Founded 10th century – Seljuq | ||
Country Seljuq Empire
Sultanate of Rum Titles Sultan of Seljuq Empire
Sultan of Rum
Emir of Damascus
Emir of Aleppo Dissolution Damascus:
1104 – Baqtash was dethroned by Toghtekin
Great Seljuq:
1194 – Toghrul III was killed in battle with Tekish
Rum:
1307 – Mesud II died | ||
The Seljuq dynasty or Seljuk Turks( /sɛldʒʊk/ SEL-juuk; Persian: آل سلجوق Al-e Saljuq) was an Oghuz Turk Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became a Persianate society and contributed to the Turko-Persian tradition in the medieval West and Central Asia. The Seljuqs established both the Seljuk Empire and Sultanate of Rum, which at their heights stretched from Anatolia through Iran and were targets of the First Crusade.
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Early history
The Seljuqs originated from the Qynyk branch of the Oghuz Turks, who in the 9th century lived on the periphery of the Muslim world, north of the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea in their Yabghu Khaganate of the Oghuz confederacy, in the Kazakh Steppe of Turkestan. During the 10th century, due to various events, the Oghuz had come into close contact with Muslim cities.
When Seljuq, the leader of the Seljuq clan, had a falling out with Yabghu, the supreme chieftain of the Oghuz, he split his clan off from the bulk of the Tokuz-Oghuz and set up camp on the west bank of the lower Syr Darya. Around 985, Seljuq converted to Islam. In the 11th century the Seljuqs migrated from their ancestral homelands into mainland Persia, in the province of Khurasan, where they encountered the Ghaznavid empire. In 1025, 40,000 families of Oghuz Turks migrated to the area of Caucasian Albania. The Seljuqs defeated the Ghaznavids at the battle of Nasa plains in 1035. Tughril, Chaghri, and Yabghu received the insignias of governor, grants of land, and were given the title of dehqan. At the battle of Dandanaqan they defeated a Ghaznavid army, and after a successful siege of Isfahan by Tughril in 1050/51, they established an empire later called the Great Seljuk Empire. The Seljuqs mixed with the local population and adopted the Persian culture and Persian language in the following decades.
Later period
After arriving in Persia, the Seljuqs adopted the Persian culture and used the Persian language as the official language of the government, 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 as the partial ancestors of the Western Turks – the present-day inhabitants of Azerbaijan (incl. Iranian Azerbaijan), Turkey, and Turkmenistan.
Rulers of the Seljuq Dynasty
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.
Seljuq sultans of Hamadan
The rulers of western Persia, who maintained a very loose grip on the Abbasids of Baghdad. Several Turkic emirs gained a strong level of influence in the region, such as the Eldiduzids.
In 1194, Tugrul III was killed in battle with the Khwarezm Shah, who annexed Hamadan.
Seljuq rulers of Kerman
Kerman was a province in southern Persia. Between 1053 and 1154, the territory also included Umman.
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
To the Artuqids
Sultans/Emirs of Damascus:
Damascus seized by the Burid Toghtekin
Seljuq sultans of Rum (Anatolia)
The Seljuq line, already having been deprived of any significant power, effectively ended in the early 14th century.