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Great Seljuq Empire 1037 – 1194 → Flag Great Seljuq Empire in its zenith Capital Nisapur Political structure Empire Sultan  - 1037-1063 Tuğrul Bey  - 1063-1072 Alp Arslan  - 1072-1092 Malik Shah I  - 1118-1157 Ahmed Sanjar  - 1174-1194 Tugrul III History  - Tuğrul Bey formed the state system 1037  - Replaced by the Khwarezmian Empire 1194

The Great Seljuq Empire was a medieval Sunni Muslim empire established by Oghuz Turks that once controlled the lands from Anatolia to Punjab. Their advance marked the beginning of Turkic power in the Middle East.^[1] The empire was founded by Tuğrul Bey in 1037 after the efforts by the founder of the Seljuq dynasty, Seljuq Bey, back in the first quarter of the 11th century. Seljuq Bey gave his name both to the state and the dynasty. The Seljuqs united the fractured political scene of the Eastern Islamic world and played a key role in the first and second crusades. Highly Persianized in culture^[2][3][4][5] and language^{[6][7][8][9][10]}, the Seljuqs played an important role in the development of the Turko-Persian tradition which "features Persian culture patronized by Turkophone rulers"^[11].

Founder of the Dynasty

Main article: Seljuk

The apical ancestor of the Seljuqs was their Bey, Seljuq, who was reputed to have served in the Khazar army, under whom, circa 950 CE they migrated to Khwarezm, near the city of Jend also called Khujand, where they converted to Islam.^[12]

Great Seljuk

Main articles: Seljuq dynasty, Persianate, and Turko-Persian Tradition

The Seljuqs were allied with the Persian Samanid Shahs against the Qarakhanids. The Samanids however fell to the Qarakhanids and the emergence of the Ghaznavids and were involved in the power struggle in the region before establishing their own independent base.

Tuğrul and Çağrı Bey

Main article: Toğrül

Toğrül Bey was the grandson of Seljuk and Çağrı (Chagri) was his brother, under whom the Seljuks wrested an empire from the Ghaznavids. Initially the Seljuks were repulsed by Mahmud and retired to Khwarezm but Toğrül and Çağrı led them to capture Merv and Nishapur (1028-1029). Later they repeatedly raided and traded territory with his successors across Khorasan and Balkh and even sacked Ghazni in 1037. In 1039 at the Battle of Dandanaqan, they decisively defeated Mas'ud I of the Ghaznavids resulting in him abandoning most of his western territories to the Seljuks. In 1055, Toğrül captured Baghdad from the Shi'a Buyids under a commission from the Abbassids.

Alp Arslan

Main article: Alp Arslan

Alp Arslan was the son of Çağrı Bey and expanded significantly upon Toğrül's holdings by adding Armenia and Georgia in 1064 and invading the Byzantine Empire in 1068, from which he annexed almost all of Anatolia; Arslan's decisive victory at the Battle of Manzikert (in 1071) effectively neutralized the Byzantine threat.^[13] He authorized his Turcoman generals to carve their own principalities out of formerly Byzantine Anatolia, as atabegs loyal to him. Within two years the Turcomans had established control as far as the Aegean Sea under numerous "beghliks" (modern Turkish beyliks): the Saltuqis in Northeastern Anatolia, Mengujeqs in Eastern Anatolia, Artuqids in Southeastern Anatolia, Danishmendis in Central Anatolia, Rum Seljuks (Beghlik of Süleyman, which later moved to Central Anatolia) in Western Anatolia and the Beghlik of Çaka Bey in İzmir (Smyrna).

Malikshāh I

Main article: Malik Shah I

Under Alp Arslan's successor Malikshāh and his two Persian viziers^[14] Nizām al-Mulk and Tāj al-Mulk, the Seljuk state expanded in various directions, to former Iranian border before Arab invasion, so that it bordered China in the East and the Byzantines in the West. He moved the capital from Rayy to Isfahan. The Iqta military system and the Nizāmīyyah University at Baghdad were established by Nizām al-Mulk, and the reign of Malikshāh was reckoned the golden age of "Great Seljuk". The Abbasid Caliph titled him "The Sultan of the East and West" in 1087. The Assassins of Hassan-e Sabāh however started to become a force during his era and assassinated many leading figures in his administration.

