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THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (717-1453)
CHAPTER X
WHEN the Abbasids wrested from the Umayyads in
750 the headship of the Muslim world, they entered into possession of an empire
stretching from the Indus to the Atlantic and from the southern shore of the
Caspian Sea to the Indian Ocean. It had absorbed the whole of the Persian
Empire of the Sasanians, and the rich provinces of
the Roman Empire on the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean; but though
Constantinople itself had been threatened more than once, and raids into Asia
Minor were so frequent as at certain periods to have become almost a yearly
occurrence, the ranges of the Taurus and the Anti-Taurus still served as the
eastern barrier of Byzantine territory against the spread of Arab domination.
In Africa, however, all opposition to the westward progress of the Arab arms
had been broken down, and the whole of the peninsula of Spain, with the
exception of Asturia, had passed under Muslim rule.
For ninety years Damascus had been the capital of the Arab Empire, and the
mainstay of the Umayyad forces in the time of their greatest power had been the
Arab tribes domiciled in Syria from the days when that province still formed
part of the Roman Empire; but the Abbasids had come into power mainly through
support from Persia, and their removal of the capital to Baghdad (founded by
Mansur, the second Caliph of the new dynasty, in 762) on a site only thirty
miles from Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sasanian Shahanshah, marks their recognition of the shifting of the center
of power.
From this period Persian influence became predominant and the chief
offices of state came to be held by men of Persian origin; the most noteworthy
example is that of the family of the Barmecides (Barmakids), which for half a century exercised the
predominant influence in the government until Haran destroyed them in 803. It
was probably due to the influence of the old Persian ideal of kingship that
under the Abbasids the person of the Caliph came to be surrounded with greater
pomp and ceremony. The court of the Umayyads had
retained something of the patriarchal simplicity of early Arab society, and
they had been readily accessible to their subjects; but as the methods of
government became more centralized and the court of the Caliph more splendid
and awe-striking, the ruler himself tended to be more difficult of access, and
the presence of the executioner by the side of the throne became under the
Abbasids a terrible symbol of the autocratic character of their rule.
A further feature of the new dynasty was the emphasis it attached to the
religious character of the dignity of the Caliph. In their revolt against the Umayyads, the Abbasids had come forward in defence of the
purity of Islam as against those survivals of the old Arab heathenism which
were so striking a feature of the Umayyad court. The converts and descendants
of converts, whose support had been most effective in the destruction of the Umayyads, were animated with a more zealous religious
spirit than had ever found expression among large sections of the Arabs, who,
in consequence of the superficial character of their conversion to Islam, and
their aristocratic pride and tribal exclusiveness, so contrary to the spirit of
Islamic brotherhood, had been reluctant to accord to the converts from other
races the privileges of the new faith. The Abbasids raised the standard of
revolt in the name of the family of the Prophet, and by taking advantage of the
widespread sympathy felt for the descendants of Ali, they obtained the support
of the various Shi'ah factions. Though they took all
the fruits of victory for themselves, they continued to lay emphasis on the
religious character of their rule, and theologians and men of learning received
a welcome at their court such as they had never enjoyed under the Umayyads. On ceremonial occasions the Abbasid Caliph
appeared clad in the sacred mantle of the Prophet, and titles such as that of Khalifah of Allah (vicegerent of God) and shadow of God
upon earth came to be frequently applied to him. As the power of the central
authority grew weaker, so the etiquette of the court tended to become more
elaborate and servile, and the Caliph made his subjects kiss the ground before
him or would allow the higher officials either to kiss his hand or foot or the
edge of his robe.
The vast empire into the possession of which they had entered was too
enormous and made up of elements too heterogeneous to be long held together
under a system, the sole unifying principle of which was payment of tribute to
the Caliph. A prince of the Umayyad family, Abd-arRahman,
who had succeeded in escaping to Spain when practically all his relatives had
been massacred, took advantage of tribal jealousies among the Arab chiefs in
Spain to seize this country for himself, and to detach it from the empire, in
756. North Africa, which had been placed by Haran under the government of
Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab,
became practically independent under this energetic governor, who established a
dynasty that lasted for more than a century (800-909); though his successors
contented themselves with the title of emir, the Caliph in Baghdad appears to
have been powerless to interfere with their administration. Harlan himself
seems to have realized that the break-up of the Arab empire was inevitable,
since in 802 he made arrangements for dividing the administration of it between
his sons Amin and Mamun. But on the death of their
father in 809 civil war broke out between the two brothers.
The Arabs lent their support to Amin, and under his leadership made a
last effort to regain for themselves the control of the Caliphate; but in 813 Tahir, Mamun’s brilliant Persian
general; defeated him, and as a reward for his successful siege of Baghdad was
appointed by Mamun to the government of Khurasan, where he and his descendants for half a century
were practically independent. Egypt broke away from the empire when a son of
one of Mamun’s Turkish slaves, Ahmad ibn having been appointed deputy-governor of Egypt in 868,
succeeded in making himself independent not only in Egypt but also in Syria,
which he added to his dominions, and ceased sending money contributions to
Baghdad. This breaking away of the outlying provinces of the empire was
rendered the more possible by the weakness of the central government. Mamun’s brother and successor, Mutasim (833-842), made the fatal mistake of creating an army composed almost entirely
of Turkish mercenaries. Their excesses made life in Baghdad so intolerable that
the Caliph, in order to be safe from the vengeance of the inhabitants of his
own capital, moved to a site three days’ journey up the Tigris to the north of
Baghdad, and from 836 to 892 Samarra was the Abbasid capital where nine
successive Caliphs lived, practically as prisoners of their own Turkish
bodyguard. While the Turkish officers made and unmade Caliphs as they pleased,
the country was ruined by constantly recurring disorders and insurrection. In
865, while rival claimants were fighting for the crown, Baghdad was besieged
for nearly a year, and the slave revolt for fourteen years (869-883) left the
delta of the Euphrates at the mercy of undisciplined bands of marauders who terrorized
the inhabitants and even sacked great cities, such as Basrah,
Ahwaz, and Wasit, showing the weakness of the central
power even in territories so close to the capital. A further disaster was soon
to follow in the great Carmathian revolt, which takes
its name from one of the propagandists of the Ismaili Shi'ah doctrine in Iraq during the latter part of the
ninth century. His followers for nearly a century (890-990) spread terror
throughout Mesopotamia, and even threatened Baghdad. They extended their
ravages as far as Syria, murdering and pillaging wherever they went. In 930
they plundered the city of Mecca, put to death 30,000 Muslims there, and
carried off the Black Stone together with immense booty.
These movements represent only a part of the risings and revolts that
brought anarchy into the Caliph's dominions and cut off the sources of his
revenue. In the midst of this period of disorder the Caliph Mutamid,
shortly before his death in 892, transferred the capital once more to Baghdad,
but the change did not bring the Caliphs deliverance from the tutelage of their
Turkish troops, and they were as much at their mercy as before.
Ascendancy of the Buwaihids
Deliverance came from Persia where the Buwaihids,
who claimed descent from one of the Sassanian kings,
had been extending their power from the Caspian Sea southward through Persia,
until in 945 they entered Baghdad, nominally as deliverers of the Caliph from
his rebellious Turkish troops. For nearly a century from this date the Caliphs
were mere puppets in the hands of successive Buwaihid emirs, who set them upon the throne and deposed them as they pleased. The
Caliph Mustakfi, whose deliverance from his mutinous
Turkish soldiery had been the pretext for the Buwaihid occupation of Baghdad, was in the same year
dragged from his throne and cruelly blinded. So low had the office of Caliph
sunk by this period that there were still living two other Abbasid princes who
like Mustakfi had sat upon the Abbasid throne, but
blinded and robbed of all their wealth were now dependent upon charity or such meager
allowance as the new rulers cared to dole out to them. His cousin Muti was set up to succeed him, but though he held the
office of Caliph for twenty-eight years (946-974) he had no voice in the
administration, and could not even nominate any of the ministers who carried on
the business of the state in his name; helpless in the hands of his Buwaihid master, he lived upon a scanty allowance. He was
compelled to abdicate in favor of his son Tai, after a riotous outburst of
religious intolerance in Baghdad, and Tai for seventeen years (974-991)
suffered similar humiliations. He was deposed at last in favor of his cousin Qadir (991-1031), of whose reign of forty years hardly any
incident is recorded, because political events pursued their course without any
regard to him.
