Seljuq dynasty

The Seljuq (also Seljuq Turks [ [http://books.google.de/books?q=seljuk+turks&lr=&sa=N&start=0 "Seljuq Turks" in various scholastic sources] ] , Seldjuks, Seldjuqs, Seljuks; in Turkish "Selçuklular"; in PerB|سلجوقيان "Ṣaljūqīyān"; in Arabic سلجوق "Saljūq", or السلاجقة "al-Salājiqa") were a Turkic [
*Jackson, P. (2002). Review: The History of the Seljuq Turks: The History of the Seljuq Turks.Journal of Islamic Studies 2002 13(1):75–76; doi:10.1093/jis/13.1.75.Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.
*Bosworth, C. E. (2001). Notes on Some Turkish Names in Abu 'l-Fadl Bayhaqi's Tarikh-i Mas'udi. Oriens, Vol. 36, 2001 (2001), pp. 299–313.
*Dani, A. H., Masson, V. M. (Eds), Asimova, M. S. (Eds), Litvinsky, B. A. (Eds), Boaworth, C. E. (Eds). (1999). History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (Pvt. Ltd).
* Hancock, I. (2006). ON ROMANI ORIGINS AND IDENTITY. The Romani Archives and Documentation Center. The University of Texas at Austin.
* Asimov, M. S., Bosworth, C. E. (eds.). (1998). History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century, Part One: The Historical, Social and Economic Setting. Multiple History Series. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.] and Persianate [
* Josef W. Meri, "Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia", Routledge, 2005, p. 399
* Michael Mandelbaum, "Central Asia and the World", Council on Foreign Relations (May 1994), p. 79
* Jonathan Dewald, "Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World", Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004, p. 24: "Turcoman armies coming from the East had driven the Byzantines out of much of Asia Minor and established the Persianized sultanate of the Seljuks."] Sunni Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries. They set up an empire known as Great Seljuq Empire that stretched from Anatolia to Punjab and 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 [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."] and language, and played an important role in the development of the Turko-Persian tradition which features "Persian culture patronized by Turkic rulers." [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."] Today, they are remembered as great patrons of Persian culture, art, literature, and languageO.Özgündenli, "Persian Manuscripts in Ottoman and Modern Turkish Libraries", Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, ( [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/ot_grp7/ot_pers_mss_ott_20050106.html LINK] )] Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Seljuq", Online Edition, ( [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066688 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 ..."] M. Ravandi, "The Seljuq court at Konya and the Persianisation of Anatolian Cities", in Mesogeios (Mediterranean Studies), vol. 25–6 (2005), pp. 157–69] and are regarded by some as the cultural ancestors of the Western Turks – the present-day inhabitants of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan.Fact|date=November 2007

Early history

Origins

Prior to the ninth century, hordes of Turks had crossed the Volga River into the Black Sea steppes. [Previte-Orton (1971), vol. 1, pg.278 ] Originally, the House of Seljuq was a branch of the "Qinik" Oghuz Turks [Concise Britannica Online [http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9378199/Seljuq-dynasty Seljuq Dynasty] article] [Merriam-Webster Online – Definition of [http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=seljuk Seljuk] ] [The History of the Seljuq Turks: From the Jami Al-Tawarikh ( [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0700713425&id=jmMpaJZemk0C&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=%22Jami+Al-Tawarikh%22%2Bsaljuq%2Boghuz%2Bturks&sig=98_xadLFwNz0aimq-Yd6lwzdm30 LINK] )] [History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey – Stanford Shaw ( [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521291631&id=UVmsI0P9RDUC&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=seljuk%2Bturkish%2Bturkoman%2Bturkomans&sig=Bgfb3GEfOrlabxfHSy27suztLNM LINK] )] 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, [Wink, Andre, "Al Hind the Making of the Indo Islamic World," Brill Academic Publishers, Jan 1, 1996, ISBN 90-04-09249-8 pg.9] in the Kazakh Steppe of Turkestan. ["Islam: An Illustrated History", p. 51] 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. [M.A. Amir-Moezzi, "Shahrbanu", Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, ( [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/ot_grp7/ot_shahrbanu_20050131.html LINK] ): "... here one might bear in mind that non-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) ..."]

eljuq leaders

Rulers of 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, becomes Great Seljuq sultan
* Mu'izz ad-Din Ahmed Sanjar 1118–1157"The Oghuz take control of much of Khurasan, with the remainder in the hands of former Seljuq emirs"

eljuq 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"Tugrul III killed in battle with the Khwarazmshah, who annexes Hamadan"

eljuq rulers of Kerman 1041–1187

Kerman was a province in southern Persia.

* 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 abandons Kerman, which falls into the hands of the Oghuz chief Malik Dinar"

eljuq 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"

eljuq sultans of Rûm (Anatolia) 1077–1307

* 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

Notes

References

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