Governance

Head of male royal figure, 12-13th century, found in Iran. Carved and drilled stone with Seljuq craftsmanship. Kept at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Seljuk power was at its zenith under Malikshāh I, and both the Qarakhanids and Ghaznavids had to acknowledge the overlordship of the Seljuks.^[15]. The Seljuk dominion was established over the ancient Sassanid domains, in Iran and Iraq, and included Anatolia as well as parts of Central Asia and modern Afghanistan.^[15] The Seljuk rule was modelled after the tribal organization brought in by the nomadic conquerors and resembled a 'family federation' or 'appanage state'.^[15] Under this organization the leading member of the paramount family assigned family members portions of his domains as autonomous appanages.^[15]

The First Crusade

Main article: First Crusade

The fractured states of the Seljuks were on the whole more concerned with consolidating their own territories and gaining control of their neighbours, than with cooperating against the crusaders when the First Crusade arrived in 1095 and successfully captured the Holy land to set up the Crusader States. The Seljuks had already lost Palestine to the Fatimids before their capture by the crusaders.

The Second Crusade

See also: Second Crusade, Zengi, Nur ad-Din

Ahmed Sanjar had to contend with the revolts of Qarakhanids in Transoxiana, Ghorids in Afghanistan and Qarluks in modern Kyrghyzstan, even as the nomadic Kara-Khitais invaded the East destroying the Seljuk vassal state of the Eastern Qarakhanids. At the Battle of Qatwan Sanjar 1141 and lost all his eastern provinces up to the Syr Darya.

During this time conflict with the Crusader States was also intermittent and after the First Crusade, increasingly independent atabegs would frequently ally with the crusader states against other atabegs as they vied with each other for territory. At Mosul Zengi succeeded Kerbogha as atabeg and successfully began the process of consolidating the atabegs of Syria. In 1144 Zengi captured Edessa, as the County of Edessa had allied itself with the Ortoqids against him. This event triggered the launch of the second crusade. Nur ad-Din, one of Zengi's sons who succeeded him as atabeg of Aleppo created an alliance in the region to oppose the second crusade which landed in 1147.

Division of empire

See also: Sultanate of Rum, Atabegs

When Malikshāh I died in 1092, the empire split as his brother and four sons quarrelled over the apportioning of the empire among themselves. In Anatolia, Malikshāh I was succeeded by Kilij Arslan I who founded the Sultanate of Rum and in Syria by his brother Tutush I. In Persia he was succeeded by his son Mahmud I whose reign was contested by his other three brothers Barkiyaruq in Iraq, Muhammad I in Baghdad and Ahmad Sanjar in Khorasan.

When Tutush I died his sons Radwan and Duqaq inherited Aleppo and Damascus respectively and contested with each other as well further dividing Syria amongst emirs antagonistic towards each other.

In 1118, the third son Ahmad Sanjar took over the empire. His nephew, the son of Muhammad I did not recognize his claim to the throne and Mahmud II proclaimed himself Sultan and established a capital in Baghdad, until 1131 when he was finally officially deposed by Ahmad Sanjar.

Elsewhere in nominal Seljuk territory were the Artuqids in northeastern Syria and northern Mesopotamia. They controlled Jerusalem until 1098. In eastern Anatolia and northern Syria a state was founded by the Dānišmand dynasty, and contested land with the Sultanate of Rum and Kerbogha exercised greeted independence as the atabeg of Mosul.

Legacy

The Seljuks were educated in the service of Muslim courts as slaves or mercenaries. The dynasty brought revival, energy, and reunion to the Islamic civilization hitherto dominated by Arabs and Persians. According to the Seljuks, they brought to the Muslims "fighting spirit and fanatical aggression". ^[16]

The Seljuks were also patrons of art and literature. Under the Seljuks universities were founded.^[17] Their reign is characterized by astronomers such as Omar Khayyám, and the philosipher al-Ghazali.

Toghrol Tower, a 12th century monument south of Tehran commemorating Toğrül.

Seljuq era art: Ewer from Iran, dated 1180-1210CE. Brass worked in repousse and inlaid with silver and bitumen. NY Metropolitan Museum.

The Kharāghān twin towers, built in 1053 CE in Iran, is the burial of Seljuq princes.

Shatranj chess set, glazed fritware, 12th century, from Iran. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Conquest by Khwarezm and the Ayyubids

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See also:Saladin, Ayyubid, Khwarezmid Empire

In 1153 the Oghuz Turks rebelled and captured Sanjar. He managed to escape three years later but died a year after that. Despite several attempts to reunite the Seljuks by his successors, the Crusades prevented them from regaining their former empire. The Atabegs such as Zengids and Artuqids were only nominally under the Seljuk Sultan, and generally controlled Syria independently. When Ahmed Sanjar died in 1156 it fractured the empire even further rendering the atabegs effectively independent.

