Seljuk Empire - wikipedia Seljuk Empire For the ruling dynasty of the empire, see Seljuq dynasty. Seljuk Empire آلِ سلجوق Āl - e Saljuq 1037 -- 1194 Seljuq Empire at its greatest extent in 1092, upon the death of Malik Shah I Capital Nishapur ( 1037 -- 1043 ) Rey ( 1043 -- 1051 ) Isfahan ( 1051 -- 1118 ) Merv, Eastern capital ( 1118 -- 1153 ) Hamadan, Western capital ( 1118 -- 1194 ) Languages Persian ( official & court language ; lingua franca ) Oghuz Turkish ( dynastic and military ) Arabic ( language of law, theology and science ) Religion Sunni Islam ( Hanafi ) Government Sultanate Sultan 1037 -- 1063 Toghrul I ( first ) 1174 -- 1194 Toghrul III ( last ) History Tughril formed the state system 1037 Battle of Dandanaqan 1040 Battle of Manzikert 1071 First Crusade 1095 -- 1099 Battle of Qatwan 1141 Replaced by the Khwarezmian Empire 1194 Area 1080 est. 3,900,000 km ( 1,500,000 sq mi ) Preceded by Succeeded by Oghuz Yabgu State Ghaznavids Buyid dynasty Byzantine Empire Kakuyids Sultanate of Rûm Anatolian beyliks Ghurid Dynasty Khwarezmian Empire Ayyubid dynasty Atabegs of Azerbaijan Burid dynasty Zengid dynasty Danishmends Artuqid dynasty Saltukids Shah - Armens Shaddadids History of the Turkic peoples Pre-14th century Turkic Khaganate 552 -- 744 Western Turkic Eastern Turkic Khazar Khaganate 618 -- 1048 Xueyantuo 628 -- 646 Great Bulgaria 632 -- 668 Danube Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria Kangar union 659 -- 750 Turk Shahi 665 -- 850 Turgesh Khaganate 699 -- 766 Uyghur Khaganate 744 -- 840 Karluk Yabgu State 756 -- 940 Kara - Khanid Khanate 840 -- 1212 Western Kara - Khanid Eastern Kara - Khanid Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom 848 -- 1036 Qocho 856 -- 1335 Pecheneg Khanates 860 -- 1091 Kimek confederation 743 -- 1035 Cumania 1067 -- 1239 Oghuz Yabgu State 750 -- 1055 Ghaznavid Empire 963 -- 1186 Seljuk Empire 1037 -- 1194 Sultanate of Rum Kerait khanate 11th century -- 13th century Khwarazmian Empire 1077 -- 1231 Naiman Khanate -- 1204 Qarlughid Kingdom 1224 -- 1266 Delhi Sultanate 1206 -- 1526 Mamluk dynasty Khalji dynasty Tughlaq dynasty Golden Horde 1240s -- 1502 Mamluk Sultanate ( Cairo ) 1250 -- 1517 Bahri dynasty Ottoman Empire 1299 -- 1923 Other Turkic dynasties in Anatolia Artuqid dynasty Saltuqid dynasty in Azerbaijan Ahmadili dynasty Ildenizid dynasty in Egypt Tulunid dynasty Ikhshidid dynasty in Fars Salghurid dynasty in The Levant Burid dynasty Zengid dynasty This box : view talk edit The Seljuk Empire ( also spelled Seljuq ) ( Persian : آل سلجوق ‎ ) was a medieval Turko - Persian Sunni Muslim empire, originating from the Qiniq branch of Oghuz Turks. The Seljuk Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to western Anatolia and the Levant, and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf. From their homelands near the Aral Sea, the Seljuks advanced first into Khorasan and then into mainland Persia before eventually conquering eastern Anatolia. The Seljuk empire was founded by Tughril Beg ( 1016 -- 1063 ) in 1037. Tughril was raised by his grandfather, Seljuk - Beg, who was in a high position in the Oghuz Yabgu State. Seljuk gave his name to both the Seljuk empire and the Seljuk dynasty. The Seljuks united the fractured political scene of the eastern Islamic world and played a key role in the first and second crusades. Highly Persianized in culture and language, the Seljuks also played an important role in the development of the Turko - Persian tradition, even exporting Persian culture to Anatolia. The settlement of Turkic tribes in the northwestern peripheral parts of the empire, for the strategic military purpose of fending off invasions from neighboring states, led to the progressive Turkicization of those areas. Contents 1 Founder of the dynasty 2 Expansion of the empire 2.1 Tughril and Chaghri 2.2 Alp Arslan 2.3 Malik Shah I 3 Governance 4 Division of empire 5 First Crusade 6 Second Crusade 7 Decline 8 Conquest by Khwarezm and the Ayyubids 9 Legacy 10 List of sultans of the Seljuq Empire 11 Gallery 12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links Founder of the dynasty Main article : Seljuk ( warlord ) The apical ancestor of the Seljuqs was their beg, Seljuk, who was reputed to have served in the Khazar army, under whom, circa 950, they migrated to Khwarezm, near the city of Jend, where they converted to Islam. Expansion of the Empire Main articles : Seljuq dynasty, Persianate, and Turko - Persian tradition The Seljuqs were allied with the Persian Samanid shahs against the Qarakhanids. The Samanid fell to the Qarakhanids in Transoxania ( 992 -- 999 ), however, whereafter the Ghaznavids arose. The Seljuqs became involved in this power struggle in the region before establishing their own independent base. Tughril and Chaghri Main article : Tughril Tughril was the grandson of Seljuq and brother of Chaghri, under whom the Seljuks wrested an empire from the Ghaznavids. Initially the Seljuqs were repulsed by Mahmud and retired to Khwarezm, but Tughril and Chaghri led them to capture Merv and Nishapur ( 1037 ). Later they repeatedly raided and traded territory with his successors across Khorasan and Balkh and even sacked Ghazni in 1037. In 1040 at the Battle of Dandanaqan, they decisively