Seljuk dynasty

The Seljuq (also Seljuq Turks^[1], Seldjuks, Seldjuqs, Seljuks; in Turkish Selçuklular; in Persian: سلجوقيان Ṣaljūqīyān; in Arabic سلجوق Saljūq, or السلاجقة al-Salājiqa) were a Turkish-Persian Sunni Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries. They set up an empire, the Great Seljuq Empire, which at its height stretched from Anatolia through Persia and which was the target of the First Crusade. The dynasty had its origins in the Turcoman tribal confederations of Central Asia and marked the beginning of Turkic power in the Middle East. After arriving in Persia, the Seljuqs adopted the Persian culture^[2]^[3]^[4] and language^[5]^[6], and played an important role in the development of the Turko-Persian tradition which features "Persian culture patronized by Turkic rulers."^[7] Today, they are remembered as great patrons of Persian culture, art, literature, and language^[5]^[6]^[8] and are regarded by some as the cultural ancestors of the Western Turks – the present-day inhabitants of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan.^{[citation needed]}

Early history

Origins

Prior to the ninth century, hordes of Turks had crossed the Volga River into the Black Sea steppes.^[9] Originally, the House of Seljuq was a branch of the Qinik Oghuz Turks^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13] who in the 9th century lived on the periphery of the Muslim world, north of the Caspian and Aral sea in their Yabghu Khaganate of the Oghuz confederacy,^[14] in the Kazakh Steppe of Turkestan.^[15] In the 10th century the Seljuqs migrated from their ancestral homelands into mainland Persia, in the province of Khurasan, where they mixed with the local population and adopted the Persian culture and language in the following decades.^[5]^[6]^[8]^[16]^[17]

Seljuq leaders

Rulers of the Seljuq Dynasty (1037–1157)

The "Great Seljuqs" were heads of the family; in theory their authority extended over all the other Seljuq lines, although in practice this often was not the case. Turkish custom called for the senior member of the family to be the Great Seljuq, although usually the position was associated with the ruler of western Persia.

Tugrul I (Tugrul Beg) 1037–1063
Alp Arslan bin Chaghri 1063–1072
Jalal ad-Dawlah Malik Shah I 1072–1092
Nasir ad-Din Mahmud I 1092–1093
Rukn ad-Din Barkiyaruq 1093–1104
Mu'izz ad-Din Malik Shah II 1105
Ghiyath ad-Din Muhammad/Mehmed I Tapar 1105–1118

Muhammad's son Mahmud II succeeded him in western Persia, but Sanjar, the governor of Khurasan from 1097 and the senior member of the family, became Great Seljuq sultan

Mu'izz ad-Din Ahmed Sanjar 1118–1157

From 1157, the Oghuz took control of much of Khurasan, with the remainder in the hands of former Seljuq emirs

Seljuq sultans of Hamadan (1118–1194)

The rulers of western Persia, who maintained a very loose grip on the Abbasids of Baghdad. Several Turkish emirs gained a strong level of influence in the region, such as the Eldiduzids.

Mahmud II 1118–1131
Da'ud (in Jibal and Iranian Azerbaijan) 1131
Tuğrul II 1131–1134
Mas'ud 1134–1152
Malik Shah III 1152–1153
Muhammad II 1153–1160
Suleiman Shah 1160–1161
Arslan Shah 1161–1174
Tugrul III 1174–1194

In 1194, Tugrul III was killed in battle with the Khwarezm Shah, who annexed Hamadan.

Seljuq rulers of Kerman (1041–1187)

Kerman was a province in southern Persia. Between 1053 and 1154, the territory also included Umman.

Qawurd 1041–1073
Kerman Shah 1073–1074
Sultan Shah 1074–1075
Hussain Omar 1075–1084
Turan Shah I 1084–1096
Iran Shah 1096–1101
Arslan Shah I 1101–1142
Mehmed I (Muhammad) 1142–1156
Toğrül Shah 1156–1169
Bahram Shah 1169–1174
Arslan Shah II 1174–1176
Turan Shah II 1176–1183
Muhammad Shah 1183–1187

Muhammad abandoned Kerman, which fell into the hands of the Oghuz chief Malik Dinar. Kerman was eventually annexed by the Khwarezmid Empire in 1196.

