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| {{dablink|This article is about political entity known as '''Great Seljuq Empire'''. For the ruling '''dynasty''' of the empire, see ''']'''.}} | |||
| {{Infobox Former Country | {{Infobox Former Country | ||
| |conventional_long_name = |
|conventional_long_name =<br>غزنویان<br>''Ghaznavian''<br> Ghaznavid Empire <br> Gazneliler | ||
| |common_name |
|common_name = Ghaznavids | ||
| |continent |
|continent = Asia | ||
| |region |
|region = | ||
| | |
|country = Iran | ||
| |era = Medieval | |||
| |year_start = 1037 | |||
| | |
|status = | ||
| |status_text = | |||
| |event_start = ] formed the state system | |||
| |empire = | |||
| |event_end = Replaced by the ]<ref>Grousset, Rene, ''The Empire of the Steppes'', (New Brunswick:Rutgers University Press, 1988),159,161.</ref> | |||
| |government_type = Empire | |||
| |image_map = Seljuk Empire locator map.svg | |||
| |year_start = 963 | |||
| |image_map_caption = Great Seljuq Empire in its zenith in 1092, upon the death of ] | |||
| |year_end = 1187 | |||
| |capital = ] </br> ] | |||
| |event_start = | |||
| |title_leader = ] | |||
| | |
|date_start = | ||
| |event_end = | |||
| |year_leader1 = 1037 - 1063 | |||
| | |
|date_end = | ||
| |p1 = Buyid Empire | |||
| |year_leader2 = 1118 - 1153 | |||
| |flag_p1 = | |||
| |p1= Kara-Khanid_Khanate | |||
| |s1= |
|s1 = Seljuk Empire | ||
| |flag_s1 = Seljuk Empire locator map.svg | |||
| |flag_s1= Khwarezmian Empire 1190 - 1220 (AD).PNG | |||
| |s2 = Delhi Sultanate | |||
| |s2=Sultanate of Rûm | |||
| |flag_s2 = | |||
| |s3=Atabegs of Azerbaijan | |||
| |image_flag = | |||
| |s4=Burid dynasty | |||
| |flag = | |||
| |s5=Zengid dynasty | |||
| |flag_type = | |||
| |s6=Danishmends | |||
| |image_coat = | |||
| |s7=Artuqid dynasty | |||
| |image_map = Ghaznavid Empire 975 - 1187 (AD).PNG | |||
| |s8=Saltuklu | |||
| |image_map_caption = Ghaznavid Empire at its greatest extent | |||
| |capital = ] (until 1151)<br>] (from 1151) | |||
| |common_languages = | |||
| |religion = ] | |||
| |commmon language = ] | |||
| |currency = | |||
| |leader1 = ] | |||
| |leader2 = ] | |||
| |year_leader1 = 963-977 | |||
| |year_leader2 = 1160-1187 | |||
| |title_leader = ] | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| The '''Great Seljuq Empire''' ({{lang-tr| Büyük Selçuklu Devleti}}) was a ]<ref name="Shahrbanu">M.A. Amir-Moezzi, ''"Shahrbanu"'', ], 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 ..."''</ref><ref>Josef W. Meri, "Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia", Routledge, 2005, p. 399</ref><ref>Michael Mandelbaum, "Central Asia and the World", Council on Foreign Relations (May 1994), p. 79</ref><ref>Jonathan Dewald, "Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World", Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004, p. 24: ''"Turcoman armies coming from the East had driven the Byzantines out of much of Asia Minor and established the Persianized sultanate of the Seljuks."''</ref> ] ] ] empire of ] origin<ref>Possessors and possessed: museums, archaeology, and the visualization of history in the late Ottoman Empire; By Wendy M. K. Shaw; Published by University of California Press, 2003, ISBN 0520233352, 9780520233355; p. 5.</ref> established by the ''Qynyq'' branch of ]<ref> | |||
| *Jackson, P. (2002). Review: The History of the Seljuq Turks: The History of the Seljuq Turks.Journal of Islamic Studies 2002 13(1):75-76; doi:10.1093/jis/13.1.75.Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. | |||
| *Bosworth, C. E. (2001). Notes on Some Turkish Names in Abu 'l-Fadl Bayhaqi's Tarikh-i Mas'udi. Oriens, Vol. 36, 2001 (2001), pp. 299-313. | |||
| *Dani, A. H., Masson, V. M. (Eds), Asimova, M. S. (Eds), Litvinsky, B. A. (Eds), Boaworth, C. E. (Eds). (1999). History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (Pvt. Ltd). | |||