defeated Mas'ud I of the Ghaznavids, forcing him to abandon most of his western territories to the Seljuqs. In 1055, Tughril captured Baghdad from the Shi'a Buyids under a commission from the Abbasids. Alp Arslan Main article : Alp Arslan Alp Arslan, the son of Chaghri Beg, expanded significantly upon Tughril 's holdings by adding Armenia and Georgia in 1064 and invading the Byzantine Empire in 1068, from which he annexed almost all of Anatolia. Arslan 's decisive victory at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 effectively neutralized the Byzantine resistance to the Turkish invasion of Anatolia. Although the Georgians were able to recover from Alp Arslan 's invasion by securing the theme of Iberia by the help of Byzantine governor, Gregory Pakourianos, who began to evacuate the region shortly after the disaster inflicted by the Seljuks on the Byzantine army at Manzikert. On this occasion, George II of Georgia was bestowed with the Byzantine title of Caesar, granted the fortress of Kars and put in charge of the Imperial Eastern limits. The Byzantine withdrawal from Anatolia brought Georgia in more direct contact with the Seljuqs. Following the 1073 devastation of eastern Georgia by the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan, George II of Georgia successfully repelled an invasion. Alp Arslan authorized his Turkmen generals to carve their own principalities out of formerly Byzantine Anatolia, as atabegs loyal to him. Within two years the Turkmens had established control as far as the Aegean Sea under numerous beghliks ( modern Turkish beyliks ) : the Saltukids in Northeastern Anatolia, the Shah - Armens and the Mengujekids in Eastern Anatolia, Artuqids in Southeastern Anatolia, Danishmendis in Central Anatolia, Rum Seljuqs ( Beghlik of Suleyman, which later moved to Central Anatolia ) in Western Anatolia, and the Beylik of Tzachas of Smyrna in İzmir ( Smyrna ). Malik Shah I Main article : Malik Shah I Under Alp Arslan 's successor, Malik Shah, and his two Persian viziers, Nizām al - Mulk and Tāj al - Mulk, the Seljuq state expanded in various directions, to the former Iranian border of the days before the Arab invasion, so that it soon bordered China in the east and the Byzantines in the west. Malikshāh moved the capital from Rey to Isfahan and it was during his reign that the Great Seljuk Empire reached its zenith. The Iqta military system and the Nizāmīyyah University at Baghdad were established by Nizām al - Mulk, and the reign of Malikshāh was reckoned the golden age of `` Great Seljuq ''. The Abbasid Caliph titled him `` The Sultan of the East and West '' in 1087. The Assassins ( Hashshashin ) of Hassan - i Sabāh started to become a force during his era, however, and they assassinated many leading figures in his administration ; according to many sources these victims included Nizām al - Mulk. In 1076, the Seljuk sultan Malik Shah I surged into Georgia and reduced many settlements to ruins. Harassed by the massive Turkic influx, known in Georgian history as the Great Turkish Invasion, from 1079 / 80 onward, George was pressured into submitting to Malik - Shah to ensure a precious degree of peace at the price of an annual tribute. Governance Further information : Divan § Seljuqs The Seljuq power was indeed at its zenith under Malikshāh I, and both the Qarakhanids and Ghaznavids had to acknowledge the overlordship of the Seljuqs. The Seljuq dominion was established over the ancient Sasanian domains, in Iran and Iraq, and included Anatolia as well as parts of Central Asia and modern Afghanistan. The Seljuk rule was modelled after the tribal organization common in Turkic and Mongol nomads and resembled a ' family federation ' or ' appanage state '. Under this organization, the leading member of the paramount family assigned family members portions of his domains as autonomous appanages. Division of Empire See also : Sultanate of Rum and Atabegs When Malikshāh I died in 1092, the empire split as his brother and four sons quarrelled over the apportioning of the empire among themselves. Malikshāh I was succeeded in Anatolia by Kilij Arslan I, who founded the Sultanate of Rum, and in Syria by his brother Tutush I. In Persia he was succeeded by his son Mahmud I, whose reign was contested by his other three brothers Barkiyaruq in Iraq, Muhammad I in Baghdad, and Ahmad Sanjar in Khorasan. When Tutush I died, his sons Radwan and Duqaq inherited Aleppo and Damascus respectively and contested with each other as well, further dividing Syria amongst emirs antagonistic towards each other. In 1118, the third son Ahmad Sanjar took over the empire. His nephew, the son of Muhammad I, did not recognize his claim to the throne, and Mahmud II proclaimed himself Sultan and established a capital in Baghdad, until 1131 when he was finally officially deposed by Ahmad Sanjar. Elsewhere in nominal Seljuq territory were the Artuqids in northeastern Syria and northern Mesopotamia ; they controlled Jerusalem until 1098. The Dānišmand dynasty founded a state in eastern Anatolia and northern Syria and contested land with the Sultanate of Rum, and Kerbogha exercised independence as the atabeg of Mosul. First Crusade Main articles : First Crusade and Georgian - Seljuk wars