Seljuk Empire

The Great Seljuq Empire ( ) was a medieval Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire , established by the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks that once controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf . From their homelands near the Aral sea , the Seljuqs advanced first into Khorasan and then into mainland Persia before eventually conquering eastern Anatolia. The Seljuq empire was founded by Tugrul Beg in 1037 after the efforts by the founder of the Seljuq dynasty , Seljuq Beg , back in the first quarter of the eleventh century. Seljuq Beg's father was in a higher position in the Oghuz Yabgu State , and gave his name both to the state and the dynasty. The Seljuqs 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 Seljuqs also played an important role in the development of the Turko-Persian tradition . Hüseyin Nihâl Atsız , "16 Devlet Masalı ve Uydurma Bayraklar" (16 State tales and fake flags), Ötüken , 65. sayı, 1969. M. and Roger Savory, Introduction to Islamic civilisation , (Cambridge University Press, 1976 ), 82. Amir-Moezzi, "Shahrbanu" , Encyclopaedia Iranica , Online Edition, ( LINK ): "... 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 Turkish heroes or Muslim saints ..." Josef W. ", " 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. The University of Texas at Austin. The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century, Part One: The Historical, Social and Economic Setting. 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 Koprulu's, "Early Mystics in Turkish Literature", Translated by Gary Leiser and Robert Dankoff , Routledge, 2006, pg 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 Turks 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 Turkistan, 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. Cambridge University Press, 1991. pg 123: "For the Seljuks and Il-Khanids in Iran it was the rulers rather than the conquered who were "Pesianized and Islamicized" O.Özgündenli, "Persian Manuscripts in Ottoman and Modern Turkish Libraries" , Encyclopaedia Iranica , Online Edition, ( LINK ) Encyclopaedia Britannica , "Seljuq" , Online Edition, ( LINK ): "... 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. 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. 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) ..." " The Turko-Persian tradition "features Persian culture patronized by Turkic rulers". 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, pg 79. Exact statement: " In Short, the Turko-Persian tradition featured Persian culture patronized by Turcophone rulers.

The Seljuk Empire was a medieval Turko-Persian empire , originating from the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks . The Seljuq Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf . From their homelands near the Aral sea , the Seljuqs advanced first into Khorasan and then into mainland Persia before eventually conquering eastern Anatolia. The Seljuq/Seljuk empire was founded by Tughril Beg (1016–63) 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 Seljuqs 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 Seljuqs 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. Introduction to Islamic Civilisation . 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." A New General Biographical Dictionary , Vol.2, Ed. The Empire of the Steppes . 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. "Aḥmad of Niǧde's al-Walad al-Shafīq and the Seljuk Past", A. 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 Great 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..." 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. 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." Possessors and possessed: museums, archaeology, and the visualization of history in the late Ottoman Empire; By Wendy M. Journal of Islamic Studies . 13 (1). The University of Texas at Austin . The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century, Part One: The Historical, Social and Economic Setting. 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. 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, pg 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. 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" 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 ", Encyclopaedia Iranica , Online Edition Encyclopaedia 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. 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. Not only did the inhabitants of Khurasan not succumb to the language of the nomadic invaders, but they imposed their own tongue on them. Exact statement: "In Short, the Turko-Persian tradition featured Persian culture patronized by Turcophone rulers." Grousset, Rene, The Empire of the Steppes , (Rutgers University Press, 1991), 574. Professor Peter Golden has written one of the most comprehensive books on Turkic people, called An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (Peter B. 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. Bosworth: "The eastern Caucasus came under Saljuq control in the middle years of the 5th/11th century, and in ca. 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. 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."