| * Hancock, I. (2006). ON ROMANI ORIGINS AND IDENTITY. The Romani Archives and Documentation Center. The University of Texas at Austin. | |||
| * Asimov, M. S., Bosworth, C. E. (eds.). (1998). History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century, Part One: The Historical, Social and Economic Setting. Multiple History Series. Paris: UNESCO Publishing. | |||
| * Dani, A. H., Masson, V. M. (Eds), Asimova, M. S. (Eds), Litvinsky, B. A. (Eds), Boaworth, C. E. (Eds). (1999). History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (Pvt. Ltd).</ref> that once controlled a vast area stretching from the ] to eastern ] and from ] to the ]. From their homelands near the ], the Seljuqs advanced first into ] and then into ] before eventually conquering eastern Anatolia. | |||
| The '''Ghaznavids''' ({{lang-fa|غزنویان}},{{lang-tr|Gazneliler}}) were a ] '']''<ref></ref> origin which existed from 975 to 1187 and ruled much of ], ], and the northern parts of the ].<ref name="EIr">C.E. Bosworth: The Ghaznavids. Edinburgh, 1963</ref><ref>], ''"Ghaznavids"'', in ], Online Edition 2006, ()</ref><ref name="EI">], ''"Ghaznavids"'', in ], Online Edition; Brill, Leiden; 2006/2007</ref> The Ghaznavid state was centered in ], a city in present ]. Due to the political and cultural influence of their predecessors - that of the ] ] - the originally Turkic Ghaznavids became thoroughly ].<ref name="EIr" /><ref name="EI"/><ref name="Shahrbanu">M.A. Amir-Moezzi, ''"Shahrbanu"'', ], 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 ..."''</ref><ref name="E.Yar."></ref><ref>B. Spuler, "The Disintegration of the Caliphate in the East", in the Cambridge History of Islam, Vol. IA: ''The Central islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War, ed. by P.M. Holt, Ann K.S. Lambton, and Bernard Lewis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970). pg 147: ''One of the effects of the renaissance of the Persian spirit evoked by this work was that the Ghaznavids were also Persianized and thereby became a Persian dynasty.</ref><ref>Anatoly M Khazanov, André Wink, "Nomads in the Sedentary World", Routledge, 2padhte padhte to pagla jayega aadmi, "A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia", Blackwell Publishing, 1998. pg 370: "Though Turkic in origin and, apparently in speech, Alp Tegin, Sebuk Tegin and Mahmud were all thoroughly Persianized"</ref><ref>Robert L. Canfield, Turko-Persia in historical perspective, Cambridge University Press, 1991. pg 8: "The Ghaznavids (989-1149) were essentially Persianized Turks who in manner of the pre-Islamic Persians encouraged the development of high culture"</ref> | |||
| The Seljuq empire was founded by ] in 1037 after the efforts by the founder of the ], ], back in the first quarter of the eleventh century. Seljuq Beg's father was in a higher position in the ], and gave his name both to the state and the dynasty. The Seljuqs united the fractured political scene of the Eastern ] world and played a key role in the ] and ] crusades. ]<ref name="Shahrbanu">M.A. Amir-Moezzi, ''"Shahrbanu"'', ], 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 ..."''</ref><ref>Josef W. Meri, "Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia", Routledge, 2005, p. 399</ref><ref>Michael Mandelbaum, "Central Asia and the World", Council on Foreign Relations (May 1994), p. 79</ref><ref>Jonathan Dewald, "Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World", Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004, p. 24: ''"Turcoman armies coming from the East had driven the Byzantines out of much of Asia Minor and established the Persianized sultanate of the Seljuks."''