During the First Crusade, the fractured states of the Seljuqs were generally more concerned with consolidating their own territories and gaining control of their neighbours than with cooperating against the crusaders. The Seljuqs easily defeated the People 's Crusade arriving in 1096, but they could not stop the progress of the army of the subsequent Princes ' Crusade, which took important cities such as Nicaea ( İznik ), Iconium ( Konya ), Caesarea Mazaca ( Kayseri ), and Antioch ( Antakya ) on its march to Jerusalem ( Al - Quds ). In 1099 the crusaders finally captured the Holy Land and set up the first Crusader states. The Seljuqs had already lost Palestine to the Fatimids, who had recaptured it just before its capture by the crusaders. Seljuq campaign against Kingdom of Georgia, 1121. After pillaging the County of Edessa, Seljuqid commander Ilghazi made peace with the Crusaders. In 1121 he went north towards Armenia and with supposedly up to 250 000 - 350 000 troops, including men led by his son - in - law Sadaqah and Sultan Malik of Ganja, he invaded Kingdom of Georgia. David IV of Georgia gathered 40,000 Georgian warriors, including 5,000 monaspa guards, 15,000 Kipchaks, 300 Alans and 100 French Crusaders to fight against Ilghazi 's vast army. The Battle of Didgori was fought between the armies of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Seljuk Empire, 40 km west of Tbilisi, on August 12, 1121. As a result, Seljuks routed and fleed from battlefield, being run down by pursuing Georgian cavalry for several days. Among the various leaders, only Ilghazi and his son - in - law Dubais escaped. A huge amount of booty and prisoners were captured by David 's army, which had also secured Tbilisi. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rum in 1190 Alarmed by the Georgian successes, Süleymanshah II, the resurgent Seljuqid sultan of Rûm, rallied his vassal emirs and marched against Georgia, with an army of 150,000 - 400,000. Süleymanshah, joined by his vassal beys, crossed into the Georgian marchlands and encamped in the Basiani valley. Tamar quickly marshaled an army throughout her possessions and put it under command of her consort, David Soslan. Georgian troops under David Soslan and amirspasalar Zacharia Mkhargrdzeli made a sudden advance into Basiani and assailed the enemy 's camp in 1203 or 1204. In a pitched battle, the Seljuqid forces managed to roll back several attacks of the Georgians but were eventually overwhelmed and defeated. Loss of the sultan 's banner to the Georgians resulted in a panic within the Seljuq ranks. Süleymanshah himself was wounded and withdrew to Erzurum. Both the Rum Seljuk and Georgian armies suffered heavy casualties, but coordinated flanking attacks won the battle for the Georgians. Exploiting her success in this battle, between 1203 - 1205 Georgians seized the town of Dvin and entered Akhlatshah possessions twice and subdued the emirs of Kars, Akhlatshahs, Erzurum and Erzincan. Second Crusade See also : Second Crusade, Zengid dynasty, and Nur ad - Din Zangi During this time conflict with the Crusader states was also intermittent, and after the First Crusade increasingly independent atabegs would frequently ally with the Crusader states against other atabegs as they vied with each other for territory. At Mosul, Zengi succeeded Kerbogha as atabeg and successfully began the process of consolidating the atabegs of Syria. In 1144 Zengi captured Edessa, as the County of Edessa had allied itself with the Artuqids against him. This event triggered the launch of the Second Crusade. Nur ad - Din, one of Zengi 's sons who succeeded him as atabeg of Aleppo, created an alliance in the region to oppose the Second Crusade, which landed in 1147. Decline Ahmad Sanjar fought to contain the revolts by the Kara - Khanids in Transoxiana, Ghurids in Afghanistan and Qarluks in modern Kyrghyzstan, as well as the nomadic invasion of the Kara - Khitais in the east. The advancing Kara - Khitais first defeated the Eastern Kara - Khanids, then followed up by crushing the Western Kara - Khanids, who were vassals of the Seljuqs at Khujand. The Kara - Khanids turned to their overlord the Seljuqs for assistance, to which Sanjar responded by personally leading an army against the Kara - Khitai. However, Sanjar 's army was decisively defeated by the host of Yelu Dashi at the Battle of Qatwan on September 9, 1141. While Sanjar managed to escape with his life, many of his close kin including his wife were taken captive in the battle 's aftermath. As a result of Sanjar 's failure to deal with the encroaching threat from the east, the Seljuq Empire lost all its eastern provinces up to the river Syr Darya, and vassalage of the Western Kara - Khanids was usurped by the Kara - Khitai, otherwise known as the Western Liao in Chinese historiography. Conquest by Khwarezm and the ayyubids See also : Saladin, Ayyubids, and Khwarezmid Empire In 1153, the Ghuzz ( Oghuz Turks ) rebelled and captured Sanjar. He managed to escape after three years but died a year later. The atabegs, such as Zengids and Artuqids, were only nominally under the Seljuk Sultan, and generally controlled Syria independently. When Ahmad Sanjar died in 1157, this fractured the empire even further