sfn|Bosworth|1984|pp=642–643}}

Muhammad I died on 18 April 1118<ref name="Houtsma"/> and was succeeded by [[Mahmud II of Great Seljuq|Mahmud II]], although after Muhammad I's death Sanjar was clearly the chief power in the Seljuq realms.