</ref> in culture<ref>C.E. Bosworth, "Turkish Expansion towards the west" in UNESCO HISTORY OF HUMANITY, Volume IV, titled "From the Seventh to the Sixteenth Century", UNESCO Publishing / Routledge, p. 391: ''"While the Arabic language retained its primacy in such spheres as law, theology and science, the culture of the Seljuk court and secular literature within the sultanate became largely Persianized; this is seen in the early adoption of Persian epic names by the Seljuk rulers (Qubād, Kay Khusraw and so on) and in the use of Persian as a literary language (Turkish must have been essentially a vehicle for everyday speech at this time). 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."''</ref><ref>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."''</ref><ref>Stephen P. Blake, "Shahjahanabad: The Sovereign City in Mughal India, 1639-1739". Cambridge University Press, 1991. pg 123: "For the Seljuks and Il-Khanids in Iran it was the rulers rather than the conquered who were "Pesianized and Islamicized"</ref> and language<ref name="iranica">O.Özgündenli, ''"Persian Manuscripts in Ottoman and Modern Turkish Libraries"'', ], Online Edition, ()</ref><ref name="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 ..."''</ref><ref name="Ravandi">M. Ravandi, ''"The Seljuq court at Konya and the Persianisation of Anatolian Cities"'', in Mesogeios (Mediterranean Studies), vol. 25-6 (2005), pp. 157-69</ref><ref>M.A. Amir-Moezzi, ''"Shahrbanu"'', ], 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 ..."''</ref><ref>F. Daftary, ''Sectarian and National Movements in Iran, Khorasan, and Trasoxania during Umayyad and Early Abbasid Times'', in ''History of Civilizations of Central Asia'', Vol 4, pt. 1; edited by M.S. Asimov and ]; ], ]: ''"... 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) ..."''</ref>, the Seljuqs also played an important role in the development of the ]<ref>The ] "features Persian culture patronized by Turkic rulers". See Daniel Pipes: "The Event of Our Era: Former Soviet Muslim Republics Change the Middle East" in Michael Mandelbaum,"Central Asia and the World: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkemenistan and the World", Council on Foreign Relations, pg 79. Exact statement: "In Short, the Turko-Persian tradition featured Persian culture patronized by Turcophone rulers."</ref>. | |||
| The dynasty was founded by ] upon his succession to rule of territories centered around the city of ] from his father-in-law, ], a break-away ex-general of the Samanid sultans.<ref name="EB">Encyclopedia Britannica, ''Ghaznavid Dynasty'', Online Edition 2007 ()</ref> Sebuktigin's son, ], expanded the empire in the region that stretched from the ] to the ] and the ]; and in the west it reached ] and ]. Under the reign of ] it experienced major territorial losses. It lost its western territories to the ] in the ] resulting in a restriction of its holdings to ], ] and the ]. In 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to Ala'uddin Hussain of ] and the capital was moved to ] until its subsequent capture by the ] in 1186. | |||
| ==Founder of the Dynasty== | |||
| {{main|Seljuk}} | |||
| ==Rise to power== | |||
| The ] ancestor of the Seljuqs was their ], ], who was reputed to have served in the ] army, under whom, circa 950 they migrated to ], near the city of Jend also called ], where they converted to ].<ref>Wink, Andre, ''Al Hind the Making of the Indo Islamic World,'' Brill Academic Publishers, Jan 1, 1996, ISBN 90-04-09249-8 pg.9</ref> | |||