Meanwhile in Upper Mesopotamia an Arab family, the Hamdanids,
at first governors of Mosul, extended their authority over the surrounding
country, and one member of the family, Saif-ad-Daulah, made himself master of Aleppo and brought the whole
of Northern Syria under his rule in 944. In North Africa a rival Caliphate had
arisen under the Shi‘ah Fatimids,
who annexed Egypt in 969, and after more than one attempt occupied Syria in
988. By the beginning of the eleventh century the power of the Buwaihids was on the decline and they had to give way
before the Ghaznavids and the Seljuqs, the latter a
Turkish tribe which made its first appearance in history about the middle of
the tenth century. In 1055 the Seljuq chief, Tughril Beg, after having conquered the greater part of Persia, entered Baghdad and
delivered the Caliph from subservience to the Buwaihids.
From Baghdad Tughril Beg marched to the conquest of
Mosul and Upper Mesopotamia, and when he died in 1063 he left to his successor,
Alp Arslan, an empire which eight years later
stretched from the Hindu Kush to the shores of the Mediterranean.
Alp Arslan died in 1072 and his son, Malik
Shah, still further extended the empire by the conquest of Transoxiana. One of
the Seljuq generals, Atsiz, drove the Fatimids out of
Syria and Palestine, and occupied Jerusalem in 1071 and Damascus in 1075. Under
the protection of the Seljuqs, the Caliph in Baghdad enjoyed at the hand of
these orthodox Sunnis a certain amount of respect such as he had failed to
receive at the hand of the Shi'ah Buwaihids,
but his political authority hardly extended beyond the walls of the city.
The Seljuq empire
The death of Malik Shah in 1092 was followed by a period of confusion,
during which his four sons fought one another for the succession, but in 1117
the supreme authority passed to his third son, Sanjar, the last of the Great
Seljuqs to exercise a nominal sovereignty over the whole empire; before his
death in 1155 it had split up into a number of separate principalities, some of
them ruled over by Seljuq princes, others by officers who, acting first as
guardians (or Atabegs) to minors, later assumed the
reins of power and founded dynasties of their own.
One permanent result of the rise of the Seljuq empire was that the way
had been opened for Muslim domination in Asia Minor. During the whole of the
Abbasid period the ranges of the Taurus and Anti-Taurus had formed the frontier
line between the Roman and the Arab Empires, and though incursions had
frequently, and during certain periods annually, been made by the Muslim troops
into Anatolia, no permanent result of these military expeditions into the great
plateau of Asia Minor had been achieved beyond the temporary occupation of some
fortresses. But the Seljuqs made their way into Asia Minor from Northern Persia
through Armenia, and before the end of the eleventh century had occupied all
the centre of Asia Minor, leaving only the kingdom of
Lesser Armenia and the coast-line which was held by Byzantine troops. This
western movement of the Seljuqs and the consequent alarm of the Emperor of
Constantinople who appealed for help to the Christian powers of Europe, were
among the causes of the Crusades.
When the crusaders entered Syria in 1098, the Seljuq empire had already
begun to break up; the greater part of Mesopotamia and Syria had been parcelled out into military fiefs in which the military
officers of the Seljuqs had made themselves independent. The political
situation of the Muslim world was but little affected by the establishment of
the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1099, and the most important effect of the Crusades
upon Muslim history was the rise of the Ayyubid dynasty, established by Saladin in his long conflict with the crusaders
culminating in the battle of Hittin and the conquest
of Jerusalem in 1187.
The Mongol conquests
Farther east, the fratricidal struggle still went on between rival
Muslim houses fighting one another for the possession of the fragments of the
Seljuq empire. For a brief period the Caliph in Baghdad succeeded in exerting
some authority in the neighbourhood of his capital, and Nasir (1180-1225), freed from the tutelage of the Seljuqs, restored to the Caliphate
some of its old independence, though the narrow territory over which he ruled
extended only from Takrit to the head of the Persian
Gulf. His most formidable rival was the Khwarazm Shah, whose kingdom, founded by a descendant of one of the Turkish slaves of
the Seljuq Sultan Malik Shah, had been gradually extended until it included the
greater part of Persia. Under Ala-ud-Din
(1199—1220) the kingdom of Khwarazm embraced also
Bukhara and Samarqand, and in 1214 Afghanistan; but his career of conquest was
short-lived, for on his eastern border appeared the Mongol army of Jenghiz Khan which soon involved in a common devastation
and ruin the greater part of the various Muslim kingdoms of the East. Muslim civilization
has never recovered from the destruction which the Mongols inflicted upon it.
Great centers of culture, such as Herat and Bukhara, were reduced to ashes and
the Muslim population was ruthlessly massacred. With the Mongol conquest of
southern Russia and of China we are not concerned here, but their armies after
sweeping across Persia appeared in 1256 under the command of Hulagu before the walls of Baghdad, and after a brief siege
of one month the last Caliph of the Abbasid House, Mustasim,
had to surrender, and was put to death together with most of the members of his
family; 800,000 of the inhabitants were brought out in batches from the city to
be massacred, and the greater part of the city itself was destroyed by fire.
The Mongol armies then moved on into Syria, where first Aleppo and then
Damascus fell into their hands, but when they advanced to the conquest of Egypt
they met with the first check in their westward movement. Egypt since 1254 had
been under the rule of the Mamluk sultans, and the
Egyptian army in 1260 defeated the Mongols at Ain Jalut in Palestine, and following up this victory drove
them out of Syria altogether. After the death of Jenghiz Khan in 1227, the vast Mongol empire had been divided among his four sons; of
Muslim territories, Transoxiana fell to the lot of his second son Jagatai; one
of his grandsons, the conqueror of Baghdad, founded the Il-khan dynasty of
Persia and included in his kingdom the whole of Persia, Mesopotamia, and part
of Asia Minor. The Seljuqs of Asia Minor had managed to maintain a precarious
existence as vassals of the Mongols by making a timely submission; and, under
the rule of the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt, Syria kept
the Mongols out. Such remained the general condition of the eastern provinces
of what had once been the empire of the Abbasid Caliphs, during the remainder
of the thirteenth century.
(B)
THE SELJUQS
By Herbert M.J. Loewe.
THE rise of the Seljuq power and the history of the various dynasties
which were established by princes of that family deserve attention for more
than one reason. Not only were the Seljuqs largely responsible for the
consolidation of Islam during the later days of the Abbasid Caliphate, but it
is from this revival of power, which was, in no small degree, due to their
efforts, that the failure of the Crusaders to make any lasting impression on
the East may be traced. Further, it is not alone in politics and warfare that
the Seljuqs achieved success: they have laid mankind under a debt in other
spheres. Their influence may be observed in religion, art, and learning. Their
love of culture was shown by the universities which sprang up in their cities
and in the crowds of learned men fostered at their courts. Under them appeared
some of the shining lights of Islam. The philosopher and statesman Nizam-al-Mulk, the
mathematician-poet Omar Khayyam, warriors like Zangi,
sultans like Malik Shah, Nur-ad-Din, and it is right
to include Saladin himself, were the product of the Seljuq renaissance. To the
Seljuq princes there can be ascribed, to a great extent, not only the
comparative failure of the Crusades, but an unconscious influence of East upon
West, springing from the intercourse between Frank and Saracen in the holy
wars. The rise of the Seljuq power imparted fresh life to the Orthodox
Caliphate, with which these princes were in communion, ultimately reunited the
scattered states of Islam, and laid the foundations of the Ottoman Turkish
Empire at Constantinople. It is impossible to give more than an outline of the
important events and characters. The object of the present pages is merely to
sketch the rise of the Seljuq power and to mention the states and dynasties by
which the territories under Seljuq sway were ultimately absorbed. So numerous
were the various Atabegs who supplanted them that
sufficient space could not be allotted to their enumeration, which would in
most cases prove both wearisome and superfluous.
The period covered by these dynasties lies between the eleventh and
thirteenth centuries; the territory in which their rule was exercised extends
over large districts of Asia, chiefly Syria, Persia, and Transoxiana. The name
by which they are known is that of their first leader, from whose sons the
different rulers were descended. This leader, Seljuq ibn Yakak, is said to have sprung in direct line from Afrasiyab, King of Turkestan, the legendary foe of the
first Persian dynasty, but this descent is not historical. Seljuq was one of
the chiefs under the Khan of Turkestan, and with his emigration from Turkestan
to Transoxiana and the subsequent adoption of Islam by himself and his tribe,
his importance in history may be said to begin.