and rendered the atabegs effectively independent. Khorasani Seljuqs in Khorasan and Transoxiana. Capital : Merv Kermani Seljuqs Sultanate of Rum ( or Seljuqs of Turkey ). Capital : Iznik ( Nicaea ), later Konya ( Iconium ) Atabeghlik of the Salghurids in Iran Atabeghlik of Eldiguzids ( Atabeg of Azerbaijan ) in Iraq and Azerbaijan. Capital : Nakhchivan ( 1136 - 1175 ), Hamadan ( 1176 - 1186 ), Tabriz ( 1187 - 1225 ) Atabeghlik of Bori in Syria. Capital : Damascus Atabeghlik of Zangi in Al Jazira ( Northern Mesopotamia ). Capital : Mosul Turcoman Beghliks : Danishmendis, Artuqids, Saltuqids and Mengujekids in Asia Minor After the Second Crusade, Nur ad - Din 's general Shirkuh, who had established himself in Egypt on Fatimid land, was succeeded by Saladin. In time, Saladin rebelled against Nur ad - Din, and, upon his death, Saladin married his widow and captured most of Syria and created the Ayyubid dynasty. On other fronts, the Kingdom of Georgia began to become a regional power and extended its borders at the expense of Great Seljuk. The same was true during the revival of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia under Leo II of Armenia in Anatolia. The Abbasid caliph An - Nasir also began to reassert the authority of the caliph and allied himself with the Khwarezmshah Takash. For a brief period, Togrul III was the Sultan of all Seljuq except for Anatolia. In 1194, however, Togrul was defeated by Takash, the Shah of Khwarezmid Empire, and the Seljuq Empire finally collapsed. Of the former Seljuq Empire, only the Sultanate of Rûm in Anatolia remained. As the dynasty declined in the middle of the thirteenth century, the Mongols invaded Anatolia in the 1260s and divided it into small emirates called the Anatolian beyliks. Eventually one of these, the Ottoman, would rise to power and conquer the rest. Legacy The Seljuqs were educated in the service of Muslim courts as slaves or mercenaries. The dynasty brought revival, energy, and reunion to the Islamic civilization hitherto dominated by Arabs and Persians. The Seljuqs founded universities and were also patrons of art and literature. Their reign is characterized by Persian astronomers such as Omar Khayyám, and the Persian philosopher al - Ghazali. Under the Seljuqs, New Persian became the language for historical recording, while the center of Arabic language culture shifted from Baghdad to Cairo. List of sultans of the Seljuq Empire Main article : List of sultans of the Seljuq Empire show # Laqab Throne name Reign Marriages Succession right Rukn ad - Dunya wa ad - Din رکن الدنیا والدین, ‬ Toghrul - Beg 1037 -- 1063 1 ) Altun Jan Khatun ( 2 ) Aka Khatun ( 3 ) Fulana Khatun ( daughter of Abu Kalijar ) ( 4 ) Seyyidah Khatun ( daughter of Al - Qa'im, Abbasid caliph ) ( 5 ) Fulana Khatun ( widow of Chaghri Beg ) son of Mikail ( grandson of Seljuq ) Diya ad - Dunya wa ad - Din Adud ad - Dawlah ضياء الدنيا و الدين عضد الدولة ‬ Alp Arslan 1063 -- 1072 1 ) Aka Khatun ( widow of Toghrul I ) ( 2 ) Safariyya Khatun ( daughter of Yusuf Qadir Khan, Khagan of Kara - Khanid ) ( 3 ) Fulana Khatun ( daughter of Smbat Lorhi ) ( 4 ) Fulana Khatun ( daughter of Kurtchu bin Yunus bin Seljuk ) son of Chaghri Muizz ad - Dunya wa ad - Din Jalal ad - Dawlah معز الدین جلال الدولہ ‬ Malik - Shah I 1072 -- 1092 1 ) Turkan Khatun ( daughter of Ibrahim Tamghach Khan, Khagan of Western Kara - Khanid ) ( 2 ) Zubeida Khatun ( daughter of Yaquti ibn Chaghri ) ( 3 ) Safariyya Khatun ( daughter of Isa Khan, Sultan of Samarkand ) ( 4 ) Fulana Khatun ( daughter of Romanos IV Diogenes ) son of Alp Arslan Nasir ad - Dunya wa ad - Din ناصر الدنیا والدین ‬ Mahmud I 1092 -- 1094 son of Malik - Shah I 5 Rukn ad - Dunya wa ad - Din رکن الدنیا والدین ‬ Barkiyaruq 1094 -- 1105 son of Malik - Shah I 6 Rukn ad - Dunya wa ad - Din Jalal ad - Dawlah رکن الدنیا والدین جلال الدولہ ‬ Malik - Shah II 1105 son of Barkiyaruq 7 Ghiyath ad - Dunya wa ad - Din غیاث الدنیا والدین ‬ Tapar 1105 -- 1118 1 ) Nisandar Jihan Khatun ( 2 ) Gouhar Khatun ( daughter of Isma'il bin Yaquti ) ( 3 ) Fulana Khatun ( daughter of Aksungur Beg ) son of Malik - Shah I 8 Mughith ad - Dunya wa ad - Din Jalal ad - Dawlah مُغيث الدنيا و الدين جلال الدولة ‬ Mahmud II 1118 -- 1131 1 ) Mah - i Mulk Khatun ( died 1130 ) ( daughter of Sanjar ) ( 2 ) Amir Siti Khatun ( daughter of Sanjar ) ( 3 ) Ata Khatun ( daughter of Ali bin Faramarz ) son of Muhammad I 9 Muizz ad - Dunya wa ad - Din Adud ad - Dawlah مُعز الدنيا و الدين جلال الدولة ‬ Sanjar 1118 -- 1153 1 ) Turkan Khatun ( daughter of Muhammad Arslan Khan, Khagan of Western Kara - Khanid ) ( 2 ) Rusudan Khatun ( daughter of Demetrius I of Georgia ) ( 3 ) Gouhar Khatun ( daughter of Isma'il bin Yaquti, widow of Tapar ) ( 4 ) Fulana Khatun ( daughter of Arslan Khan, a Qara Khitai prisoner ) son of Malik - Shah I 10 Ghiyath ad - Dunya wa ad - Din غیاث الدنیا والدین ‬ Dawud 1131 -- 1132 Gouhar Khatun ( daughter of Masud ) son of Mahmud II 11 Rukn ad - Dunya wa ad - Din رکن الدنیا والدین ‬ Toghrul II 1132 -- 1135 1 ) Mumine Khatun ( mother of Arslan - Shah ) ( 2 ) Zubeida Khatun ( daughter of Barkiyaruq ) son of Muhammad I 12 Ghiyath ad - Dunya wa ad - Din غیاث الدنیا والدین ‬ Masud 1135 -- 1152 1 ) Gouhar Nasab Khatun ( daughter of Sanjar ) ( 2 ) Zubeida Khatun ( daughter of Barkiyaruq, widow of Toghrul II ) ( 3 ) Mustazhiriyya Khatun ( daughter of Qawurd ) ( 4 ) Sufra Khatun ( daughter of Dubais ) ( 5 ) Arab Khatun ( daughter of Al - Muqtafi ) ( 6 ) Ummiha Khatun ( daughter of Amid ud - Deula bin Juhair ) ( 7 ) Abkhaziyya Khatun ( daughter of David IV of Georgia ) ( 8 ) Sultan Khatun ( mother of Malik - Shah III ) son of Muhammad I 13 Muin ad - Dunya wa ad - Din مُعين الدنيا و الدين ‬ Malik - Shah III 1152 -- 1153 son of Mahmud II 14 Rukn ad - Dunya wa ad - Din رکن الدنیا والدین ‬ Muhammad 1153 -- 1159 1 ) Mahd Rafi Khatun ( daughter of Kirman - Shah ) ( 2 ) Gouhar Khatun ( daughter of Masud, widow of Dawud ) ( 3 ) Kerman Khatun ( daughter of Al - Muqtafi ) ( 4 ) Kirmaniyya Khatun ( daughter of Tughrul Shah, ruler of Kerman ) son of Mahmud II 15 Ghiyath ad - Dunya wa ad - Din غیاث الدنیا والدین ‬ Suleiman - Shah 1159 -- 1160 1 ) Khwarazmi Khatun ( daughter of Muhammad Khwarazm Shah ) ( 2 ) Abkhaziyya Khatun ( daughter of David IV of Georgia, widow of Masud ) son of Muhammad I 16 Muizz ad - Dunya wa ad - Din معز الدنیا والدین ‬ Arslan - Shah 1160 -- 1176 1 ) Kerman Khatun ( daughter of Al - Muqtafi, widow of Muhammad ) ( 2 ) Sitti Fatima Khatun ( daughter of Ala ad - Daulah ) ( 3 ) Kirmaniyya Khatun ( daughter of Tughrul Shah, ruler of Kerman, widow of Muhammad ) ( 4 ) Fulana Khatun ( sister of Izz al - Din Hasan Qipchaq ) son of Toghrul II 17 Rukn ad - Dunya wa ad - Din رکن الدنیا والدین ‬ Toghrul III 1176 -- 1191 1st reign Inanj Khatun ( daughter of Sunqur - Inanj, ruler of Rey, widow of Toghrul III ) son of Arslan - Shah 18 Muzaffar ad - Dunya wa ad - Din مظفر الدنیا والدین ‬ Qizil Arslan 1191 Inanj Khatun ( daughter of Sunqur - Inanj, ruler of Rey, widow of Muhammad ibn Ildeniz ) son of Ildeniz ( stepbrother of Arslan - Shah ) -- Rukn ad - Dunya wa ad - Din رکن الدنیا والدین ‬ Toghrul III 1192 -- 1194 2nd reign son of Arslan - Shah hide Great Seljuq sultans family tree Duqaq Temür Yalığ ( b. ? -- d. ? ) Commander - in - chief of Oghuz army Seljuq - Beg ( b. ? -- d. ? ) Commander - in - chief of Oghuz army Yunus Arslan Yabgu ( b. ? -- d. 1032 ) Chief of Seljuq Dynasty Mikail ( b. ? - d. ? ) Musa Yabgu 1. Toghrul I ( r. 1037 -- 1063 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq Chaghri - Beg ( r. 1040 -- 1060 ) Governor of Khorasan Ibrahim Inal Er - Dash Qawurd - Beg ( r. 1048 -- 1073 ) Governor of Kirman Suleiman Prince Bahram - Shah Prince Alp Sungur Prince Governor of Azerbaijan 2. Alp Arslan ( r. 1063 -- 1072 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq Ilyas Prince Khadija Princess married Abbasid caliph Al - Qa'im. Uthman Prince Jawhar Khatun Princess Tutush ( r. 1078 -- 1095 ) Governor of Damascus Toghrul Prince Böri - Bars Prince Arslan - Shah ( r. 1066 -- 1083 ) Governor of Khorasan 3. Malik - Shah I ( r. 1072 -- 1092 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq Toghan - Shah ( r. 1083 -- 1092 ) Governor of Khorasan Aisha Princess married Kara - Khanid khan Nasr Shams al - Mulk. Arslan - Argun ( r. 1092 -- 1097 ) Governor of Khorasan Mah - i Mulk Princess married Abbasid caliph Al - Muqtadi. 5. Barkiyaruq ( r. 1094 -- 1105 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq Dawud Prince Ahmad Prince 4. Mahmud I ( r. 1092 -- 1094 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq 7. Tapar ( r. 1105 -- 1118 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq 9. Sanjar ( r. 1118 -- 1153 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq Gawhar Khatun Princess married Ghaznavid sultan Mas'ud III. Sitara Princess married Kakuyid atabeg Garshasp II. 6. Malik - Shah II ( r. 1105 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq 8. Mahmud II ( r. 1118 -- 1131 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq 15. Suleiman - Shah ( r. 1159 -- 1160 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq 12. Masud ( r. 1135 -- 1152 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq 11. Toghrul II ( r. 1132 -- 1135 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq Mu'mine Khatun wife of Toghrul II until 1135 wife of Ildeniz from 1136 Ildeniz ( r. 1160 -- 1175 ) de facto ruler Atabeg of Arslan - Shah 14. Muhammad II ( r. 1153 -- 1159 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq 10. Dawud ( r. 1131 -- 1132 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq 13. Malik - Shah III ( r. 1152 -- 1153 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq 16. Arslan - Shah ( r. 1160 -- 1176 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq Muhammad ( r. 1175 -- 1186 ) de facto ruler Atabeg of Toghrul III 18. Qizil Arslan ( r. 1191 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq 17. Toghrul III ( r. 1176 -- 1191, 1192 -- 1194 ) Sultan of Great Seljuq Notes : `` Family tree of Seljuqs '' ( PDF ). Gallery Seljuq - era art : Ewer from Herat, Afghanistan, dated 1180 -- 1210CE. Brass worked in repousse and inlaid with silver and bitumen. British Museum. Section of a Water Jug, Habb, 12th - 13th century, Brooklyn Museum Bowl with an Enthronement Scene, 12th - 13th century, Brooklyn Museum Head of male royal figure, 12 -- 13th century, found in Iran. Toghrol Tower, a 12th - century monument south of Tehran in Iran commemorating Tughril Beg. The