| Two military families arose from the ] Slave-Guards of the ] — the Simjurids and Ghaznavids — who ultimately proved disastrous to the Samanids. The ] received an appanage in the ] region of eastern ]. ] founded the Ghaznavid fortunes when he established himself at Ghazna (modern ], ]) in 962. He and ], as ] generals, competed with each other for the governorship of ] and control of the Samanid empire by placing on the throne ]s they could dominate when ] died in 961. But when the ] Emir ] died in 961 CE it created a succession crisis between Abdul Malik's brothers. A court party instigated by men of the scribal class—civilian ministers as contrasted with Turkic generals—rejected Alp Tigin's candidate for the Samanid throne. ] was installed, and Alp Tigin prudently retired to his fief of Ghazna. The Simjurids enjoyed control of Khorasan south of the ] but were hard-pressed by a third great Iranian dynasty, the ]s, and were unable to survive the collapse of the Samanids and the rise of the Ghaznavids. | |||
| ==Great Seljuk== | |||
| {{History of Iran}} | |||
| {{main|Seljuq dynasty|Persianate|Turko-Persian Tradition}} | |||
| The Seljuqs were allied with the ] ] against the ]. The ] however fell to the ] and the emergence of the ] and were involved in the power struggle in the region before establishing their own independent base. | |||
| The struggles of the Turkic slave generals for mastery of the throne with the help of shifting allegiance from the court's ministerial leaders both demonstrated and accelerated the Samanid decline. Samanid weakness attracted into ] the ] ], who had recently converted to Islam. They occupied Bukhara in 992 to establish in Transoxania the ], or Ilek Khanid, dynasty. Alp Tigin had been succeeded at Ghazna by Sebüktigin (died 997). ]'s son ] made an agreement with the Qarakhanids whereby the Oxus was recognized as their mutual boundary. | |||
| ====Tugrul and Chagri Beg==== | |||
| {{main|Toğrül}} | |||
| ] Beg was the grandson of Seljuk and Çagrı (Chagri) was his brother, under whom the Seljuks wrested an empire from the ]s. Initially the Seljuks were repulsed by ] and retired to ] but Togrül and Çagrı led them to capture ] and ] (1028-1029). Later they repeatedly raided and traded territory with his successors across ] and ] and even sacked ] in 1037. In 1039 at the ], they decisively defeated ] resulting in him abandoning most of his western territories to the Seljuks. In 1055, Togrül captured ] from the ] ] under a commission from the ]s. | |||
| == |
==Domination== | ||
| ] made himself lord of nearly all the present territory of ] and of the ] by conquest of ] and ] lands. In 997, ], the son of Sebük Tigin, succeeded his father upon his death, and with him Ghazni and the Ghaznavid dynasty have become perpetually associated. He completed the conquest of ], ] lands, the ] Kingdom of ], ] as well as some Buwayhid territory. Under him all accounts was the golden age and the height of the Ghaznevid Empire. Mahmud carried out seventeen expeditions through northern ] establishing his control and setting up tributary states. His raids also resulted in the looting of a great deal of plunder. From the borders of ] to ], from the ] to the ], he established his authority. | |||
| {{main|Alp Arslan}} | |||
| Alp Arslan was the son of Chagri Beg and expanded significantly upon Togrül's holdings by adding ] and ] in 1064 and invading the ] in 1068, from which he annexed almost all of ]; Arslan's decisive victory at the ] (in 1071) effectively neutralized the Byzantine threat.<ref>{{Citation | |||
| | first = Princeton University | |||
| | title = Dhu'l Qa'da 463/ August 1071 The Battle of Malazkirt (Manzikert) | |||
| | url = http://www.princeton.edu/~humcomp/kemal/malazf.htm | |||
| | accessdate = 2007-09-08}}</ref> He authorized his Turcoman generals to carve their own principalities out of formerly Byzantine Anatolia, as ]s loyal to him. Within two years the Turcomans had established control as far as the ] under numerous "beghliks" (modern Turkish ]): the ]s in Northeastern Anatolia, ]s in Eastern Anatolia, ]s in Southeastern Anatolia, ]is in Central Anatolia, ] (Beghlik of ], which later moved to Central Anatolia) in Western Anatolia and the Beghlik of ] in ] (]). | |||