At the time of the appearance of the Seljuqs, Islam had completely lost
its earlier homogeneity. The Umayyad Caliphate had been succeeded in 750 by the
Abbasid, a change of power marked by the transference of the capital from
Damascus to Baghdad. The latter Caliphate actually survived until the Mongol
invasion under Hulagu in 1258, but at a very early
period schism and decay had set in. Already in 750, when the Abbasids ousted
the Umayyads, Spain became lost to the Caliphate, for Abd-ar-Rahman, escaping
thither from the general slaughter of his kinsfolk in Syria, made himself
independent, and his successors never acknowledged the Abbasid rule. The
establishment of the Idrisid dynasty in Morocco (788)
by Idris ibn Abdallah, of
the Aghlabids in Tunis (800) by Ibrahim ibn Aghlab at Qairawan,
the supremacy of the Tulunids (868-905) and Ikhshidids (935-969) in Egypt, were severe losses to the
Caliphate in its Western dominions. Nor was the East more stable. In Persia and
Transoxiana, as a consequence of the policy pursued by the Caliph Mamun (813-833), there arose a great national revival,
resulting in the formation of several quasi-vassal dynasties, such as the Saffarid (867-903) and the Samanid (874-999); from the latter the Ghaznawids developed,
for Alptigin, who founded the last-named line, was a
Turkish slave at the Samanid court. Many of these
dynasties became extremely powerful, and the ascendancy of the heterodox Buwaihids cramped and fettered the Caliphs in their own
palaces. All these kingdoms nominally acknowledged the spiritual sovereignty of
the Caliph, but in temporal matters they were their own masters. The chief
visible token of the Caliph was the retention of his name in the Khutbah, a “bidding praye”
recited on Fridays in the mosques throughout Islam, and on the coins. It is
extremely probable that even this fragment of authority was only allowed to
survive for reasons of state, principally to invest with a show of legitimacy
the claims of the various rulers who were, theoretically at least, vassals of God's
vicegerent on earth, the Caliph at Baghdad.
The Shiites
It was not alone in politics that the decay of the Caliphate was
manifest; in religion also its supremacy was assailed. The unity of Islam had
been rent by the schism of “Sunnah” (“Way” or “Law”)
and “Shi’ah” (“Sect”). The former was the name
adopted by the orthodox party, the latter the title which they applied to their
opponents. The Shiites believed in the divine Imamship of Ali, the son-in-law of Mahomet and the fourth Caliph after him. In
consequence they rejected all the other Caliphs and declared their succession
illegitimate. But they did not, on this account, support the Abbasids, although
at first they sided with them. The Abbasids made skillful use of the Shiite Alids in undermining the Umayyad throne; indeed, by
themselves the Abbasids could scarcely have hoped to succeed. Once in power,
the allies fell apart. The Shiite doctrine contained numerous elements
repugnant to a Sunni, elements which may be regarded as gnostic survivals
perhaps, but certainly borrowed from non-Semitic sources. Many held the Mutazilite opinion, which denied the fundamental
proposition that the Koran is eternal and untreated. They were noted for the
number of their feasts and pilgrimages and for the veneration with which they
practically worshipped Ali, since they added to the profession of Faith “There
is no God but God and Mahomet is his apostle” the words” and Ali is his
vicegerent (wali)”. In course of time numerous sects
grew out of the Shi’ah, perhaps the most famous being
the Ismailiyah, the Fatimids,
the Druses of the Lebanon, and, in modern times, the Babi sect in Persia. The kingdom of the Safavids (1502-1736), known to English literature as “the Sophy”,
was Shiite in faith, and Shiite doctrines found a fertile soil in India and the
more eastern provinces of Islam. On the whole it may be said roughly that the
Turks were Sunnis and the Persians Shiites.
At the time of the Seljuqs,when the political
authority of the Caliphate was so much impaired, two of the most important
Muslim kingdoms subscribed to the Shiite tenets. Of these kingdoms, one was
that of the Buwaihids, who ruled in Southern Persia
and Iraq. The dynasty had been founded in 932 by Buwaih,
the head of a tribe of mountaineers in Dailam. The Buwaihids rose in power until the Caliphate was obliged to recognize
them. In 945 the sons of Buwaih entered Baghdad and
extracted many concessions from the Caliph Mustakfi.
In spite of their heterodoxy they soon gained control over the Caliph, who became
absolutely subject to their authority.
The other Shiite kingdom, to which reference has been made, was that of
the Fatimids in Egypt (909-1171). As their name
implies, these rulers claimed descent from Fatimah, the daughter of the
Prophet, who married Ali. It is therefore easy to understand their leanings
towards the Shi’ah. The dynasty arose in North Africa
where Ubaid-Allah, who claimed to be the Mahdi,
conquered the Aghlabid rulers and gradually made
himself supreme along the coast as far as Morocco. Finally, in 969 the Fatimids wrested Egypt from the Ikhshidids and founded Cairo. By 991 they had occupied Syria as far as and including
Aleppo. Their predominance in politics and commerce continued to extend, but it
is unnecessary to trace their development at present. It is sufficient to
recall their Shiite tendencies and to appreciate the extent to which the
Caliphate suffered in consequence of their prosperity.
It will thus be seen that at the end of the tenth century the position
of the Caliphate was apparently hopeless. The unity of Islam both in politics
and in religion was broken; the Caliph was a puppet at the mercy of the Buwaihids and Fatimids. The
various Muslim states, it is true, acknowledged his sway, but the
acknowledgment was formal and unreal. It seemed as though the mighty religion
framed by the Prophet would be disintegrated by sectarianism, as though the
brotherhood of Islam were a shattered ideal, and the great conquests of Khalid
and Omar were destined to slip away from the weakening grasp of the helpless
ruler at Baghdad.
In such a crisis it would seem that Islam was doomed. It is useful also
to recollect that within a very few years the Muslim world was to encounter the
might of Europe; the pomp and chivalry of Christendom were to be hurled against
the Crescent with, one would imagine, every prospect of success. At this
juncture Islam was re-animated by one of those periodical revivals that fill
the historian with amazement. The Semitic races have proved to be endowed with
extraordinary vitality. Frequently, when subdued, they have imposed their
religion and civilization on their conquerors, imbued them with fanaticism, and
converted them into keen propagators of the faith.
Islam was saved from destruction at the hands of the Crusaders by one of
these timely ebullitions. The approach of the Seljuqs towards the West produced
a new element in Islam which enabled the Muslims successfully to withstand the
European invaders; their intervention changed the subsequent history of Asia
Minor, Syria, and Egypt. The Seljuqs crushed every dynasty in Persia, Asia
Minor, Mesopotamia, and Syria, and united, for certain periods, under one head
the vast territory reaching from the Mediterranean littoral almost to the
borders of India. They beat back successfully both Crusader and Byzantine, gave
a new lease of life to the Abbasid Caliphate which endured till its extinction
by the Mongols in 1258, and to their influence the establishment of the Ayytabid dynasty in Egypt by Saladin may be directly
traced.
The dynasty of
Seljuq
It has already been stated that the Seljuqs derived their name from a
chieftain of that name, who came from Turkestan. They were Turkish in origin,
being a branch of the Ghuzz Turks, whom the Byzantine
writers style Uzes. An interesting reference is made
to the Ghuzz in the famous itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, whose extensive travels in the Orient took place
about 1165. Benjamin speaks of the “Ghuz, the Sons of
the Kofar-al-Turak”, by
which description he means the Mongolian or infidel Turks, as the title Kuffar (plural of Kafir,
heretic), implies. He says: “They worship the wind and live in the Wilderness.
They do not eat bread nor drink wine but live on uncooked meat. They have no
noses. And in lieu thereof they have two small holes, through which they
breathe. They eat animals both clean and unclean and are very friendly towards
the Israelites. Fifteen years ago they overran the country of Persia with a
large army and took the city of Rayy [Rai]: they smote it with the edge of the sword, took all
the spoil thereof and returned by way of the Wilderness”. Benjamin goes on to
describe the campaign of Sanjar ibn Malik Shah
against the Ghuzz in 1153, and his defeat.