Persianate Sunni Muslim Turkic empire (1037–1194) For other uses, see Seljuk (disambiguation) . The Seljuk Empire , or the Great Seljuk Empire , was a high medieval empire, culturally Turco-Persian , founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks . It spanned a total area of 3.9 million square kilometres (1.5 million square miles) from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to the Hindu Kush in the east, and from Central Asia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south. The Seljuk Empire was founded in 1037 by Tughril (990–1063) and his brother Chaghri (989–1060), both of whom co-ruled over its territories; there are indications that the Seljuk leadership otherwise functioned as a triumvirate and thus included Musa Yabghu , the uncle of the aforementioned two. From their homelands near the Aral Sea , the Seljuks advanced first into Khorasan and into the Iranian mainland , where they would become largely based as a Persianate society . They then moved west to conquer Baghdad , filling up the power vacuum that had been caused by struggles between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Iranian Buyid Empire . The subsequent Seljuk expansion into eastern Anatolia triggered the Byzantine–Seljuk wars , with the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 marking a decisive turning point in the conflict in favour of the Seljuks, undermining the authority of the Byzantine Empire in the remaining parts of Anatolia and gradually enabling the region's Turkification . The Seljuk Empire united the fractured political landscape in the non-Arab eastern parts of the Muslim world and played a key role in both the First Crusade and Second Crusade ; it also played an important part in the creation and expansion of multiple art forms during the period in which they had influence. By the 1140s, the Seljuk Empire began to decline in power and influence, and was eventually supplanted by the Khwarazmian Empire in 1194. The Times atlas of world history . Introduction to Islamic Civilisation . 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." Holt, Peter M. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . 47 (3). The Empire of the Steppes . 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. Journal of World-Systems Research . 12 (2): 223. The Cambridge History of Islam (Volume IA): The Central Islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War , (Cambridge University Press, 1977), 151, 231–234. 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 Turkish heroes or Muslim saints ..." Meri, Josef W. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia . ( Isfahan ) has served as the political and cultural center of the Persianate world: during the reign of the Seljuks (1038–1194) and that of the Safavids (1501–1722) . 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." Shaw, Wendy (2003). In the tenth century, these and other nomadic tribes, often collectively referred to as Turkomans, migrated out of Central Asia and into Iran. Turkish tribes initially served as mercenary soldiers for local rulers but soon set up their own kingdoms in Iran, some of which grew into Empires – most notably the Great Seljuk Empire. In the meantime, many Turkic rulers and tribespeople eventually converted to Islam. Volume 10 Ottoman and Safavid Empires (1600–1700) . Turkish music completed its transformation into completely makam -based music in the early 11th-century, in the period of the Turko-Persian Seljuk Empire. A particularly interesting text, which reveals the socio-religious mood of the Turco-Persian world from Seljuk times, is the Abù Muslim romance. The cultural influence of the Turco-Persian Seljuks long outlasted their political control of Anatolia, and the Turkish principalities that succeeded them starting in the late thirteenth cetury continued to look to that tradition for models of refinement and sociability. The Cambridge World History, Volume 5 . The Seljuk Empire was another Turco-Iranian state, and its creation was unexpected even by the Seljuks themselves. Under his leadership, the Nezāris mounted a decentralized revolutionary effort against the militarily superior Turko-Persian Saljuq empire. The Steppe Tradition in International Relations . The Seljuq Empire is nevertheless the foremost example of a Turko-Persian Islamic empire. Farther east, medieval Turco-Iranian military patronage states, such as those of the Ghaznavids, Seljuks, Timurids, and early Ottomans, appear to have been more directly affected by the banner traditions of the nomadic Turkic and Mongol populations of the Central Asian steppes, who in turn were influenced by the traditions of the various empires and kingdoms that ruled China, Japan, and Korea. Journal of Islamic Studies . 