| The wealth brought back from the Indian expeditions to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. ], ]) give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital, as well as of the conquerors munificent support of literature. Mahmud died in (1030). Even though there was some revival of importance under Ibrahim (1059-1099), the empire never reached anything like the same splendor and power. It was soon overshadowed by the ] of ]. | |||
| ====Malik Shah I==== | |||
| {{main|Malik Shah I}} | |||
| Under ]'s successor Malik Shah and his two Persian ]<ref>], "Nizam al-Mulk", Online Edition, ()</ref> ] and ], the Seljuk state expanded in various directions, to former Iranian border before Arab invasion, so that it bordered ] in the East and the ] in the West. | |||
| He moved the capital from ] to ]. The Iqta military system and the Nizāmīyyah University at Baghdad were established by Nizām al-Mulk, and the reign of Malikshāh was reckoned the golden age of "Great Seljuk". The Abbasid Caliph titled him "The Sultan of the East and West" in 1087. The ] (''Hashshashin'') of ] however started to become a force during his era and assassinated many leading figures in his administration. | |||
| == |
==Decline== | ||
| ], derived from ] designs, with the name of Mas'ud in Arabic.]] | |||
| The Seljuk power was at its zenith under Malikshāh I, and both the ]s and ]s had to acknowledge the overlordship of the Seljuks.<ref name="Wink2"> Wink, Andre, ''Al Hind the Making of the Indo Islamic World,'' Brill Academic Publishers, Jan 1, 1996, ISBN 90-04-09249-8 pg 9-10</ref>. The Seljuk dominion was established over the ancient ] domains, in ] and ], and included ] as well as parts of ] and modern ].<ref name="Wink2"/> The Seljuk rule was modelled after the tribal organization brought in by the nomadic conquerors and resembled a 'family federation' or 'appanage state'.<ref name="Wink2"/> Under this organization the leading member of the paramount family assigned family members portions of his domains as ] ].<ref name="Wink2"/> | |||
| Mahmud's son ] was unable to preserve the empire and following a disastrous defeat at the ] in (1040) lost all the Ghaznavid lands in ] and ] to the Seljuks and plunged the realm into a "Time of troubles".<ref name="EB"/><ref name="Iranica">Encyclopedia Iranica, ''Ghaznavids'', Edmund Bosworth, Online Edition 2007, ()</ref> Mas'ud's son Ibrahim who re-established a truncated empire on a firmer basis by arriving at a peace agreement with the Seljuks and a restoration of cultural and political linkages.<ref name="Iranica"/> Under Ibrahim and his successors saw a period of sustained tranquility for the empire. Shorn of its western land it was increasingly sustained by riches accrued from raids across Northern India where it faced stiff resistance from ] rulers such as the ] of ] and the ] of ].<ref name="Iranica"/> Signs of weakness in the state became apparent when Masud III died in 1115 with internal strife between his sons ending with the ascension of Sultan Bahram Shah as a Seljuk Vassal.<ref name="Iranica"/> Sultan Bahram Shah, was the last Ghaznavid King ruling ], the first and main Ghaznavid capital. Ala'uddin Hussain, a ] King, conquered the city of Ghazni in 1151, for the revenge of his brother's death. He razed all the city, and burned it for 7 days, after which he got famous as ''"Jahānsoz"'' (''World Burner''). Ghazni was restored to the Ghaznavids by the intervention of the Seljuks who came to Behrams aid.<ref name="Iranica"/> Ghaznavid struggles with the Ghurids continued in the subsequent years as they nibbled away at Ghaznavid territory and Ghazni and ] was lost a group of ] Turks before captured by the Gurids.<ref name="Iranica"/> Ghaznavid power in northern ] continued until the conquest of ] from Khusrau Malik in 1186.<ref name="Iranica"/> | |||