Seljuq had four sons, Mikall, Musa (Moses),
and Yanus; the names are recorded with certain
variants by different writers. They came from the Kirghiz Steppes of Turkestan
to Transoxiana, and made their winter quarters near Bukhara and their summer
quarters near Sughd and Samarqand. They thus came
under the suzerainty of Mabmad of Ghaznah (998-1030), and they embraced Islam with great fervor. The Ghaznavid dynasty was then at the zenith of its power, chiefly through the genius and
success of the great Mahmud. He was the son of Sabaktagin,
who ruled under the sovereignty of the Samanid dynasty. Mahmud asserted his independence and established himself in undisputed
supremacy over Khuräsan and Ghaznah,
being recognized by the Caliph. A zealous follower of Islam, he made twelve
campaigns into India and gained the title of the “breaker of idols”. But it is
as a patron of learning that he is best known. He established a university at Ghaznah and fostered literature and the arts with a liberal
hand. Under him Ghaznah became a center to which the
learned flocked; the poet Firdausi wrote his Shahnama under the auspices of Mahmud.
The migration of the Seljuqs took place at a somewhat earlier period. It
is clear that they were already employed in military service by Sabaktagin (976-997), the father of Mahmud, and before the
accession of the latter (about 998) they had begun to play an important part in
the political life of the neighboring Muslim states. Finally, they entered into
negotiations with Mahmud in order to receive his permission to settle near the
frontier of his kingdom, on the eastern bank of the Oxus. According to Rawandi, Mahmud unwisely gave the required permission and
allowed the Seljuqs to increase their power within his dominions. The emigrants
were then under the leadership of the sons of Seljuq. Ultimately Mahmud became
alarmed at their growing strength, and seizing Israil the son of Seljuq, caused him to be imprisoned in the castle of Kalanjar in India, where he died in captivity. Qutalmish, the son of Israil,
escaped to Bukhara, and instigated his relatives to avenge his father's death.
Accordingly they demanded leave from Mahmud to cross the Oxus and settle in Khurasan. Against the advice of the governor of Tus this was accorded, and during the lifetime of Mahmud
there was peace with the Seljuqs. Before the death of the Sultan, Chaghri Beg and Tughril Beg were
born to Mikail, the brother of Israil.
Mahmud was succeeded by his son Masud, who was very
different from his father in character. The conduct of the Seljuqs caused him
serious alarm. Presuming on their strength they made but slight pretence to acknowledge his sovereignty, their independence
was thinly veiled, and many complaints against them poured in on the Sultan
from his subjects and neighbors.
Tughril Beg
They defeated the governor of Nishapar and
forced the Sultan, then engaged in an expedition to India, to accept their
terms. Afterwards Masud decreed the expulsion of the
tribe, and the governor of Khurasan was instructed to
enforce the command. He set out with a large force but met with a crushing
defeat, and the victorious Seljuqs, entering Nishapar in June 1038, established themselves in complete independence and proclaimed Tughril Beg their king. In the previous year, the name of
his brother Chaghri Beg had been inserted in the Khutbah or bidding prayer, with the title of “King of Kings”.
From this time forward the tide of Seljuq conquests spread westward. The Ghaznavids expanded eastward in proportion as their western
dominions were lost. The Seljuq brothers conquered Balkh, Jurjan, Tabaristan, and Khwarazm,
and gained possession of many cities, including Rai,
Hamadan, and Ispahan. Finally in 1055 Tughril Beg entered Baghdad and was proclaimed Sultan by
the Caliph.
Shortly after the defeat of Masud near Mery (1040), dissension broke out among the Seljuq princes.
While Tughril Beg and Chaghri Beg remained in the East, Ibrahim ibn Inal (or Niyal) went to Hamadan
and Iraq Ajami. Ibrahim became too powerful for Tughril Beg’s liking, and his
relations with the Caliph and with the Fatimids in
Egypt boded no good to Tughril Beg. Tughril Beg overcame Ibrahim, but the latter was incapable
of living at peace with his kinsmen. The affairs of the Caliphate were
controlled by the Isfahsalar Basasiri,
who was appointed by the Buwaihid ruler Khusrau Firaz ar-Rahim.
The Caliph Qa’im was forced to countenance the
unorthodox Shiah, and when Tughril Beg came to Baghdad in 1055 his arrival was doubly welcome to the Caliph.
Before the approach of Tughril Beg, Basasiri fled. He managed to prevail on Ibrahim ibn Inal to rebel, and receiving
support from the Fatimids marched to Baghdad, which
he reoccupied in 1058. Tughril Beg overcame his foes
and freed the Caliphate; Ibrahim was strangled and Basasiri beheaded. The grateful Caliph showered rewards on Tughril Beg and finally gave him his daughter in marriage; but before the nuptials
could take place Tughril Beg died (1063). He had
received from the Caliph, besides substantial gifts, the privilege of having his
name inserted in the Khutbah, the title Yaminu Amiril-Muminin (Right hand
of the Commander of the Faithful), which was used by Mahmud of Ghaznah himself, and finally the titles Rukn-ad-Daulah and Rukn-ad-Din. These
decorations from the Caliph were of the greatest value. They added legitimacy
to his claim and stability to his throne. From being the chief of a tribe Tughril Beg became the founder of a dynasty.
Alp Arslan.
The Vizier Nizam-al-Mulk.
Tughril Beg, having left no children, was succeeded by Alp Arslan,
the son of his brother Chaghri Beg. For nearly two
years before the death of Tughril, Alp Arslan had held important posts, almost tantamount to
co-regency. He was born in 1029, and died at the early age of forty-three in
the height of his power. The greatness that he achieved, though in some degree
due to his personal qualities and the persistent good fortune that attended him
in his career, was in the main to be ascribed to his famous Vizier Nizam-al-Mulk. As soon as he was
seated on the throne, Alp Arslan dismissed the Vizier
of Tughril Beg, Abu-Nasr al-Kunduri,
the Amid-al-Mull, who was accused of peculation and other malpractices. The
Amid had exercised great influence in the previous reign; both the Sultan and
the Caliph held him in high esteem. He was extremely capable, and the sudden
change in his fortunes is difficult to explain. Alp Arslan was not given to caprice or cruelty, at all events in the beginning of his
reign, and whatever may be urged against the Sultan there is little likelihood
that Nizam-al-Mulk would
have acquiesced without reasonable grounds. According to Rawandi, Nizam-al-Mulk was the real
author of the overthrow of the Amid, having instigated Alp Arslan.
He states that Alp Arslan carried the Amid about with
him from place to place, and finally had him executed. Before his death he sent
defiant messages to the Sultan and to his successor in the Vizierate, Nizam-al-Mulk.
Nizam-al-Mulk was one of a triad of famous contemporaries who were
pupils of the great Imam Muwaffaq of Nishapur. His companions were Omar Khayyam, the poet and
astronomer, and Hasan ibn Sabbah, the founder of the sect of the Assassins, one of
whom ultimately slew Nizamal-Mulk. The Vizier was
noted for his learning and his statesmanship. A work on geomancy and science
has been attributed to him, but his most famous literary achievement was his
Treatise on Politics in which he embodied his wisdom in the form of counsels to
princes. Nizam-alMulk gathered round him a large
number of savants and distinguished men. Under his influence literature was
fostered and the sciences and arts encouraged. In 1066 he founded the
well-known Nizamiyah University at Baghdad. To this
foundation students came from all parts, and many great names of Islam are
associated with this college as students or teachers. Ibn al-Habbariyah the satirist (ob. 1110), whose biting
sarcasm neither decency could restrain nor gratitude overcome, was tolerated
here on account of his wit and genius by Nizam-al-Mulk, who even overlooked most generously a satire directed
against himself. Among the students were: the famous philosopher Ghazal
(1049-1111) and his brother Abal-Futuh (ob. 1126) the
mystic and ascetic, author of several important works; the great poet Sa‘di, author of the Gulistan and
of the Bustan (1184-1291); the two biographers of
Saladin, Imadad-Din (1125-1201), in whose honor a
special chair was created, and Baha-ad-Din
(1145-1234), who also held a professorial post at his old university; the
Spaniard Abdallah ibn Tamart (1092-1130), who proclaimed himself Mahdi and was responsible for the
foundation of the Almohad dynasty. Mention must also
be made of Abu-Ishaq ash Shirazi (1003-1083), author of a treatise on Shafiite law
called Muhadhdhab,
of a Kitab at-Tanbih, and
of other works. He was the first principal of the Nizamiyah,
an office which he at first refused to accept. Another noted lecturer was Yahya ibn Ali at-Tabrizi (1030-1109).
