The Battle of Dorylaeum (1097)

In 1097 the army of the First Crusade crossed into Anatolia and, together with the Byzantines, took the Seljuk capital Nicaea. Sultan Kilij Arslan I allied with the Danishmendid emir Gazi Gümüshtigin, while the Crusaders split into two columns on the march.

On 1 July 1097 the Turkish cavalry attacked the vanguard under Bohemond near Dorylaeum, today's Eskişehir. Turkish horse archers surrounded it and kept it under heavy pressure for hours. In the afternoon the main Crusader army arrived and struck the Turks in the flank, turning the battle.

Kilij Arslan withdrew and chose to avoid open battle, wearing the Crusaders down by destroying food and water along their route. The Crusaders crossed Anatolia to Antioch but suffered heavy losses on the way, while Kilij Arslan preserved his state with a new capital at Konya.