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Seljuq dynasty

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The Seljuqs (also Seljuq Turks, Seldjuks, Seldjuqs, Seljuks; in Turkish Selçuklular; in Ṣaljūqīyān; in Arabic سلجوق Saljūq, or السلاجقة al-Salājiqa) were a Turkic and Persianate 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 and language, and played an important role in the development of the Turko-Persian tradition which features "Persian culture patronized by Turkic rulers." Today, they are remembered as great patrons of Persian culture, art, literature, and language and are regarded by some as the cultural ancestors of the Western Turks – the present-day inhabitants of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan.

Early history

Origins

Prior to the ninth century, hordes of Turks had crossed the Volga River into the Black Sea steppes. Originally, the House of Seljuq was a branch of the Qinik Oghuz Turks 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, in the Kyrghyz Steppe of Turkestan. 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.

Seljuq 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.

''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

The Oghuz take 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.

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

Seljuq rulers of Kerman 1041-1187

Kerman was a province in southern Persia.

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

Seljuq rulers in Syria 1076-1117

To the Artuqids

Sultans/Emirs of Damascus:

Damascus seized by the Burid Toghtekin

Seljuq sultans of Rûm (Anatolia) 1077-1307

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

Gallery

Notes

References

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

External links



Seldschuken-Fürsten

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 14:08:05 PDT (GMT -0700)
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