Kharāghān twin towers, built in 1053 in Iran, is the burial of Seljuq princes. Seljuq sultan Barkiyaruq Seljuk Sultan Muhammad ibn Malik - Shah See also Artuqid Assassins Atabeg Anatolian Seljuks family tree Danishmend Ghaznavid Empire Rahat al - sudur Seljuq architecture Seljuq dynasty Sultanate of Rûm History of the Turks List of Turkic dynasties and countries Timeline of the Sultanate of Rûm Timeline of the Turks ( 500 -- 1300 ) Seldschuken - Fürsten, list of Seljuq rulers in the German Wikipedia Turkic migrations References ^ Jump up to : Savory, R.M., ed. ( 1976 ). Introduction to Islamic Civilisation. Cambridge University Press. p. 82. ISBN 0 - 521 - 20777 - 0. Jump up ^ Black, Edwin ( 2004 ). Banking on Baghdad : Inside Iraq 's 7,000 - year History of War, Profit and Conflict. John Wiley and Sons. p. 38. ISBN 0 - 471 - 67186 - X. ^ Jump up to : C.E. Bosworth, `` Turkish Expansion towards the west '' in UNESCO History of Humanity, Volume IV, titled `` 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 ). '' Jump up ^ Stokes 2008, p. 615. Jump up ^ Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World, Ed. Keith Brown, Sarah Ogilvie, ( Elsevier Ltd., 2009 ), 1110 ; `` Oghuz Turkic is first represented by Old Anatolian Turkish which was a subordinate written medium until the end of the Seljuk rule. '' Jump up ^ A New General Biographical Dictionary, Vol. 2, Ed. Hugh James Rose, ( London, 1853 ), 214. Jump up ^ Grousset, Rene, The Empire of the Steppes, ( New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 1988 ), 167. Jump up ^ Grousset, Rene ( 1988 ). The Empire of the Steppes. New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press. pp. 159, 161. ISBN 0 - 8135 - 0627 - 1. In 1194, Togrul III would succumb to the onslaught of the Khwarizmian Turks, who were destined at last to succeed the Seljuks to the empire of the Middle East. Jump up ^ Turchin, Peter ; Adams, Jonathan M. ; Hall, Thomas D ( December 2006 ). `` East - West Orientation of Historical Empires ''. Journal of world - systems research. 12 ( 2 ) : 223. ISSN 1076 - 156X. Retrieved 13 September 2016. Jump up ^ Rein Taagepera ( September 1997 ). `` Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities : Context for Russia ''. International Studies Quarterly. 41 ( 3 ) : 496. doi : 10.1111 / 0020 - 8833.00053. Retrieved 13 September 2016. Jump up ^ Marshall Cavendish Corporation ( 2006 ). Peoples of Western Asia. p. 364. Jump up ^ Bosworth, Clifford Edmund ( 2007 ). Historic Cities of the Islamic World. p. 280. Jump up ^ Borrero, Mauricio ( 2009 ). Russia : A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present. p. 162. Jump up ^ * `` Aḥmad of Niǧde 's al - Walad al - Shafīq and the Seljuk Past '', A.C.S. Peacock, Anatolian Studies, Vol. 54, ( 2004 ), 97 ; `` With the growth of Seljuk power in Rum, a more highly developed Muslim cultural life, based on the Persianate culture of the Seljuk court, was able to take root in Anatolia. '' Meisami, Julie Scott, Persian Historiography to the End of the Twelfth Century, ( Edinburgh University Press, 1999 ), 143 ; `` Nizam al - Mulk also attempted to organise the Saljuq administration according to the Persianate Ghaznavid model k... '' Encyclopaedia Iranica, `` Šahrbānu '', Online Edition : `` 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 Turkmen heroes or Muslim saints... '' 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. '' Grousset, Rene, The Empire of the Steppes, ( Rutgers University Press, 1991 ), 161, 164 ; `` renewed the Seljuk attempt to found a great Turko - Persian empire in eastern Iran. '' `` It is to be noted that the Seljuks, those Turkomans who became sultans of Persia, did not Turkify Persia - no doubt because they did not wish to do so. On the contrary, it was they who voluntarily became Persians and who, in the manner of the great old Sassanid kings, strove to protect the Iranian populations from the plundering of Ghuzz bands and save Iranian culture from the Turkoman menace. '' Wendy M.K. Shaw, Possessors and possessed : museums, archaeology, and the visualization of history in the late Ottoman Empire. University of California Press, 2003, ISBN 0 - 520 - 23335 - 2, ISBN 978 - 0 - 520 - 23335 - 5 ; p. 5. Jump up ^ * Jackson, P. ( 2002 ). `` Review : The History of the Seljuq Turkmens : The History of the Seljuq Turkmens ''. Journal of Islamic Studies. Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. 13 ( 1 ) : 75 -- 76. doi : 10.1093 / jis / 13.1. 75. Bosworth, C.E. ( 2001 ). 0Notes 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. 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 ). Jump up ^ * Encyclopaedia Iranica, `` Šahrbānu '', Online Edition : `` 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 Turkmen heroes or Muslim saints... '' 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. '' Jump up ^ * C.E. Bosworth, `` Turkmen Expansion towards the west '' in UNESCO History of Humanity, Volume IV, titled `` 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 ( Turkmen 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 Köprülü, `` Early Mystics in Turkish Literature '', Translated by Gary Leiser and Robert Dankoff, Routledge, 2006, p. 