Seljuq rulers in Syria 1076–1117

Abu Sa'id Taj ad-Dawla Tutush I 1085–1086
Jalal ad-Dawlah Malik Shah I of Great Seljuq 1086–1087
Qasim ad-Dawla Abu Said Aq Sunqur al-Hajib 1087–1094
Abu Sa'id Taj ad-Dawla Tutush I (second time) 1094–1095
Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan 1095–1113
Tadj ad-Dawla Alp Arslan al-Akhras 1113–1114
Sultan Shah 1114–1123

To the Artuqids

Sultans/Emirs of Damascus:

Aziz ibn Abaaq al-Khwarazmi 1076–1079
Abu Sa'id Taj ad-Dawla Tutush I 1079–1095
Abu Nasr Shams al-Muluk Duqaq 1095–1104
Tutush II 1104
Muhi ad-Din Baqtash 1104

Damascus seized by the Burid Toghtekin

Seljuq sultans of Rûm (Anatolia) 1077–1307

See Sultanate of Rûm

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

Kutalmish 1060–1077
Suleyman Ibn Kutalmish (Suleiman) 1077–1086
Dawud Kilij Arslan I 1092–1107
Malik Shah 1107–1116
Rukn ad-Din Mas'ud 1116–1156
Izz ad-Din Kilij Arslan II 1156–1192
Ghiyath ad-Din Kaykhusraw I 1192–1196
Suleyman II (Suleiman) 1196–1204
Kilij Arslan III 1204–1205
Ghiyath ad-Din Kaykhusraw I (second time) 1205–1211
Izz ad-Din Kaykaus I 1211–1220
Ala ad-Din Kay Qubadh I 1220–1237
Ghiyath ad-Din Kaykhusraw II 1237–1246
Izz ad-Din Kaykaus II 1246–1260
Rukn ad-Din Kilij Arslan IV 1248–1265
Ala ad-Din Kayqubad II 1249–1257
Ghiyath ad-Din Kaykhusraw III 1265–1282
Ghiyath ad-Din Mesud II 1282–1284
Ala ad-Din Kayqubad III 1284
Ghiyath ad-Din Mesud II (second time) 1284–1293
Ala ad-Din Kayqubad III (second time) 1293–1294
Ghiyath ad-Din Mesud II (third time) 1294–1301
Ala ad-Din Kayqubad III (third time) 1301–1303
Ghiyath ad-Din Mesud II (fourth time) 1303–1307

The Seljuq line, already having been deprived of any significant power, effectively ends in the early fourteenth century

Gallery

Toghrol Tower, a 12th century monument south of Tehran commemorating Toğrül.
Seljuq era art: Ewer from Iran, dated 1180–1210. Brass worked in repousse and inlaid with silver and bitumen. NY Metropolitan Museum.
Head of Seljuq male royal figure, 12–13th century, from Iran. Carved and drilled stone with Iranian craftsmanship. Kept at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Shatranj chess set, glazed fritware, 12th century, from Iran. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Notes

