Chaghri

Chaghri Beg, also transliterated as Chaḡri Beg, born circa 990 and died 1060, was a Turkic ruler of the Oghuz Turks and a co-founder of the Seljuk Empire. He and his brother Tughril Beg are regarded as the founders of the Seljuk state, rising from the Kınık branch of the Oghuz to establish control over a broad region in the eastern Islamic world during the early 11th century.

From a base in Khurasan, the two brothers expanded their influence into eastern and then western Iran, challenging rivals such as the Ghaznavids and unifying various Oghuz Turkic groups under a central authority. Chaghri is typically described as a co-ruler who shared military and administrative responsibilities with Tughril, helping to organize governance and campaigns that forged the early Seljuk polity.

The brothers secured recognition from the Abbasid Caliphate, a development that lent religious and political legitimacy to Seljuk authority and facilitated further expansion. Chaghri’s leadership, together with Tughril’s, laid the groundwork for a centralized state that could project power across a wide expanse of the Islamic world.

Chaghri died in 1060, after which Tughril Beg and, later, Alp Arslan and Malik-Shah continued the expansion and consolidation of the empire. The Seljuk state that began with Chaghri and Tughril would go on to play a pivotal role in Middle Eastern politics for centuries, influencing relations among the caliphate, regional dynasties, and major military actors in the region.