Such are a few of the names that rendered illustrious not only the Nizamiyah University at Baghdad but its founder also. At Nishapur Nizam-al-Mulk instituted another foundation similar to that at
Baghdad, and also called Nizamiyah, after the Vizier.
It will be easily understood that, with such a minister, the empire of the
Seljuqs was well governed. Not only in the conduct of foreign affairs and
military expeditions but in internal administration was his guiding hand
manifest.
Alp Arslan, on embracing Islam, adopted the
name of Muhammad, instead of Israil by which he had
formerly been known. Alp Arslan signifies in Turkish “courageous
lion”; the title Izz-ad-Din was conferred on him by
the Caliph Qaim. Alp Arslan ruled over vast territory. His dominions stretched from the Oxus to the Tigris.
Not content to rule over the lands acquired by his predecessors, he added to
his empire many conquests, the fruits of his military prowess and good fortune.
As overlord his commands were accepted without hesitation, for he united under
his sway all the possessions of the Seljuq princes and exacted strict obedience
from every vassal. The first of his military exploits was the campaign in
Persia. In 1064 he subdued an incipient but formidable rebellion in Khwarazm, and left his son Malik Shah to rule over the
province. Shortly after, he summoned all his provincial governors to a general
assembly, at which he caused his son Malik Shah to be adopted as his successor
and to receive an oath of allegiance from all present.
The next exploit of the Sultan was his victory over the Emperor Romanus
Diogenes (1071). The Byzantines had gradually been encroaching on the Muslim
frontiers. Alp Arslan marched westwards to meet the
enemy and fought with Romanus, who had a great numerical preponderance, at Manzikert. The Byzantines sustained a crushing defeat and
the Emperor was taken captive. Alp Arslan treated his
royal prisoner with kindness, though at first he ordered rings to be placed in
his ears as a token of servitude. After a short period Romanus was released on
promising to pay tribute and to give his daughter in marriage to the Sultan. To
this victory is due the establishment of the Seljuq dynasty of Rum; while, in
the loss of provinces which provided the best recruits for its armies, the
Byzantine Empire experienced a calamity from which it never recovered.
Finally, in 1072 Alp Arslan undertook a
campaign against the Turkomans in Turkestan, the
ancient seat of the Seljuqs, in order to establish his rule there. It was in
this campaign that he met his end. An angry dispute took place between the
Sultan and Yasuf Barzami,
the chieftain of a fortress captured by the Seljuqs. Stung by the taunts of the
Sultan, Yusuf threw himself forward and slew him in the presence of all the
guards and bystanders, whose intervention came too late to save Alp Arslan.
Malik Shah
Malik Shah succeeded his murdered father. He was known by the titles Jalal-ad-Din
and Muizz-ad-Dunya-wa’d-Din. He ascended the throne, which he occupied for
twenty years, when he was eighteen, being born in 1053 and dying in 1091. The
great Vizier Nizam-al-Mulk remained in power and for long maintained his influence. As soon as Alp Arslan died Malik Shah was recognized by the Caliph as his
successor, and invested with the title of Amir-al-Muminin (Commander of the Faithful), hitherto jealously preserved by the Caliphs for
themselves.
Malik Shah had left Khurasan on his way to
Iraq when he was met by the tidings that his uncle Qawurd had raised a revolt against him and was on his way from Kirman.
Malik Shah promptly set out to meet him, routed his army, and took Qawurd captive. As his own troops showed signs of
disaffection and preference for Qawurd, Malik Shah,
on the advice of his Vizier, had him put to death in prison, either by poison
or by strangling. The execution was announced to the populace as a suicide, and
the troops returned to their loyalty. Soon after this Malik Shah sent his
cousin Sulaiman ibn Qutalmish on an expedition into Syria, and Antioch was
captured. Subsequently (1078) the Sultan himself captured Samargand.
This expedition was marked by an incident which shows how greatly Nizam-al-Mulk was imbued with the
imperial idea. After Malik Shah had been ferried over the Oxus, the native
ferrymen received drafts on Antioch in payment of their services. When they
complained to the Sultan, who asked the Vizier why this had been done, the
latter explained that he had taken this course in order to afford an
object-lesson in the greatness and unity of the Sultan's realms. At this time
Malik Shah espoused Turkan Khatun,
daughter of Tamghaj Khan. She became, later on, an
implacable foe to the Vizier.
Thus Malik Shah extended his dominions to the north and west. He rode
his horse into the sea at Laodicea in Syria, and gave thanks to God for his
wide domain. It is related that, during one of his progresses in the north, he
was, while hunting, taken prisoner by the Byzantine Emperor, by whom however he
remained unrecognised. Malik Shah contrived to send
word to Nizam-al-Mulk, who
adroitly managed to rescue the Sultan without revealing his master's rank. Soon
afterwards the tide turned and the Byzantine Emperor was a captive in the
Muslim camp. When brought into the presence of Malik Shah he remembered his
late encounter and made a memorable reply, when the Sultan asked him how he
wished to be treated. “If you are the King of the Turks”, returned the Emperor,
“send me back; if you are a merchant, sell me; if you are a butcher, slay me”.
The Sultan generously set him at liberty. Peace was made and, lasted until the
death of the Byzantine Emperor, when, after hostilities, Malik Shah made Sulaiman ibn Qutalmish ruler over the newly conquered territory.
Malik Shah appointed a commission of eight astronomers, among whom was
Omar Khayyam, to regulate the calendar, and a new era was introduced and named Tarikh Jalali, or Era of Jalal,
after the title of Malik Shah. Similarly the astronomical tables drawn up by
Omar were called Ziji-Malikshahi in honor of the
Sultan. Malik Shah was noted for the excellent administration of justice that
prevailed in his reign, for his internal reforms, for his public works such as
canals and hostels and buildings, for the efficiency in which he maintained his
army, and for his piety and philanthropy. To his nobles he made liberal grants
of estates. He undertook the pilgrimage to Mecca, and his wells and
caravanserais for pilgrims are abiding memorials of his good works. He made
even his pleasures productive of charity, for whenever he engaged in the chase,
to which he was passionately addicted, he made it a rule to give a dinner to a
poor man for every head of game that fell to him.
Intrigues of the Turkan Khatun
Towards the end of his reign Nizam-al-Mulk began to decline in favor. This was due to the
intrigues of the Turkan Khatun,
who desired to secure the succession for her son Mahmud, while the Vizier favored
the eldest son Barkiyaruq, who was not only entitled
to be recognized as heir apparent on the ground of birth but, moreover, was far
better fitted to rule. The constant efforts of the Khatun,
coupled with the fact that Nizam-al-Mulk had placed all his twelve sons in high offices in the
State, for which indeed they were well qualified, had their effect on the
Sultan. He dismissed the aged Vizier who had served both him and his father
before him, and installed in his stead a creature of the Khatun, Tajal-Mulk Abul-Ghanaim.
Shortly afterwards Malik Shah went on a visit to the Caliph, and Nizam-al-Mulk followed his court
at a distance. At Nihawand, Nizam-al-Mulk was set upon and murdered by one of the Assassins,
instigated by Tajal-Mulk. The late Vizier lingered
long enough to send a message to the Sultan, urging his own loyalty in the past
and offering that of his son for the future. He was buried at Ispahan. He may probably be considered as the most
brilliant man of his age.
Shortly afterwards the Sultan himself died, at Baghdad. He was one of
the greatest of the Seljuqs, and the policy by which he placed his kinsmen over
conquered territories is in keeping with his private liberality. He was
succeeded, after a civil war, by his son Barkiyaruq.