| ==Legacy== | |||
| ==The First Crusade== | |||
| ]s. First half of 11th century. Excavated at ''Teppe Madraseh'', ], ]. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.]] | |||
| {{main|First Crusade}} | |||
| The Ghaznavid empire grew to cover much of present-day ], ], ], and northwest ], and the Ghaznavids are generally credited with launching Islam into ]-dominated India. In addition to the wealth accumulated through raiding Indian cities, and exacting tribute from Indian ]s the Ghaznavids also benefited from their position as an intermediary along the trade routes between ] and the ]. They were however unable to hold power for long and by 1040 the ]s had taken over their ] domains and a century later the ] took over their remaining sub-continental lands. | |||
| The fractured states of the Seljuks were on the whole more concerned with consolidating their own territories and gaining control of their neighbours than with cooperating against the crusaders during the ]. The Seljuks easily defeated the untrained ] arriving in 1096, but could not stop the progress of the army of the subsequent ], which took important cities such as ], ], ], and ] on its march to ], and in 1099 finally successfully captured the ], setting up the first ]. The Seljuks had already lost ] to the ]s, who had recaptured it just before its capture by the crusaders. | |||
| ==Culture== | |||
| ==The Second Crusade== | |||
| Although the Ghaznavids were of Turkic origin and their military leaders were generally of the same stock, as a result of the original involvement of ] and ] in Samanid affairs and in the Samanid cultural environment, the dynasty became thoroughly Persianized, so that in practice one cannot consider their rule over Iran one of foreign domination. In terms of cultural championship and the support of Persian poets, they were far more Persian than the ethnically Iranian ] rivals, whose support of Arabic letters in preference to Persian is well known.<ref name="Iranica2">Encyclopedia Iranica, ''Iran'', EHSAN YARSHATER, Online Edition 2008, ()</ref> | |||
| :''See also: ], ], ]'' | |||
| ] had to contend with the revolts of ]s in ], ]s in ] and ]s in modern ], even as the nomadic ]s invaded the East, destroying the Seljuk vassal state of the Eastern Qarakhanids. At the Battle of Qatwan in 1141, Sanjar lost all his eastern provinces up to the ]. | |||
| In fact with the adoption of Persian administrative and cultural ways the Ghaznavids threw off their original Turkish steppe background and became largely integrated with the ''Perso-Islamic tradition''.<ref>Clifford Edmund Bosworth, ''The new Islamic dynasties: a chronological and genealogical manual'', Edition: 2, Published by Edinburgh University Press, 2004, ISBN 0748621377, p. 297</ref> | |||
| During this time conflict with the Crusader States was also intermittent, and after the First Crusade increasingly independent atabegs would frequently ally with the crusader states against other atabegs as they vied with each other for territory. At Mosul, ] succeeded ] as atabeg and successfully began the process of consolidating the atabegs of Syria. In 1144 Zengi captured ], as the ] had allied itself with the ] against him. This event triggered the launch of the Second Crusade. ], one of Zengi's sons who succeeded him as atabeg of ], created an alliance in the region to oppose the Second Crusade, which landed in 1147. | |||
| ==The Ghaznavid Dynasty== | |||
| ==Division of empire== | |||
| *] (963-977) | |||
| ], built in 1053 CE in ], is the burial of Seljuq princes.]] | |||
| *], (''Abu Mansur'') (977-997) | |||
| *] (997-998) | |||
| *] (''Yamin ud-Dawlah '') (998-1030) | |||
| *] (''Jalal ud-Dawlah'') (1030-1031) | |||
| *] (''Shihab ud-Dawlah'') (1031–1041) | |||
