The Seljuk Turks reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Seljuk Turks

The Seljuk Turks (Arabic: Saljūq; also Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuq) were a major branch of the Oghuz Turks and a dynasty that occupied parts of Central Asia and the Middle East in the 9th to 13th century. The Seljuks migrated into Persia in the 10th century while fighting with various tribes on their way. They accepted Sunni Islam and established a state that eventually grew into an empire. The lands of the Seljuk empire, called the Great Seljuk, covered approximately today's Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, all of the Middle East and a part of the Arabian peninsula. An Oghuz bey called Seljuk (Saljūq) was the founder of the dynasty around year 1000. His son led the Seljuks south and his grandson, Toğrül (Tughril Beg), conquered Persia and occupied Baghdad. He established a capital at Nishapur and died in 1063 in favour of his nephew (the great-grandson of Seljuk), Alp Arslan, who invaded Anatolia at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. He also conquered Transoxiana.

Seljuk Turks can be regarded as the ancestors of Western Turks (today's Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan). They and their descendants (i.e. the Ottoman Empire) played a major role in medieval times by setting a barrier against the Mongol onslaught, defending the Islamic world against Crusaders and bringing an end to the Byzantine Empire. The fact that they embraced Sunni Islam and defended it with an irresistible power is one of the reasons why this branch is the major and most populous division of Islam.

Under Alp Arslan's successor Malik Shah I and his vizier Nizam al-Mulk the Seljuk state was expanded into the east and north, now bordering with China in the east and the Byzantine Empire in the west. When Malik Shah died in 1092 the empire split and the following century his brother and four sons disputed the empire which was in 1118 taken over by the third son, Ahmed Sanjar, who had ruled over Khorasan from 1097. His brothers did not recognize his claim to the throne and Mahmud II proclaimed himself sultan and established a capital in Bagdad. Ahmed Sanjar was captured by Turkish nomads in 1153, and was held captive until 1156. He died the following year.

There where several attempts to reunite the Seljuks after that, though the crusades prevented them from regaining their power. For a breif period, Toğrül III, was the sultan of all Seljuk except Anatolia. When Toğrül was defeated by the Shah of Khwarezmid Empire, Allah ad-Din Tekish, in 1194, and Great Seljuk finally collapsed, the Sultanate of Rüm in Anatolia was all that remained of the Seljuks. The dynasty declined in the middle of the 13th century and when the Mongols invaded Anatolia in the 1260s the state collapsed and was divided into small emirates, eventually to be conquered by the Ottomans.

Table of contents
1 Rulers of Great Seljuk 1037-1157
2 Seljuk Sultans of Rüm (Anatolia) 1077-1307
3 Seljuk Rulers in Syria 1085-1117
4 Seljuk Rulers of Kerman 1041-1187

Rulers of Great Seljuk 1037-1157

Seljuk Sultans of Rüm (Anatolia) 1077-1307

Seljuk Rulers in Syria 1085-1117

King of Damascus: Kings of Aleppo:

Seljuk Rulers of Kerman 1041-1187

Kerman was a nation in southern Persia. It fell in 1187, probably conquered by Toğrül III of Great Seljuk.

See also Sultanate of Rüm, Ottoman Empire, Ghaznavid Empire

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