Barkiyaruq: Civil wars
This Sultan received the name of Qasim at
circumcision, and the title of Rukn-ad-Daulah-wad-Din (Column of the State and the Faith) from the
Caliph Muqtadi. He was born in 1081, succeeded to the
throne at the age of thirteen in 1094, and died in 1106. During his reign he
experienced a series of vicissitudes of fortune, being sometimes at the height
of power and once at least in imminent danger of execution, when a captive in
his rival's hands. The unexpected death of his father at Baghdad and the
presence of his enemies at the Caliph's court were serious obstacles to his
accession. His chief partisan, Nizam-al-Mulk, had been murdered; his stepmother the Khatan was importuning the Caliph to alter the succession
in favor of her son Mahmud; the newly-appointed Vizier was a supporter of the Khatun; Barkiyaruq himself was
away in Ispahan, and the Caliph was wavering in his
decision. Finally, Muqtadi was won over by the Khatfin and declared Mahmud, then aged four, successor to
Malik Shah. At the same time Barkiyaruq proclaimed
himself at Ispahan. Within a week, the envoys of the Khathun arrived in order to seize Barkiyaruq,
who was, however, saved by the sons of Nizam-al-Mulk. The sons of the late Vizier were, like their father,
pledged to Barkiyaruq’s cause, and their own safety
was bound up with his. They escaped with the lad to Gumushtagin,
one of the Atabegs appointed by Malik Shah, who
offered generous protection and help. At Rai he was
crowned by the governor, Abu-Muslim, and 20,000 troops were enrolled to protect
him. Turkan Khatan had by
this time seized Ispahan and she, with Mahmud, was
besieged by Barkiyaruq. After some time peace was
made. The Khatan and her son were to be left in
possession of Ispahan on giving up half of the
treasure (one million dinars) left by Malik Shah. Barkiyaruq retired to Hamadan. Within a few months, however, war again broke out. Hamadan
was then ruled by Ismail, the maternal uncle of Barkiyaruq,
and the Khathun opened negotiations with him,
proposing to marry him if he would overcome her stepson. The governor agreed
and marched against Barkiyaruq, by whom, however, he
was defeated and slain. Nevertheless the Sultan had no respite from his
enemies, for another uncle, Tutush, the son of Alp Arslan, rose against him and pressed him hard (1094). Barkiyaruq had the Turkan Khatan executed, but eventually was forced to surrender to
his uncle and to Mahmud his step-brother. At this stage his life was in great
peril. Mahmud, who had received Barkiyaruq with every
appearance of friendship, soon had him imprisoned. His life hung by a thread.
Finally, Mahmud gave orders to put out his eyes, in order to render him
permanently incapable of ruling. This command would have been carried out but
for the sudden illness of Mahmud, who caught the smallpox. Thereupon the
sentence was suspended while the issue of the illness was in doubt. In point of
fact Mahmud died and Barkiyaruq was restored to the
throne, only to be attacked by the same malady. The Sultan, however, recovered
and at once proceeded to restore his authority. He made Muayyid-al-Mulk, a son of Nizam-al-Mulk, Vizier, and led an army against his uncle Tutush, who was beaten and slain (1095). Barkiyaruq was attacked by one of the Assassins, but the
wound was not fatal, and the Sultan led an expedition to Khurasan,
where his uncle Arslan Arghun was in revolt. The latter was murdered by a slave, and the Sultan, victorious
over the enemy, placed his brother Sanjar in authority over Khurasan.
Muhammad
The next struggle that awaited Barkiyaruq arose from the intrigues of Muayyid-al-Mulk. The latter, who had been replaced in office by his
brother Fakhr-al-Mulk,
prevailed on one of the late Turkan Khatan’s most powerful supporters, the Isfahsalar Unru Bulka, to rebel. The
plot came to nothing as Unru Bulka met his death at the hands of an Assassin emissary. Muayyid-al-Mulk fled to Barkiyaruq’s brother
Muhammad, and renewed his intrigues there. Finally, in 1098 war broke out
between the two brothers. Barkiyaruq was weakened by
a serious outbreak among his troops and had to flee to Rai with a small retinue, while Muhammad and Muayyid-al-Mulk reached Hamadan, where Muhammad was acknowledged as
king. Barkiyaruq was driven into exile, but at length
succeeded in raising a force and captured Muhammad and Muayyid-al-Mulk. The latter actually proposed that Barkiyaruq should accept a fine and reinstate him in his office, and at first the Sultan
consented; but, when he heard that this leniency was the subject of ridicule
among his domestics, he slew the traitor with his own hand. Peace was made with
Muhammad and the empire divided. Muhammad received Syria, Babylonia, Media,
Armenia, and Georgia, while Barkiyaruq retained the
remaining territories.
In 1104 Barkiyaruq was travelling to Baghdad
in order to confer with Ayaz, whom Malik Shah had
previously appointed governor of Khuzistan. Ayaz had helped Barkiyaruq during
his misfortunes and he was now supreme at Baghdad, the Caliph having lost all power.
On the way Barkiyaruq was taken ill and died. He
declared his son Malik Shah as his successor and left him under the
guardianship of Ayaz and Sadagah.
As soon as the death of Barkiyaruq became known,
Muhammad, who now became the chief among the Seljuq princes, seized Malik Shah
and deprived him of his dominions.
Muhammad, son of Malik Shah, was born in 1082 and died in 1119. His
undisputed reign really began with the death of Barkiyaruq in 1104 and with the seizure of his nephew Malik Shah at Baghdad. Ayaz and Sadaqah, the adherents
of Barkiyaruq and his successor, met their death and
their armies surrendered to the new Sultan. Muhammad received the support of
the Caliph Mustazhir, who granted him the titles of Ghiyathad-Dunya-wad-Din and Amir-al-Muminin.
The Sultan was noted for his orthodoxy. He reduced the castle of Dizkah near Ispahan. The Malabidah (Assassins) had seized this fortress, which had
been built in order to overawe Ispahan, and having
established themselves in safety began to make extensive propaganda for their
heretical doctrines, gaining many adherents to their cause. The outrages of the
Assassins were fearful; Sacd-al-Mulk,
the minister, was among the disaffected, and so deeply had their intrigues
permeated the government that it took Muhammad seven years to reduce the sect.
During this period he was in great danger of death, as the Vizier conspired
with the Sultan’s surgeon and prevailed on him to use a poisoned lancet. The
plot was discovered and the guilty persons punished. It is said that Muhammad
sent an expedition into India to destroy idols. His religious zeal was great.
He is also accused of having been unduly economical, even to the point of
avarice, but on the whole he was a prudent and beneficent prince. Before his
death he designated his son Mahmud as his successor, but the power passed to
his brother Sanjar.
Sanjar, the last Great Sefjuq
Sanjar was the last Sultan of a united Seljuq Empire; after his death
the various provincial kings and rulers ceased to acknowledge a central
authority. His reign was marked by brilliant conquests and ignominious defeats.
Although he extended the boundaries of his dominions, his administration was
ill-adapted to conserve their solidarity. Yet the break up of the imperial power must not be entirely attributed to him; for this result
other causes also are responsible.
Sanjar’s other titles were Muizz-ad-Dunya-wad-Din
and Amir-alMuminin. He was born in 1086 (according
to Bundari in 1079) and he died in 1156. For twenty
years previous to his accession he had been king in Khurasan,
to which office he had been appointed by Barkiyaruq,
and he ruled the whole of the Seljuq Empire for forty years. He was the last of
the sons of Malik Shah, son of Alp Arslan. His
conquests were numerous. He waged a successful war with his nephew Mahmud, the
son of the late Sultan, in Iraq Ajami, and wrested
the succession from him. Mahmud was overcome and offered submission. Sanjar
received him with kindness and invested him with the government of the province,
on the condition that Mahmud should recognize his suzerainty. The visible signs
of submission were the insertion of Sanjar’s name in
the Khutbah before that of Mahmud, the maintenance of Sanjar’s officials in the posts to which they had
been appointed, and the abolition of the trumpets that heralded the entry and
departure of Mahmud from his palace. Mahmud accepted the terms eagerly and
thenceforward devoted his life to the chase, of which he was passionately fond.