1. Khorasani Seljuks in Khorasan and Transoxiana. Capital: Merv
2. Kermani Seljuks
3. Sultanate of Rum. Capital: Iznik (Nicaea), later Konya (Iconium)
4. Atabeghlik of Salgur in Iran
5. Atabeghlik of Ildeniz in Iraq and Azerbaijan. Capital Hamadan
6. Atabeghlik of Bori in Syria. Capital: Damascus
7. Atabeghlik of Zangi in Al Jazira (Northern Mesopotamia). Capital: Mosul
8. Turcoman Beghliks: Danishmendis, Artuqids, Saltuqis and Mengujegs in Asia Minor
9. Khwarezmshahs in Transoxiana, Khwarezm. Capital: Urganch

After the Second Crusade Nur ad-Din's general Shirkuh, who had established himself in Egypt on Fatimid land, was succeeded by Saladin who rebelled against Nur ad-Din. Upon Nur ad-Dins death, Saladin married his widow and captured most of Syria creating the Ayyubid dynasty.

On other fronts the Kingdom of Georgia began to become a regional power and extended its borders at the expense of Great Seljuk as did the revival of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia under Leo II of Armenia in Anatolia. The Abbassid caliph An-Nasir also began to reassert the authority of the caliph and allied himself with the Khwarezmshah Ala ad-Din Tekish.

For a brief period Toğrül III was the Sultan of all Seljuk except for Anatolia. In 1194 Toğrül was defeated by Ala ad-Din Tekish, the Shah of Khwarezmid Empire, and the Seljuk finally collapsed. Of the former Seljuk Empire, only the Sultanate of Rüm in Anatolia remained. As the dynasty declined in the middle of the 13th century, the Mongols invaded Anatolia in the 1260s and divided it into small emirates called the Anatolian beyliks, one of which, the Ottoman, would rise to power and conquer the rest.

Notes

History of Greater Iran
Empires of Persia · Kings of Persia
Pre-modern
Before Islam  BCE Zayandeh River Civilization prehistoric–? Sialk civilization 7500–1000 Jiroft civilization (Aratta) 3000–? Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800 Bactria-Margiana Complex 2200–1700 Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th cent. Median Empire 728–550 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Seleucid Empire 330–150 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250-125 Parthian Empire 248–CE 224 CE Kushan Empire 30–275 Sassanid Empire 224–651 Hephthalite Empire 425–557 Kabul-Shahi dynasty 565–670
After Islamic Conquest  Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 819–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid Dynasty 934–1055 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghori dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231 Kartids dynasty 1231-1389 Ilkhanate 1256–1353 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dyansty 1337–1357 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722* Mughal Empire 1526–1857 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1802 * or 1736
Modern SSR = Soviet Socialist Republic
Afghanistan  Durrani Empire 1748–1823 British and Russian influence 1826–1919 Independence and civil war 1919–1929 Mohammedzai rule 1929–1973 Republic of Afghanistan 1973–1978 Communist rule 1978–1992 Recent history of Afghanistan since 1992 Timeline
Azerbaijan  Khanates of the Caucasus 1722–1828 Russian Rule 1828–1917 Democratic Republic 1918–1920 Azerbaijan SSR 1920–1991 Republic of Azerbaijan since 1991
Bahrain  Portuguese rule 1521–1602 British Treaty 1820–1971 Kingdom of Bahrain since 1971
Iran  Zand dynasty 1750–1794 Qajar dynasty 1781–1925 Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Iranian Revolution 1979 Provisional Government 1979 Islamic Republic of Iran since 1979
Iraq  Ottoman Empire 1632–1919 Hashimite monarchy 1920–1958 Coup and Republic 1958–2003 Republic of Iraq since 2004
Tajikistan  Emirate of Bukhara 1785–1920 Bukharan / Uzbek SSR 1920–1929 Tajik Autonomous SSR 1929 Tajik SSR 1929–1991 Republic of Tajikistan since 1991
Uzbekistan  Emirate of Bukhara 1785–1920 Uzbek SSR 1924–1991 Independence 1991 Republic of Uzbekistan since 1991
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References

• Previte-Orton, C. W (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

See also

• Atabeg
• Assassins
• Artuqid
• Danishmend
• Ghaznavid Empire
• Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm
• Ottoman Empire
• Seljuk
• Seldschuken-Fürsten, list of Seljuk rulers in the German Wikipedia
• Turkic migrations

External links

• All Empires Online History Community: The Seljuk Empire