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SubscribeThe rise to power of the Seljukids
This map is part of a series of 9 animated maps showing the history of Origins of Islam and the Arabo-Muslim Empire.
The term “Seljukid” comes from Saljuq, a warlord of a confederation of Turkish peoples: the Toquz Oghuz, which means “nine tribes”.
The Seljuks settled on the northern and eastern borders of the Muslim world and converted to Islam in the early 11th century. Commanding Turkmen troops, they first built up their reputation as mercenaries in the service of the local dynasties of eastern Iran - the Samanids and Ghaznavids - before setting out to conquer territories for themselves.
In 1040, they defeated the Ghaznavids at Dandanaqan, enabling them to take over Khorasan and continue their march westward. In 1055, their leader Tughril Beg entered Baghdad where he imprisoned the last Buyid Emir. He had his power recognised by the Abbasid Caliph and obtained the title of Sultan from him. Tughril Beg established the reign of the “Great Seljuks”, who dominated the central Islamic lands until the end of the 11th century.
The Seljuks continued conquering land at the expense of the Byzantine Empire. Victory at Manzikert in 1071 meant they were able to expand into Anatolia, where a cousin branch of the main dynasty, the Rum Seljuks, settled.
Another branch seized Syria from the Fatimids and even ruled Jerusalem for a while.
Like the Buyids before them, the Seljuks didn’t rule over a unified empire, but over autonomous territories to which various family members were appointed: the Kerman Seljuks, the Iraq Seljuks, the Syria Seljuks and the Rum Seljuks.
In the second half of the 11th century, the Great Seljuks imposed political and military control over the Abbasid Caliphate, in much the same way as the Buyids had. The Sultans were surrounded by high-ranking Persian officials like the famous Niẓām al-Mulk who served as vizier to Sultan Alp Arslan (1063–1072), and Sultan Malik Shah (1072–1092).
The Empire was centred on Iran and its itinerant court travelled between main cities such as Rayy, Hamadān and, most importantly, Isfahan. Rivalries between pretenders to the Sultanate quickly led to division within the Seljuk world. By the 12th century, this resulted in an Abbasid renaissance. The Caliph of Baghdad found himself with an army, an administration and effective control of Iraqi territory once more. This renaissance reached its peak during the reign of Caliph al-Nāzir, but was interrupted by the Mongol invasion from the East.
The Seljuks were not the first Turks to rule Muslim territories; the Ghaznavids had already achieved that distinction. But they ushered in an era of great dynasties of Turkish rulers reigning over vast parts of the Islamic world: the Seljuks, followed by the Mamluks and the Ottomans.