In 1130 Ahmad Khan, the governor of Samarqand, refused tribute. Sanjar
crossed the Oxus, invaded Mawara-an-Nahr (Transoxiana), and besieged Samarqand. Ahmad submitted
and was removed from his post. Sanjar also made himself supreme in Grhaznah, where he seated Bahram Shah on the throne, as a tributary, in Sistan, and in Khwarazm. His nominal empire was much wider. It is
said that “his name was recited in the Khutbah in the
Mosque from Kashgar to Yaman,
Mecca and Taif, and from Mukrán and Ummán to Adharbayjan and the frontiers of Rum and continued to be so recited until a year after his
death: yet he was simple and unostentatious in his dress and habits....He was,
moreover, virtuous and pious, and in his day Khurasim was the goal of the learned and the focus of culture and science”.
The most eventful wars that occupied Sanjar were those against the Khata (heathen from Cathay) and the Ghuzz.
In 1140 Sanjar set out from Merv to Samarqand, and
was met by the news that the Khata had invaded
Transoxiana and defeated his army. Sanjar himself was routed and his forces
nearly annihilated. The Sultan fled to Balkh and rallied his troops at Tirmidh, a strong fortress. Meanwhile Taj-ad-Din,
King of Nimruz, after a protracted resistance had
been overcome and captured by the Khata. Sanjar was
beset with other troubles also, chiefly due to the rising of Atsiz, the third
of the Khwarazm Shahs. His grandfather Anushtigin, from Ghaznah, had
been a Turkish slave, and finally was advanced by Sultan Malik Shah to be
governor of Khwarazm. Anashtigin was succeeded in 1097 by his son Qutb-ad-Din
Muhammad, who was known by the title of the Khwarazm Shah and who was followed in 1127 by his son Atsiz. This Shah greatly extended
his dominions, partly at the expense of Sanjar. The dynasty came to an end
about a century later when Shah Muhammad and his son Jalal-ad-Din were
overthrown by the Mongols. At the time of Sanjar, Atsiz was sparing no effort
to obtain independence. He stood high in Sanjar’s favor on account of the services that he and his father had rendered. When
Sanjar made his expedition against Ahmad Khan, Atsiz rescued him from a band of
conspirators who had seized his person while hunting. As a reward Sanjar
attached Atsiz to his person and loaded him with honors and marks of
distinction, till he roused the jealousy of the court. So strong did the
opposition of his enemies become that Atsiz had to ask leave to retire to his
governorship at Khwarazm, professing that disorders
there required his presence. Sanjar allowed him to depart most unwillingly, for
he feared that Atsiz would fall a victim to the hatred of his enemies. But the
subsequent conduct of Atsiz was quite unexpected. Instead of quelling the
disorders, he joined the malcontents and rebelled against Sanjar. In 1138 the
Sultan took the field against Atsiz and his son Ilkilig,
who were routed, the latter being slain. Sanjar restored order and, having
appointed Suleiman his nephew to govern the province, returned to Merv. Atsiz was roused to fresh endeavors in spite of the
defeat which he had sustained. Rallying his army and collecting fresh forces,
he attacked Sulaiman and forced him to abandon his
post and flee to Sanjar, leaving Khwarazm open to the
mercy of Atsiz. Finally, in 1142 Sanjar led a second expedition against this
rebellious vassal and besieged him. Atsiz, reduced to despair, sent envoys to
Sanjar with presents and promises of fidelity if spared. The Sultan, who was of
a benevolent disposition, and, in addition, was sensible of the debt of
gratitude which he owed Atsiz, again accepted his submission and left him in
possession of his office. But again was his generosity ill requited. On all
sides reports reached Sanjar that Atsiz was fomenting disloyalty and preparing
trouble. In order to find out the truth he sent a notable poet, Adib Sabir of Tirmidh,
to make enquiries in Khwarazm. He found that Atsiz
was despatching a band of assassins to kill Sanjar.
He succeeded in sending warning, for which act he paid with his life, and the
plot was detected at Merv; the traitors were
executed. So, in the end, Sanjar had to march against Atsiz for the third time
(1147), and again exercised his forbearance and generosity when Atsiz was
nearly in his power. Hereafter Atsiz remained loyal, though practically
independent. He extended his empire as far as Jand on
the Jaxartes, and died in 1156.
In 1149 Sanjar recovered the credit which his defeat by the Khata had lost him. He gained a great victory over Husain ibn Hasan Jahainsaz,
Sultan of Ghar, who had invaded Khurasan.
Husain was joined by Falakad-Din All Chatri, Sanjar’s chamberlain;
both were taken captive and the latter executed. Ultimately, Husain was sent
back to his post by Sanjar as a vassal.
In 1153 came the invasion of the Ghuzz Turkomans. An interesting account, to which allusion has
been made above, is that of Benjamin of Tudela,
almost a contemporary visitor to the East. These tribes were goaded into
rebellion by the exactions of one of Sanjar’s officers. When the Sultan marched against them, they were seized with fear and
offered to submit. Unfortunately Sanjar was persuaded to refuse terms and give
battle, in which he was utterly defeated and captured. The Ghuzz came to Merv, plundered it, and killed many of the
inhabitants. Then they marched to Nishdpar, where
they massacred a large number of persons in the mosque. The chief mosque was
burned and the learned men put to death. All over Khurasan the Ghuzz ranged, killing and burning wherever they
went. Herat alone was able to repulse their attack. Famine and plague followed
them to add to the misery of the land. For two years Sanjar was a prisoner, and
was then rescued by some friends. He reached the Oxus, where boats had been
prepared, and returned to Merv, but he died soon
after reaching his capital, of horror and grief (1156).
The Atabegs and local Sejuq dynasties
Sanjar was the last of the Seljuqs to enjoy supreme imperial power. For
a considerable time previously the various provincial governors had acquired
practical independence, and if, after the time of Sanjar, the reins of central
authority were loosened, this change was effected by no violent rupture. It was
the outcome, first of the steady rise on the part of the vassals and viceroys
to autonomy, and, secondly, the necessary consequence of the Atabeg system. A certain ambiguity in the method of
succession frequently caused strife between uncle and nephew for the right of
inheritance. Often, as for example in the case of Nizam-al-Mulk, the office of Vizier was practically hereditary.
Hence the Vizier developed into the position of tutor or guardian to the royal
heir, thereby acquiring much influence and consolidating his position for the
next reign. The name Atabeg or Atabey ("Father Bey") denotes this office. In many
cases the Atabeg forcibly secured the succession and
displaced the prince. The reason for their employment and power—which is
comparable to that of the Egyptian Mamluks—was the desire of the kings to
possess, as their ministers, such officials as could be trusted implicitly, for
reasons not only of loyalty, a quality not invariably present, but also of
self-interest. So slaves and subordinates were raised to high positions, in
lieu of the nobility. The Seljuq public life was a carrière ouverte aux talents. A Vizier chosen
from the grandees might have so much influence through descent, wealth, or
family as to make his allegiance to the king a matter of choice. In the case of
a slave or subordinate, loyalty was a matter of necessity, for such an official
could not possibly stand on his own merits. If, on the other hand, the
subordinate supplanted his master, as was often the case, this was due to the
lack of discrimination displayed by the latter in the choice of his
instruments. Frequently also an official who had been kept in check by a strong
Sultan succeeded, if the Sultan's successor were weak, in becoming more
powerful than his master and ultimately in displacing him. The Atabeg system was only possible when the head of the State
was a strong man. By the end of Sanjar’s reign the
weakness of this policy became manifest. From this time onward the history of
the Seljuqs becomes that of the groups into which the empire was now split:
four of these groups need attention.
(I) In Kirman a line of twelve rulers (including contemporary rivals) held sway from 1041 to
1187. This province, which lies on the eastern side of the Persian Gulf, was
one of the first occupied by the Seluqs. Imadad Din Qawurd who was the
son of Chaghri Beg and thus great-grandson to Seljuq,
was the first ruler, and from him the dynasty descended. Qawurd carried on war with Malik Shah, at whose hands he met his death (1073). For a
century the province was tolerably peaceful until the death of Tughril Shah in 1167, when his three sons, Bahram, Arslan, and Turan brought havoc to the land by their disputes and
warfare. Muhammad II was the last of his line; the invading hosts of Ghuzz Turkomans and the Khwarazm Shahs displaced the Seljuq rulers in Kirman.
(II) The Seljuqs of Syria are
chiefly important for their relations with the Crusaders, on which subject more
will be said later. The period of their independence was from 1094 to 1117. Tutush, the first of this branch, was the son of Alp Arslan, the second Great Seljuq. He died in 1094 at Rai, being defeated by his nephew Barkiyaruq.
