Abstract:

The Great Seljuk Sultan Malik-Shah fully embraced the Turkish idea of world domination and successfully preserved his father's auspicious legacy. Alparslan trusted Malik-Shah since his childhood. Malik-Shah who made his mark in history with glorious conquests, embarked on an expedition to Antioch in 1086, taking his first steps into the Mediterranean on the shores of Seleucus (Suveydiye). The Sultan's arrival here mainly aims to solve a political issue. However, his encounter with the Mediterranean and the behavior he exhibited here with the excitement he felt were considered worthy of examination and became the subject of our study. The sultan first rode his horse into the sea, then dipped his sword into the water three times, prayed on the seashore and took the soil he had taken from the shore to his father's grave. Considering the importance of traditional practices in keeping the national identity alive, each of these behaviours that Malik-Shah, who was the owner of the most brilliant period of the Great Seljuk State, showed as if he remembered his Central Asian ancestor is important in terms of Turkish cultural history. In our study, it is aimed to show that the Seljuk sultans dominated and continued the old Turkish traditions with the incident, which is tried to be examined within the framework of horse, sword and earth symbols, which are important elements of Turkish culture.

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