^ "Seljuq Turks" in various scholastic sources
^ Ram Rahul. "March of Central Asia", Indus Publishing, pg 124:"The Seljuk conquest of Persia marked the triumph of the Sunni over Shii but without a decline in Persian culture. The Seljuks eventually adopted the Persian culture.
^ C.E. Bosworth, "Turkish expansion towards the west", in UNESCO HISTORY OF HUMANITY, Volume IV: From the Seventh to the Sixteenth Century, UNESCO Publishing / Routledge, p. 391: "While the Arabic language retained its primacy in such spheres as law, theology and science, the culture of the Seljuk court and secular literature within the sultanate became largely Persianized; this is seen in the early adoption of Persian epic names by the Seljuk rulers (Qubād, Kay Khusraw and so on) and in the use of Persian as a literary language (Turkish must have been essentially a vehicle for everyday speech at this time). The process of Persianization accelerated in the thirteenth century with the presence in Konya of two of the most distinguished refugees fleeing before the Mongols, Bahā' al-Dīn Walad and his son Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, whose Mathnawī, composed in Konya, constitutes one of the crowning glories of classical Persian literature."
^ Mehmed Fuad Koprulu, "Early Mystics in Turkish Literature", Translated by Gary Leiser and Robert Dankoff, Routledge, 2006, pg 149: "If we wish to sketch, in broad outline, the civilization created by the Seljuks of Anatolia, we must recognize that the local, i.e. non-Muslim, element was fairly insignificant compared to the Turkish and Arab-Persian elements, and that the Persian element was paramount/The Seljuk rulers, to be sure, who were in contact with not only Muslim Persian civilization, but also with the Arab civilizations in al-jazīra and Syria – indeed, with all Muslim peoples as far as India – also had connections with {various} Byzantine courts. Some of these rulers, like the great 'Ala' al-Dīn Kai-Qubād I himself, who married Byzantine princesses and thus strengthened relations with their neighbors to the west, lived for many years in Byzantium and became very familiar with the customs and ceremonial at the Byzantine court. Still, this close contact with the ancient Greco-Roman and Christian traditions only resulted in their adoption of a policy of tolerance toward art, aesthetic life, painting, music, independent thought – in short, toward those things that were frowned upon by the narrow and piously ascetic views {of their subjects}. The contact of the common people with the Greeks and Armenians had basically the same result. {Before coming to Anatolia}, the Turks had been in contact with many nations and had long shown their ability to synthesize the artistic elements that they had adopted from these nations. When they settled in Anatolia, they encountered peoples with whom they had not yet been in contact and immediately established relations with them as well. 'Ala' al-Dīn Kai-Qubād I established ties with the Genoese and, especially, the Venetians at the ports of Sinop and Antalya, which belonged to him, and granted them commercial and legal concessions. Meanwhile, the Mongol invasion, which caused a great number of scholars and artisans to flee from Turkistan, Iran, and Khwārazm and settle within the Empire of the Seljuks of Anatolia, resulted in a reinforcing of Persian influence on the Anatolian Turks. Indeed, despite all claims to the contrary, there is no question that Persian influence was paramount among the Seljuks of Anatolia. This is clearly revealed by the fact that the sultans who ascended the throne after Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kai-Khusraw I assumed titles taken from ancient Persian mythology, like Kai-Khusraw, Kai-Kā'ūs, and Kai-Qubād; and that 'Ala' al-Dīn Kai-Qubād I had some passages from the Shāhnāme inscribed on the walls of Konya and Sivas. When we take into consideration domestic life in the Konya courts and the sincerity of the favor and attachment of the rulers to Persian poets and Persian literature, then this fact {i.e. the importance of Persian influence} is undeniable. With regard to the private lives of the rulers, their amusements, and palace ceremonial, the most definite influence was also that of Iran, mixed with the early Turkish traditions, and not that of Byzantium."
^ ^a ^b ^c O.Özgündenli, "Persian Manuscripts in Ottoman and Modern Turkish Libraries", Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, (LINK)
^ ^a ^b ^c Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Seljuq", Online Edition, (LINK): "... Because the Turkish Seljuqs had no Islamic tradition or strong literary heritage of their own, they adopted the cultural language of their Persian instructors in Islam. Literary Persian thus spread to the whole of Iran, and the Arabic language disappeared in that country except in works of religious scholarship ..."
^ Daniel Pipes: "The Event of Our Era: Former Soviet Muslim Republics Change the Middle East" in Michael Mandelbaum,"Central Asia and the World: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkemenistan and the World", Council on Foreign Relations, pg 79. Exact statement: "In Short, the Turko-Persian tradition featured Persian culture patronized by Turcophone rulers."
^ ^a ^b M. Ravandi, "The Seljuq court at Konya and the Persianisation of Anatolian Cities", in Mesogeios (Mediterranean Studies), vol. 25–6 (2005), pp. 157–69
^ Previte-Orton (1971), vol. 1, pg.278
^ Concise Britannica Online Seljuq Dynasty article
^ Merriam-Webster Online – Definition of Seljuk
^ The History of the Seljuq Turks: From the Jami Al-Tawarikh (LINK)
^ History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey – Stanford Shaw (LINK)
^ Wink, Andre, Al Hind the Making of the Indo Islamic World, Brill Academic Publishers, Jan 1, 1996, ISBN 90-04-09249-8 pg.9
^ Islam: An Illustrated History, p. 51
^ M.A. Amir-Moezzi, "Shahrbanu", Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, (LINK): "... here one might bear in mind that turco-Persian dynasties such as the Ghaznavids, Saljuqs and Ilkhanids were rapidly to adopt the Persian language and have their origins traced back to the ancient kings of Persia rather than to Turkish heroes or Muslim saints ..."
^ F. Daftary, Sectarian and National Movements in Iran, Khorasan, and Trasoxania during Umayyad and Early Abbasid Times, in History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol 4, pt. 1; edited by M.S. Asimov and C.E. Bosworth; UNESCO Publishing, Institute of Ismaili Studies: "... Not only did the inhabitants of Khurasan not succumb to the language of the nomadic invaders, but they imposed their own tongue on them. The region could even assimilate the Turkic Ghaznavids and Seljuks (eleventh and twelfth centuries), the Timurids (fourteenth–fifteenth centuries), and the Qajars (nineteenth–twentieth centuries) ..."