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 - jazlra 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 - Dln Kai - Qubad 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 Turkmens had been in contact with many nations and had long shown their ability to synthesize the artistic elements that thev 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 - Din Kai - Qubad 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 Turkmenistan, Iran, and Khwarazm 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 Ghiyath al - Din Kai - Khusraw I assumed titles taken from ancient Persian mythology, like Kai - Khusraw, Kai - Ka us, and Kai - Qubad ; and that. Ala ' al - Din Kai - Qubad I had some passages from the Shahname 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. '' Stephen P. Blake, Shahjahanabad : The Sovereign City in Mughal India, 1639 -- 1739. Cambridge University Press, 1991. pg 123 : `` For the Seljuks and Il - Khanids in Iran it was the rulers rather than the conquered who were `` Persianized and Islamicized '' Jump up ^ * Encyclopaedia Iranica, `` Šahrbānu '', Online Edition : `` 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 Turkmen heroes or Muslim saints... '' O. Özgündenli, `` Persian Manuscripts in Ottoman and Modern Turkish Libraries Archived 2012 - 01 - 22 at the Wayback Machine. '', Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition Encyclopædia Britannica, `` Seljuq '', Online Edition : `` 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 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 )... '' Jump up ^ `` The Turko - Persian tradition features Persian culture patronized by Turkic rulers. '' See 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, p. 79. Exact statement : `` In Short, the Turko - Persian tradition featured Persian culture patronized by Turcophone rulers. '' Jump up ^ Grousset, Rene, The Empire of the Steppes, ( Rutgers University Press, 1991 ), 574. Jump up ^ Bingham, Woodbridge, Hilary Conroy and Frank William Iklé, History of Asia, Vol. 1, ( Allyn and Bacon, 1964 ), 98. Jump up ^ * An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples ( Peter B. Golden. Otto Harrasowitz, 1992 ). pg 386 : `` Turkic penetration probably began in the Hunnic era and its aftermath. Steady pressure from Turkic nomads was typical of the Khazar era, although there are no unambiguous references to permanent settlements. These most certainly occurred with the arrival of the Oguz in the 11th century. The Turkicization of much of Azarbayjan, according to Soviet scholars, was completed largely during the Ilxanid period if not by late Seljuk times. Sumer, placing a slightly different emphasis on the data ( more correct in my view ), posts three periods which Turkicization took place : Seljuk, Mongol and Post-Mongol ( Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu and Safavid ). In the first two, Oguz Turkic tribes advanced or were driven to the western frontiers ( Anatolia ) and Northern Azarbaijan ( Arran, the Mugan steppe ). In the last period, the Turkic elements in Iran ( derived from Oguz, with lesser admixture of Uygur, Qipchaq, Qaluq and other Turks brought to Iran during the Chinggisid era, as well as Turkicized Mongols ) were joined now by Anatolian Turks migrating back to Iran. This marked the final stage of Turkicization. Although there is some evidence for the presence of Qipchaqs among the Turkic tribes coming to this region, there is little doubt that the critical mass which brought about this linguistic shift was provided by the same Oguz - Turkmen tribes that had come to Anatolia. The Azeris of today are an overwhelmingly sedentary, detribalized people. Anthropologically, they are little distinguished from the Iranian neighbors. '' John Perry : `` We should distinguish two complementary ways in which the advent of the Turks affected the language map of Iran. First, since the Turkish - speaking rulers of most Iranian polities from the Ghaznavids and Seljuks onward were already Iranized and patronized Persian literature in their domains, the expansion of Turk - ruled empires served to expand the territorial domain of written Persian into the conquered areas, notably Anatolia and Central and South Asia. Secondly, the influx of massive Turkish - speaking populations ( culminating with the rank and file of the Mongol armies ) and their settlement in large areas of Iran ( particularly in Azerbaijan and the northwest ), progressively turkicized local speakers of Persian, Kurdish and other Iranian languages '' ( John Perry. `` The Historical Role of Turkish in Relation to Persian of Iran ''. Iran & the Caucasus, Vol. 5, ( 2001 ), pp. 193 -- 200. ) According to C.E. Bosworth : `` The eastern Caucasus came under Saljuq control in the middle years of the 5th / 11th century, and in c. 468 / 1075 - 56 Sultan Alp Arslān sent his slave commander ʿEmād - al - dīn Savtigin as governor of Azerbaijan and Arrān, displacing the last Shaddadids. From this period begins the increasing Turkicization of Arrān, under the Saljuqs and then under the line of Eldigüzid or Ildeñizid Atabegs, who had to defend eastern Transcaucasia against the attacks of the resurgent Georgian kings. The influx of Oghuz and other Türkmens was accentuated by the Mongol invasions. Bardaʿa