| *] ''(''Jalal ud-Dawlah (second time)'' (1041) | |||
| *] (''Shihab ud-Dawlah'') (1041-1050) | |||
| *Mas'ud II (1050) | |||
| *Ali (''Baha ud-Dawlah'') (1050) | |||
| *Abd ul-Rashid (''Izz ud-Dawlah'') (1053) | |||
| *Toğrül (Tughril) (''Qiwam ud-Dawlah'') (1053) | |||
| *Farrukhzad (''Jamal ud-Dawlah'') (1053-1059) | |||
| *Ibrahim (''Zahir ud-Dalah'') (1059-1099) | |||
| *Mas'ud III (''Ala ud-Dawlah'') (1099-1115) | |||
| *Shirzad (''Kemal ud-Dawlah'') (1115) | |||
| *Arslan Shah (''Sultan ud-Dawlah'') (1115-1118) | |||
| *Bahram Shah (''Yamin ud-Dawlah '') (1118-1152) | |||
| *Khusrau Shah (''Mu'izz ud-Dawlah'') (1152-1160) | |||
| *Khusrau Malik (''Taj ud-Dawlah'') (1160-1187) | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| :''See also: ], ]s'' | |||
| *] | |||
| When Malikshāh I died in 1092, the empire split as his brother and four sons quarrelled over the apportioning of the empire among themselves. In Anatolia, Malikshāh I was succeeded by ] who founded the ] and in ] by his brother ]. In ] he was succeeded by his son ] whose reign was contested by his other three brothers ] in ], ] in ] and ] in ]. | |||
| *] | |||
| ==Footnotes== | |||
| When ] died his sons ] and ] inherited ] and ] respectively and contested with each other as well further dividing Syria amongst emirs antagonistic towards each other. | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| In 1118, the third son ] took over the empire. His nephew, the son of Muhammad I did not recognize his claim to the throne and ] proclaimed himself Sultan and established a capital in Baghdad, until 1131 when he was finally officially deposed by Ahmad Sanjar. | |||
| *Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1963) ''The Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran 994–1040'' Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, | |||
| *Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1977) ''The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay, The Dynasty in Afghanistan and Northern India 1040–1186'' Columbia University Press, New York, ISBN 0-231-04428-3 | |||
| *M. Ismail Marcinkowski (2003) ''Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey'' Pustaka Nasional, Singapore, ISBN 9971-77-488-7 | |||
| == External links == | |||
| Elsewhere in nominal Seljuk territory were the ] in northeastern Syria and northern ]. They controlled ] until 1098. In eastern Anatolia and northern Syria a state was founded by the ] dynasty, and contested land with the ] and ] exercised greeted independence as the ] of ]. | |||
| {{Wikicommons|Category:Ghaznavid Empire}} | |||
| * | |||
| == Legacy == | |||
| * | |||
| The Seljuks were educated in the service of Muslim courts as slaves or mercenaries. The dynasty brought revival, energy, and reunion to the Islamic civilization hitherto dominated by Arabs and Persians. According to the Seljuks, they brought to the Muslims "fighting spirit and fanatical aggression". <ref>Previte-Orton (1971), vol.1, pg. 278-9</ref> | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| The Seljuks were also patrons of art and literature. Under the Seljuks universities were founded.<ref>two examples are: the Nizamiyah universities of Baghdad and Nishapur</ref> Their reign is characterized by ] astronomers such as ], and the ] philosopher ]. | |||
| * | |||
| *Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. ]; published by London Trubner Company 1867–1877. (Online Copy: - Online version posted by: The Packard Humanities Institute; Persian Texts in Translation) | |||
| <center> | |||
| * | |||
| <gallery> | |||
| Image:Borj-toghrul.jpg|], a 12th century monument south of ] in ] commemorating ]. | |||
| Image:Male royal figure, 12-13th century, from Iran.jpg|Head of male royal figure, 12-13th century, found in ]. | |||
