Seljuk Dynasty

Pervane Mu'in al-Din was the powerful grand vizier of the Seljuks of Rum during the period of Mongol suzerainty. He wielded immense power and tried to balance the interests of the Seljuk Sultans, the Mongols, and the Mamluks of Egypt.

Atsiz ibn Uvak was a Khwarazmian Turkish commander who conquered Palestine and Jerusalem from the Fatimids in 1071. His rule over the city was often harsh, and it was the reports of his treatment of Christian pilgrims that partly contributed to the call for the First Crusade.

The Seljuks standardized the 'four-iwan' mosque plan. This involved a central open courtyard with a large vaulted hall (iwan) on each of its four sides. This layout became the classic model for Persian mosque architecture for centuries to come.

The term 'Seljuk Autumn' refers to the long and relatively stable reign of Sultan Sanjar, which saw a final revival of Seljuk culture and power in the East. However, beneath the surface, the empire's foundations were crumbling, leading to a swift collapse after his death.

The Buyids were a Daylamite Shia dynasty that had controlled the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad since 945 CE. Tughril Beg's conquest of Baghdad in 1055 permanently ended Buyid rule and restored Sunni dominance in the heart of the Islamic world.

Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I (r. 1220–1237) presided over the golden age of the Seljuks of Rum. He was a great builder, a military conqueror, and a patron of the arts. Many of the finest Seljuk caravanserais and mosques in Anatolia date from his reign.

Nicaea (modern Iznik) was captured by the Seljuks shortly after Manzikert and served as the first capital of the Sultanate of Rum. It was located very close to Constantinople, posing a direct threat to the Byzantine heartland until it was recovered during the First Crusade.

Derived from the Turkic words 'Ata' (father) and 'Beg' (lord), the title Atabeg signified the guardian and mentor of a prince. The Atabeg was responsible for the prince's education and military training, often marrying the prince's mother to strengthen his position.

Al-Ghazali wrote 'Kimiya-ye Sa'adat' (The Alchemy of Happiness) in Persian towards the end of his life. It is a summarized version of his monumental Arabic work, 'Ihya Ulum al-Din,' and was intended to make his teachings on spirituality accessible to a wider Persian-speaking audience.

Alp Arslan died in 1072, just one year after his great victory at Manzikert. He was fatally stabbed by a captive fortress commander, Yusuf al-Khwarazmi, during an expedition across the Oxus River. He was succeeded by his son, Malik Shah I.

The 'Shahnama' (Book of Kings) is the national epic of Greater Iran, written by Ferdowsi. Although the Seljuks were Turks, they embraced the Shahnama as a model of kingship and culture. Many Seljuk Sultans, especially those in Anatolia, even took names from the epic, such as Kaykhusraw and Kayqubad.

The double-headed eagle was a common heraldic symbol in the Sultanate of Rum. It appeared on their coins, flags, and architectural decorations. It symbolized the Sultan's dominion over both the East and the West, and was later adopted by many other cultures, including the Byzantines and Russians.

Following the victory at Manzikert, waves of Oghuz Turkic tribes migrated into Anatolia. This began a slow but steady process of Turkification and Islamization that eventually transformed the region from a Greek-speaking Christian heartland into a Turkish-speaking Muslim one.

Taj al-Mulk was a rival official in the court of Malik Shah I. He was backed by Terken Khatun and sought to undermine Nizam al-Mulk's influence. He succeeded Nizam al-Mulk as vizier after the latter's assassination but was himself killed by the 'Nizamiyyah' faction shortly after.

The Seljuks, like most steppe peoples, relied on highly mobile light cavalry. Their primary tactic was the 'feigned retreat,' where they would pretend to flee to lure the enemy into an ambush, while their horse archers would fire volleys of arrows with deadly precision while riding at full speed.

Rayy was one of the most important cities of the Islamic world during the Seljuk period and served as one of their capitals. Its ruins are located just south of the modern Iranian capital, Tehran.

The 'capture and cage' story refers to the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I after the Battle of Ankara in 1402. By that time, the Seljuks had been gone for a century. The Seljuk Sultan Sanjar was captured by Oghuz rebels, but the cage myth specifically belongs to Ottoman-Timurid history.

Tughril and Chaghri were the sons of Mikail ibn Seljuk. After Mikail died young in battle, his sons were raised by their grandfather, Seljuk ibn Duqaq, who was the patriarch of the clan.

Muhammad Tapar and his brother Sanjar waged a long civil war against their eldest brother, Berkyaruq. The empire was eventually divided among them, with Berkyaruq ruling the west and Sanjar ruling the east, significantly weakening the central state.

The Ince Minareli Medrese (Slender Minaret Madrasa) is a 13th-century structure in Konya. It is famous for its highly ornate stone entrance gate, which is considered one of the finest examples of Seljuk stone carving.