21 Grousset, Rene, The Empire of the Steppes, (New Brunswick:Rutgers University Press, 1988),147.

References

Previte-Orton, C. W (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
http://www.selcuklular.com/?

[1] "Seljuq Turks" in various scholastic sources

[2] Ram Rahul. "March of Central Asia", Indus Publishing, pg 124:"The Seljuk conquest of Persia marked the triumph of the Sunni over Shii but without a decline in Persian culture. The Seljuks eventually adopted the Persian culture.

[3] C.E. Bosworth, "Turkish expansion towards the west", in UNESCO HISTORY OF HUMANITY, Volume IV: From the Seventh to the Sixteenth Century, UNESCO Publishing / Routledge, p. 391: "While the Arabic language retained its primacy in such spheres as law, theology and science, the culture of the Seljuk court and secular literature within the sultanate became largely Persianized; this is seen in the early adoption of Persian epic names by the Seljuk rulers (Qubād, Kay Khusraw and so on) and in the use of Persian as a literary language (Turkish must have been essentially a vehicle for everyday speech at this time). The process of Persianization accelerated in the thirteenth century with the presence in Konya of two of the most distinguished refugees fleeing before the Mongols, Bahā' al-Dīn Walad and his son Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, whose Mathnawī, composed in Konya, constitutes one of the crowning glories of classical Persian literature."