had never revived fully after the Rūs sacking, and is little mentioned in the sources. '' ( C.E. Bsowrth, Arran in Encyclopedia Iranica ) According to Fridrik Thordarson : `` Iranian influence on Caucasian languages. There is general agreement that Iranian languages predominated in Azerbaijan from the 1st millennium b.c. until the advent of the Turks in a.d. the 11th century ( see Menges, pp. 41 -- 42 ; Camb. Hist. Iran IV, pp. 226 -- 228, and VI, pp. 950 -- 952 ). The process of Turkicization was essentially complete by the beginning of the 16th century, and today Iranian languages are spoken in only a few scattered settlements in the area. '' Jump up ^ Wink, Andre, Al Hind the Making of the Indo Islamic World, Brill Academic Publishers, Jan 1, 1996, ISBN 90 - 04 - 09249 - 8 pg. 9 Jump up ^ Andre Wink, Al - Hind : The Making of the Indo - Islamic World, Vol. 2, ( Brill, 2002 ), 9. -- via Questia ( subscription required ) Jump up ^ Iran, The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism, ed. Antoine Sfeir and John King, transl. John King, ( Columbia University Press, 2007 ), 141. Jump up ^ Canby, Sheila R. ; Beyazit, Deniz ; Rugiadi, Martina ; Peacock, A.C.S. ( 2016 - 04 - 27 ). Court and Cosmos : The Great Age of the Seljuqs. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9781588395894. Jump up ^ Princeton, University. `` Dhu'l Qa'da 463 / August 1071 The Battle of Malazkirt ( Manzikert ) ''. Retrieved 2007 - 09 - 08. Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, `` Nizam al - Mulk '', Online Edition Jump up ^ `` The Kings of the East and the West '' : The Seljuk Dynastic Concept and Titles in the Muslim and Christian sources, Dimitri Korobeinikov, The Seljuks of Anatolia, ed. A.C.S. Peacock and Sara Nur Yildiz, ( I.B. Tauris, 2015 ), 71. ^ Jump up to : Wink, Andre, Al Hind the Making of the Indo Islamic World, Brill Academic Publishers, Jan 1, 1996, ISBN 90 - 04 - 09249 - 8 pg 9 -- 10 Jump up ^ Mikaberidze, Alexander. `` ' Miraculous Victory : ' Battle of Didgori, 1121 ''. Armchair General. Retrieved 2012 - 10 - 20. Jump up ^ Anatol Khazanov. Nomads in the Sedentary World. Retrieved 2012 - 10 - 20. Jump up ^ Ronald Grigor Suny, The Making of the Georgian Nation, ( Indiana University Press, 1994 ), 36. ^ Jump up to : Alexander Mikaberidze, Historical Dictionary of Georgia, ( Rowman & Littlefield, 2015 ), 184. Jump up ^ Biran, Michel, The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History, ( Cambridge University Press, 2005 ), 44. Jump up ^ Hodgson, Marshall G.S. The Venture of Islam : Conscience and History in a World Civilization, University of Chicago Press, 1974, ISBN 0 - 226 - 47693 - 6, p. 260 Jump up ^ Bosworth, Clifford Edmund ( 1996 ). The New Islamic Dynasties : A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Columbia University Press. pp. 199 -- 200. ISBN 0 - 231 - 10714 - 5. pp 199 - 200 ( Eldiguizds or Ildegizds ) : `` The Elgiguzids or Ildegizds were a Turkish Atabeg dynasty who controlled most of Azerbaijan ( apart from the region of Maragha held by another Atabeg line, the Ahamadilis ), Arran and northern Jibal during the second half the twelfth century when the Great Seljuq Sultane of Western Persia and Iraq was in full decay and unable to prevent the growth of virtually independent powers in the province '', pp 199 - 200 : `` Eldiguz ( Arabic - Persian sources write ' y.l.d.k.z ) was originally a Qipchaq military slave '', pp199 - 200 : `` The historical significance of these Atabegs thus lies in their firm control over most of north - western Persia during the later Seljuq periodand also their role in Transcaucasia as champions of Islamagainst the resurgent Bagtarid Kings ''. pp 199 : `` In their last phase, the Eldiguzids were once more local rulers in Azerbaijan and eastern Transcaucasia, hard pressed by the aggressive Georgians, and they did not survive the troubled decades of the thirteenth century ''. Jump up ^ Encyclopaedia Iranica. K.A. Luther `` Atabakan - e Adarbayjan '' : Sources such as Ḥosaynī 's Aḵbār ( p. 181 and passim ) make it clear that members of the family always considered Naḵǰavān their home base. Jump up ^ Houtsma, M.T. E.J. Brill 's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913 - 1936, BRILL, 1987, ISBN 90 - 04 - 08265 - 4, p. 1053 Jump up ^ Andre Wink, Al - Hind : The Making of the Indo - Islamic World, Vol. 2, 16. -- via Questia ( subscription required ) Further reading Previté - Orton, C.W. ( 1971 ). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. Tetley, G.E. ( 2008 ). The Ghaznavid and Seljuk Turks : Poetry as a Source for Iranian History. Abingdon. ISBN 978 - 0 - 415 - 43119 - 4. Stokes, Jamie, ed. ( 2008 ). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East. New York : Facts On File. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8160 - 7158 - 6. Archived from the original on 2017 - 02 - 14. External links Wikisource has the text of The New Student 's Reference Work article Seljuks. http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/533602/Seljuq Houtsma, Martin Theodoor ( 1911 ). `` Seljūks ''. Encyclopædia Britannica ( 11th ed. ). 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Question: when did the seljuk empire begin and end
Answer: 1037–1194