Seljuk dynasty

The Seljuks, Selchuks or Seljuks was an Oğuz Turkic dynasty that ruled present-day Iran and Iraq, as well as Asia Minor, between the mid-century 11th century and late 13th century. They arrived in Anatolia from Central Asia at the end of the X century, wreaking havoc on the Byzantine and Arab peoples, ending the Caliphate Abbasid and considerably weakening the Byzantine Empire with its religious push to the West.

The Seljuk Turks are considered to be the direct ancestors of the Southwestern Turks, the present-day inhabitants of Turkey, Gagauzia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan. The Seljuks played a pivotal role in medieval history, creating a barrier for Europe against Mongol invaders from the east, defending the Islamic world against the crusades from Europe, and conquering large swathes of the Byzantine Empire, which they virtually dismantled, their successors being the Turks. Osmanlis, who dealt the coup de grace.

History

Seljucida dynasty in 1092, its most expanding time.

They were originally a clan of the Turkish Oghuz tribe of the Kınık, settled north of the Aral Sea. In the X century They converted to Islam and migrated south under a chief named Selyuq ibn Duqaq, or Selchuk, from whom the dynasty is named. Selyuq settled in the lower course of the Sir-Daria, from where they made incursions into eastern Iran. After Selyuq's death, his son Isrâîl continued his advance to the south, colliding with the great sultan Mahmûd, of the Gaznaví dynasty, who contained the Seljuk advance by defeating and taking Isrâîl prisoner. Likewise, Mahmûd contained them, but did not annihilate them, and after his death (1030), taking advantage of the succession crisis of the Gaznavíes, the Seljuk nomads resumed their advance with more force.

Equipped with great military force, they conquered Khorasan, a region of eastern Iran ruled by the Ghaznavids, from which they extended their military power over other regions. Mahmūd's feeble successor, his son Masûd, tried to stop him, but his army, which during his father's rule had been a powerful striking force against the rajas of North India, had grown slow and heavy in the face of effective force. force of Turkmen horsemen-archers. In 1038, Selyuq's grandson Toğrül or Tughril proclaimed himself emir of Nishapur. In 1040, Toğrül defeated the Gaznaví sultan Masûd in the battle of Dandanaqan, who fled to India (after this contest, the Gaznavíes retreated to the Afghan mountains and Punjab). In 1055, Toğrül took Baghdad, freeing the Abbasid caliph from the pressure of the Buyid Shi'a dynasty, which he replaced as effective ruler. Toğrül received the titles of sultan and king of the East and West.

Toğrül was succeeded by his nephew Alp Arslan (1063-1072), who was the true founder of the Seljuk Empire, with its capital at Rayy (present-day Tehran). Alp Arslan conquered Aleppo (1070), Armenia and began raids on the eastern territories of the Byzantine Empire. In 1071, he defeated the troops of the Byzantine Emperor Romano IV Diogenes (who was taken prisoner) at the Battle of Manzikert, which began Turkmen rule in Anatolia (which would lead to the Ottoman Empire and Turkey centuries later). The rulers of the regions conquered from Byzantium would from then on constitute a separate branch of the dynasty called the Seljuk of Rum, and their territory would be called the Sultanate of Rüm (Rum –“Roman”, in Arabic– was the name by which Muslims generally designated the Byzantines and their territory).

The empire's heyday came during the reign of his son and successor Malik Shah (1072–1092), thanks in part to the power wielded by the Iranian vizier Nizam al-Mulk, a true political and military genius of the day. The Seljuks became Iranian from the first moments of their empire, adopting Persian as their official language, with which many of the leaders were Persian. Malik Shah ruled over Transoxiana, Kerman, Jerusalem, Damascus and Asia Minor. The sultans had a powerful army and an orderly civil administration (presided over by the divan) and a large number of indigenous or Mamluk officials. Through the school foundations (madrasas) they guaranteed the renewal of Sunnism. The Turkish consideration of the State as family patrimony led the sultan to distribute provinces, causing the dismemberment of the Empire into multiple smaller sultanates, such as those of Kerman (1041-1186), Iraq (1118-1194), Syria 1078-1117), which became quickly weakened. When the sultan died, a civil war broke out that would end the empire. Khorasan was the first region to free itself from Turkish rule after a revolt, while the atabegs or local governors or regents of the sultans became de facto sovereigns of Iran, Iraq, Syria and the Jazeera region. In Syria and the area of Kerman (Iran) several ephemeral kingdoms arose that the dying Seluk state had to face. The last sultan of the dynasty was Toğrül II (1176–1194), who died fighting against the independent rulers of the Corasmia region.

Rulers of the Seljuk Empire (1037-1194)

Minor rulers (1041-1146)

Seljuk rulers of Kerman (1041-1187)

Kerman was a kingdom in southern Persia. It succumbed in 1187, probably conquered by Toğrül III of the Great Seljuks.

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

Seljuk rulers in Syria (1076-1117)

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

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 al-Din Baqtash 1104

Atabegs of Aleppo:

• Lulu 1114-1117
• Shams al-Havas Yariqtash 1117
• Imad al-Din Zengi 1128-1146

Sultanate of Rüm (Anatolia, 1077-1307)

Selicide Empire coins at the Samsun Archaeology Museum.

The territory that maintained its identity and would prevail for several decades was that of the Sultanate of Rüm (1081–1302). Founded by Suleiman ibn Kutalmish, under the protection of the Byzantine Empire for which its troops fought as mercenaries, this sultanate settled in Anatolia and expanded through Mesopotamia and Armenia, uniting under its rule Christian peoples: Greeks, Syrians and Armenians.. It experienced its period of splendor under the reign of Kaikubad I (1221-1237). It had a port in the Mediterranean, Antalya, through which it carried out trade link functions between the Far East and Europe. They also had a port on the Black Sea, Sinop. Beginning in 1231, Mongol raids ravaged the sultanate. The Mongol victory at the Battle of Köse Dağ (1243) split the sultanate (reduced to Mongol vassalage) into multiple Turkmen emirates, also vassals of the Mongols. Other emirates, located on the border with the Byzantines, remained independent by waging the Holy War against the Greeks. One of these western emirates, that of the Osmanlis, would be the original nucleus of the future Ottoman Empire. By 1276, the Seljuks of Rüm lost de facto all their power, although they held it nominally until 1307.

The reigning sultans in Rüm were:

• 1060-1077: Kutalmish
• 1077-1086: Suleiman ibn Kutalmish
• 1092-1107: Kilij Arslan I
• 1107-1116: Melikshah
• 1116-1156: Mesud I
• 1156-1192: Kilij Arslan II
• 1192-1196: Kaikosru I (1.^♪ reign)
• 1196-1204: Suleiman II
• 1204-1205: Kilij Arslan III
• 1205-1211: Kaikosru I (2 or reigned)
• 1211-1220: Kaikaus I
• 1220-1237: Kaikubad I
• 1237-1246: Kaikosru II (1.^♪ reign)
• 1246-1260: Kaikaus II
• 1248-1265: Kilij Arslan IV
• 1249-1257: Kaikubad II
• 1257-1259: Kaikosru II (2 or reigned)
• 1265-1282: Kaikosru III
• 1282-1284: Masud II (1.^♪ reign)
• 1284: Kaikubad III (1.^♪ reign)
• 1284-1293: Masud II (2 or reigned)
• 1293-1294: Kaikubad III (2 or reigned)
• 1294-1301: Masud II (3.^♪ reign)
• 1301-1303: Kaikubad III (3.^♪ reign)
• 1303-1307: Masud II (4th reign)
• 1307: Masud III