His two sons Ridwan and Duqaq ruled at Aleppo and Damascus respectively. They were succeeded by Ridwan’s sons Alp Arslan Akhras (1113) and Sultan Shah (1114). After this the
dynasty was broken up and the rule passed into the hands of the Burids and the Urtuqids. The former
dynasty were Atabegs of Damascus and were descended
from Tughtigin, a slave of Tutush,
who rose to power and was appointed Atabeg of Duqaq. From Buri, the eldest son
and successor of Tughtigin, the line takes its name.
Eventually the Bilrids were supplanted by the Zangids. Of the Urtuqids more
will be said hereafter.
(III) The Seljuqs of Iraq and
Kurdistan consisted of a dynasty of nine rulers, and were descended from
Muhammad ibn Malik Shah. Four of Muhammad's five
sons, four of his grandsons, and one great-grandson, formed this line of
rulers, beginning with Mahmud in 1117, and ending with Tughril II in 1194, after which the Khwarazm Shahs became
supreme.
(IV) The Seljuqs of Rum or Asia
Minor are perhaps the most important to the Western historian, on account of
their relations with the Crusaders and the Eastern Emperors, and their
influence on the Ottoman Empire. The first of these rulers was Suleiman ibn Qutalmish, a son of Arslan ibn Seljuq. This branch of
the Seljuq family is thus distinct from the Great Seljuqs, the Seljuqs of Iraq,
Syria, and Kirman. From the time of Suleiman I (1077)
until the period of the Ottoman Turks (1300) seventeen monarchs ruled, subject
at certain periods to the dominion of the Mongols. The second of this line, Qilij Arslan ibn Suleiman (1092-- 1106), made Nicaea his capital, and defeated the earliest
crusaders under Walter the Penniless (1096). In the next year he was twice
defeated by Godfrey of Bouillon, and Nicaea was captured. Iconium then became
the Seljuq capital. In 1107 he marched to the help of Mosul, which was besieged
by a rebel; after raising the siege he met with an accident while crossing the Khabur and was drowned. But the dynasty was consolidated by
his successors and played an important part in the Crusades, for, in addition
to the bravery of their forces, the Seljuqs possessed sufficient political
skill to take advantage of the mutual animosity existing between the Greeks and
the Crusaders and to utilize it for their own purposes. They also succeeded in
supplanting the Danishmand, a minor Seljuq dynasty of
obscure origin. It is said that the founder, Mahomet ibn Gumishtigin, was a schoolmaster, as the title Danishmand denotes, but everything connected with this
line, which ruled from about 1105-1165, is doubtful. Their territory lay in
Cappadocia and included the cities of Siwas (Sebastea), Qaisariyah (Caesarea),
and Malatiyah (Melitene). Mahomet defeated and
captured Bohemond in 1099, as the latter was marching to help Gabriel of
Melitene against him. When Bohemond ransomed himself and became tributary to
Mahomet, the two rulers formed an alliance against Qilij Arslan and Alexius, the Emperor of Constantinople,
one of the instances which show that political considerations were more
important than religious differences, not only among the Crusaders but also
among the Muslims.
Coming of the Crusaders
Besides the Seljuqs proper, mention must be made of their officers, the Atabegs, whose functions have been described. The power
wielded by these vassals was very great, and in the course of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries many established themselves in virtual independence. The
most powerful of these were the Zangids or
descendants of Zangi, and the Khwarazm Shahs. They deserve attention for their relations with the Crusaders, but
details of their history, apart from this connection, cannot be given here.
It now remains to deal with the relations between the Seljuqs and the
Crusaders. In no small degree the origin of the Holy Wars was due to the
expansion of the Seljuq Empire, for as long as the Arabs held Jerusalem the
Christian pilgrims from Europe could pass unmolested. The Christians were, to
all intents, left undisturbed and the pilgrimages continued as before. The
outbreak of persecution (1010) under the insane Egyptian Caliph, Hakim, was
temporary and transitory, and but for the coming of the Seljuqs popular
indignation in Europe would have slumbered and the Crusades might never have
taken place.
The first of the Syrian Seljuqs, Tutush the
son of Alp Arslam, who ruled at Damascus, captured
Jerusalem and appointed as its governor Urtuq ibn Aksab, who had been one of
his subordinate officers. Urtuq was the founder of
the Urtuqid dynasty. His sons Sukman and Il-Ghazi succeeded him. The Seluq power, which
had been growing rapidly until the Caliph was completely in their hands, was
somewhat weakened. After the death of Malik Shah the Great Seljuq in 1092, in
the dissension which ensued, Afdal, the Vizier of the
Egyptian Fatimid Caliph, was enabled to capture Jerusalem from Sukman (1096), who retired to Edessa while his brother
returned to Iraq. During the Seljuq domination, the Christians, both native and
foreign, had suffered greatly, and the reports of their ill-treatment and of
the difficulties placed in the way of pilgrimages, kindled the zeal which so
largely stimulated the Crusades. When however the first band of Christian
warriors reached Asia Minor after leaving Constantinople, they were completely
routed by Qilij Arslan on
the road to Nicaea (1096). It has already been described how the Seljuqs pushed
forward, step by step, until their expansion brought them into conflict with
the Byzantine Empire. It was only the enmity between East and West and the
scandalous behavior of the Crusaders that hindered a combined attack on the
Seljuqs. Although the Seljuqs and the Emperor were mutually hostile, and for
the best of reasons, there was less ill-feeling between them than between the
Christian hosts, which, nominally allies, in reality regarded each other with
scarcely concealed suspicion. When Godfrey of Bouillon reached Constantinople
in 1096, he found a cold welcome at the court; no sooner had he crossed the
Bosphorus than the feuds developed into open antagonism. When Nicaea was
invested (1097) and it was found that no hope remained for the city, the
garrison succeeded in surrendering to Alexius rather than to the Crusaders, and
thus avoided a massacre. Qilij Arslan retired to rouse the Seljuq princes to their danger.
At the capture of Antioch, interest is centered on Qawwam-ad-Daulah Karbucia or Kerbogha, Prince of Mosul, who, in 1096, had wrested Mosul
from the Uqailids and founded a Seljuq principate there. He and Qilij Arslan were the most noteworthy of the earlier opponents of
the Crusaders. The line of Urtuq ibn Aksab produced many heroes beginning with his sons Sukman and Il-Ghazi; the former, who founded the Kaifa branch of the Urtuqids (1101-1231), was famous for his wars with Baldwin and Joscelin.
This branch became subject to Saladin and was ultimately merged in the Ayyubid Empire. Il-Ghazi was made governor of Baghdad by
the Great Seljuq Muhammad in 1101, and captured Aleppo in 1117. His descendants
were the Urtuqids of Maridin (1108-1312).
Several of the officers of the Great Seljuq Malik Shah rose to fame
during the Crusades. Of these the most important were Tutush and Imad-ad Din Zangi. The
latter was made governor of Iraq, and after conquering his Muslim neighbor’s
became a dreaded foe to the Christians. He found the Muslims dispirited and
completely prostrate. At his death he had changed their despair to triumph. He
took Aleppo in 1128, Hamah in 1129, and then began his wars against the Franks.
In 1130 he took the important fortress of Atharib,
and in 1144 achieved his greatest glory by capturing Edessa. He followed this
up by taking many important towns in Northern Mesopotamia, but in 1146 he was
murdered. He had turned the tide of victory against the Franks, and his capture
of Edessa called forth the Second Crusade. His son Nur-adDin succeeded to his Syrian dominions and was also prominent in the battles against
the Crusaders. Among his officers was Ayyub (Job),
whose son Salah-ad-Din (Saladin) became the great protagonist of the Crescent
against the Cross.
The Seljuq power began and ended gradually. Seven Great Seljuqs are usually reckoned as constituting the dynasty, ruling over a united empire in Persia, Transoxiana, Mesopotamia, and Syria; after Sanjar disintegration set in, but although the empire was split into small parts the separate kingdoms preserved in many cases their power and authority. The empire of the Khwarazm Shahs encroached on the east and gradually absorbed the Seljuq territory. The center was divided among the Atabegs, whose various destinies cannot be treated here, and in the west the Seljuqs of Rum remained in power until the rise of the Ottomans.
CHAPTER XI
THE EARLIER COMNENI.
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