Alab Arselan (Alp Arsal) - A History of the Middle East

Alab arselan may have been born at a very similar time to romanos diodienis, and so they were both around the same age. Al parsalan's uncle, tugriul beg, became the sultan of the selduc turks while ala barsalam was just a boy. The fatamids originated as a nation in north africa, and had gained control of the lucrative lands of egypt. Their observance of sher islam put them into ideological odds with the seldac turks, who had embraced sunny islam.