[4] Mehmed Fuad Koprulu, "Early Mystics in Turkish Literature", Translated by Gary Leiser and Robert Dankoff, Routledge, 2006, pg 149: "If we wish to sketch, in broad outline, the civilization created by the Seljuks of Anatolia, we must recognize that the local, i.e. non-Muslim, element was fairly insignificant compared to the Turkish and Arab-Persian elements, and that the Persian element was paramount/The Seljuk rulers, to be sure, who were in contact with not only Muslim Persian civilization, but also with the Arab civilizations in al-jazīra and Syria – indeed, with all Muslim peoples as far as India – also had connections with {various} Byzantine courts. Some of these rulers, like the great 'Ala' al-Dīn Kai-Qubād I himself, who married Byzantine princesses and thus strengthened relations with their neighbors to the west, lived for many years in Byzantium and became very familiar with the customs and ceremonial at the Byzantine court. Still, this close contact with the ancient Greco-Roman and Christian traditions only resulted in their adoption of a policy of tolerance toward art, aesthetic life, painting, music, independent thought – in short, toward those things that were frowned upon by the narrow and piously ascetic views {of their subjects}. The contact of the common people with the Greeks and Armenians had basically the same result. {Before coming to Anatolia}, the Turks had been in contact with many nations and had long shown their ability to synthesize the artistic elements that they had adopted from these nations. When they settled in Anatolia, they encountered peoples with whom they had not yet been in contact and immediately established relations with them as well. 'Ala' al-Dīn Kai-Qubād I established ties with the Genoese and, especially, the Venetians at the ports of Sinop and Antalya, which belonged to him, and granted them commercial and legal concessions. Meanwhile, the Mongol invasion, which caused a great number of scholars and artisans to flee from Turkistan, Iran, and Khwārazm and settle within the Empire of the Seljuks of Anatolia, resulted in a reinforcing of Persian influence on the Anatolian Turks. Indeed, despite all claims to the contrary, there is no question that Persian influence was paramount among the Seljuks of Anatolia. This is clearly revealed by the fact that the sultans who ascended the throne after Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kai-Khusraw I assumed titles taken from ancient Persian mythology, like Kai-Khusraw, Kai-Kā'ūs, and Kai-Qubād; and that 'Ala' al-Dīn Kai-Qubād I had some passages from the Shāhnāme inscribed on the walls of Konya and Sivas. When we take into consideration domestic life in the Konya courts and the sincerity of the favor and attachment of the rulers to Persian poets and Persian literature, then this fact {i.e. the importance of Persian influence} is undeniable. With regard to the private lives of the rulers, their amusements, and palace ceremonial, the most definite influence was also that of Iran, mixed with the early Turkish traditions, and not that of Byzantium."

[iranica-5] O.Özgündenli, "Persian Manuscripts in Ottoman and Modern Turkish Libraries", Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, (LINK)

[britannica-6] Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Seljuq", Online Edition, (LINK): "... Because the Turkish Seljuqs had no Islamic tradition or strong literary heritage of their own, they adopted the cultural language of their Persian instructors in Islam. Literary Persian thus spread to the whole of Iran, and the Arabic language disappeared in that country except in works of religious scholarship ..."

[7] Daniel Pipes: "The Event of Our Era: Former Soviet Muslim Republics Change the Middle East" in Michael Mandelbaum,"Central Asia and the World: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkemenistan and the World", Council on Foreign Relations, pg 79. Exact statement: "In Short, the Turko-Persian tradition featured Persian culture patronized by Turcophone rulers."

[Ravandi-8] M. Ravandi, "The Seljuq court at Konya and the Persianisation of Anatolian Cities", in Mesogeios (Mediterranean Studies), vol. 25–6 (2005), pp. 157–69

[9] Previte-Orton (1971), vol. 1, pg.278

[10] Concise Britannica Online Seljuq Dynasty article

[11] Merriam-Webster Online – Definition of Seljuk

[12] The History of the Seljuq Turks: From the Jami Al-Tawarikh (LINK)

[13] History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey – Stanford Shaw (LINK)

[14] Wink, Andre, Al Hind the Making of the Indo Islamic World, Brill Academic Publishers, Jan 1, 1996, ISBN 90-04-09249-8 pg.9

[15] Islam: An Illustrated History, p. 51

[16] M.A. Amir-Moezzi, "Shahrbanu", Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, (LINK): "... here one might bear in mind that turco-Persian dynasties such as the Ghaznavids, Saljuqs and Ilkhanids were rapidly to adopt the Persian language and have their origins traced back to the ancient kings of Persia rather than to Turkish heroes or Muslim saints ..."

[17] F. Daftary, Sectarian and National Movements in Iran, Khorasan, and Trasoxania during Umayyad and Early Abbasid Times, in History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol 4, pt. 1; edited by M.S. Asimov and C.E. Bosworth; UNESCO Publishing, Institute of Ismaili Studies: "... Not only did the inhabitants of Khurasan not succumb to the language of the nomadic invaders, but they imposed their own tongue on them. The region could even assimilate the Turkic Ghaznavids and Seljuks (eleventh and twelfth centuries), the Timurids (fourteenth–fifteenth centuries), and the Qajars (nineteenth–twentieth centuries) ..."

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