13 (1). History of Civilizations of Central Asia . On Romani origins and identity . History of Civilizations of Central Asia , Vol. The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century", Part One: "The Historical, Social and Economic Setting". Paris: UNESCO Publishing. • Dani, A. History of Civilizations of Central Asia . Ltd). • Lars Johanson; Éva Ágnes Csató Johanson (2015). The name 'Seljuk is a political rather than ethnic name. It derives from Selčiik, born Toqaq Temir Yally, a war-lord (sil-baši), from the Qiniq tribal grouping of the Oghuz. Seljuk, in the rough and tumble of internal Oghuz politics, fled to Jand, c. 985, after falling out with his overlord. There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim empire (1037–1194) The Seljuk Empire , or the Great Seljuk Empire , was a high medieval , culturally Turco-Persian , Sunni Muslim empire, established and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks . The empire spanned a total area of 3.9 million square kilometres (1.5 million square miles) from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to the Hindu Kush in the east, and from Central Asia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, and it spanned the time period 1037–1308, though Seljuk rule beyond the Anatolian peninsula ended in 1194. The Seljuk Empire was founded in 1037 by Tughril (990–1063) and his brother Chaghri (989–1060), both of whom co-ruled over its territories; there are indications that the Seljuk leadership otherwise functioned as a triumvirate and thus included Musa Yabghu , the uncle of the aforementioned two. During the formative phase of the empire, the Seljuks first advanced from their original homelands near the Aral Sea into Khorasan and then into the Iranian mainland , where they would become largely based as a Persianate society . They then moved west to conquer Baghdad , filling up the power vacuum that had been caused by struggles between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Iranian Buyid Empire . The subsequent Seljuk expansion into eastern Anatolia triggered the Byzantine–Seljuk wars , with the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 marking a decisive turning point in the conflict in favour of the Seljuks, undermining the authority of the Byzantine Empire in the remaining parts of Anatolia and gradually enabling the region's Turkification . The Seljuk Empire united the fractured political landscape in the non-Arab eastern parts of the Muslim world and played a key role in both the First and Second Crusades ; it also bore witness to in the creation and expansion of multiple artistic movements during this period By the 1140s, the Seljuk Empire began to decline in power and influence, and was eventually supplanted in the east by the Khwarazmian Empire in 1194 and the Zengids and Ayyubids in the west. The last surviving Seljuk sultanate to fall was the Sultanate of Rum , which fell in 1308. The Times atlas of world history . Introduction to Islamic Civilisation . 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." Holt, Peter M. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . 47 (3). Journal of World-Systems Research . 12 (2): 223. The Cambridge History of Islam (Volume IA): The Central Islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War , (Cambridge University Press, 1977), 151, 231–234. Journal of Islamic Studies . 13 (1). History of Civilizations of Central Asia . On Romani origins and identity . History of Civilizations of Central Asia , Vol. The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century", Part One: "The Historical, Social and Economic Setting". Paris: UNESCO Publishing. • Dani, A. History of Civilizations of Central Asia . Ltd). • Lars Johanson; Éva Ágnes Csató Johanson (2015). The name 'Seljuk is a political rather than ethnic name. It derives from Selčiik, born Toqaq Temir Yally, a war-lord (sil-baši), from the Qiniq tribal grouping of the Oghuz. Seljuk, in the rough and tumble of internal Oghuz politics, fled to Jand, c. 985, after falling out with his overlord. * "Aḥmad of Niǧde's al-Walad al-Shafīq and the Seljuk Past", A. 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 Turkish heroes or Muslim saints ..." Meri, Josef W. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia . ( Isfahan ) has served as the political and cultural center of the Persianate world: during the reign of the Seljuks (1038–1194) and that of the Safavids (1501–1722) . In the tenth century, these and other nomadic tribes, often collectively referred to as Turkomans, migrated out of Central Asia and into Iran. Turkish tribes initially served as mercenary soldiers for local rulers but soon set up their own kingdoms in Iran, some of which grew into Empires – most notably the Great Seljuk Empire. In the meantime, many Turkic rulers and tribespeople eventually converted to Islam. Volume 10 Ottoman and Safavid Empires (1600–1700) . Turkish music completed its transformation into completely makam -based music in the early 11th-century, in the period of the Turko-Persian Seljuk Empire. A particularly interesting text, which reveals the socio-religious mood of the Turco-Persian world from Seljuk times, is the Abù Muslim romance. The cultural influence of the Turco-Persian Seljuks long outlasted their political control of Anatolia, and the Turkish principalities that succeeded them starting in the late thirteenth century continued to look to that tradition for models of refinement and sociability. The Cambridge World History, Volume 5 . The Seljuk Empire was another Turco-Iranian state, and its creation was unexpected even by the Seljuks themselves. Under his leadership, the Nezāris mounted a decentralized revolutionary effort against the militarily superior Turko-Persian Saljuq empire. The Steppe Tradition in International Relations . The Seljuq Empire is nevertheless the foremost example of a Turko-Persian Islamic empire. Farther east, medieval Turco-Iranian military patronage states, such as those of the Ghaznavids, Seljuks, Timurids, and early Ottomans, appear to have been more directly affected by the banner traditions of the nomadic Turkic and Mongol populations of the Central Asian steppes, who in turn were influenced by the traditions of the various empires and kingdoms that ruled China, Japan, and Korea. There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).