| Image:Seljuq Ewer.jpg|Seljuq era art: ] from ], dated 1180-1210CE. Brass worked in repousse and inlaid with silver and ]. NY Metropolitan Museum. | |||
| Image:Shatranj.jpg|] chess set, glazed ], 12th century, from ]. ]. | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| </center> | |||
| == List of Emperors of the Great Seljuq Empire == | |||
| * ] (named after) | |||
| * ] (1037 - 1063) (the founder) | |||
| * ] (1063 - 1072) | |||
| * ] (1072 - 1092) | |||
| * ] (1092 - 1094) | |||
| * ] (1094 - 1105) | |||
| * ] (1105) | |||
| * ] (1105 - 1118) | |||
| * ] (1118 - 1153) | |||
| ==Conquest by Khwarezm and the Ayyubids== | |||
| :''See also:], ], ]'' | |||
| In 1153, the Oghuz Turks rebelled and captured Sanjar. He managed to escape three years later but died a year later. Despite several attempts to reunite the Seljuks by his successors, the ]s prevented them from regaining their former empire. The atabegs, such as ] and ], were only nominally under the Seljuk Sultan, and generally controlled Syria independently. When Ahmed Sanjar died in 1156, it fractured the empire even further and rendered the atabegs effectively independent. | |||
| #Khorasani Seljuks in ] and Transoxiana. Capital: ] | |||
| #]i Seljuks | |||
| #Sultanate of Rum. Capital: ] (]), later ] (]) | |||
| #Atabeghlik of Salgur in ] | |||
| #Atabeghlik of ] in Iraq and Azerbaijan. Capital ] | |||
| #Atabeghlik of ] in Syria. Capital: Damascus | |||
| #Atabeghlik of Zangi in ] (Northern ]). Capital: ] | |||
| #Turcoman Beghliks: ]is, ]s, ] and Mengujegs in Asia Minor | |||
| #]s in ], ]. Capital: ] | |||
| After the Second Crusade, Nur ad-Din's general ], who had established himself in ] on ] land, was succeeded by ]. In time, Saladin rebelled against ], and, upon his death, Saladin married his widow and captured most of Syria and created the ] dynasty. | |||
| On other fronts, the ] began to become a regional power and extended its borders at the expense of Great Seljuk. The same was true during the revival of the ] under ] in Anatolia. The ] caliph ] also began to reassert the authority of the caliph and allied himself with the Khwarezmshah ]. | |||
| For a brief period, ] was the Sultan of all Seljuk except for Anatolia. In 1194, however, Togrul was defeated by ], the Shah of ], and the Seljuk finally collapsed. Of the former Seljuk Empire, only the ] in ] remained. As the dynasty declined in the middle of the thirteenth century, the ] invaded ] in the 1260s and divided it into small ]s called the ]. Eventually one of these, the ], would rise to power and conquer the rest. | |||
| == Notes == | |||
| {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} | |||
| 16 Fazli Konus, "Selcuklular Bibliyografyası", Konya, 2006, p. 410 | |||
| == References == | |||
| {{History of Greater Iran}} | |||
| *Previte-Orton, C. W (1971). ''The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | |||
| * http://www.selcuklular.com/? | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *], list of Seljuk rulers in the German Misplaced Pages | |||
| *] | |||
| *], the ] people's dialect - a result of a Turkmen-Persian coexistence | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| * http://www.selcuklular.com/? | |||
| ==Literature== | |||
| *G. E. Tetley ''The Ghaznavid and Seljuk Turks: Poetry as a Source for Iranian History'', Abingdon 2008, ISBN 978-0-415-43119-4 | |||
| *{{1911}} | |||
| {{Empires}} | {{Empires}} | ||
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Revision as of 18:53, 8 August 2009
غزنویان Ghaznavian Ghaznavid Empire Gazneliler | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 963–1187 | |||||||||||
.PNG) Ghaznavid Empire at its greatest extent | |||||||||||
| Capital | Ghazni (until 1151) Lahore (from 1151) | ||||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||||
| Government | Empire | ||||||||||
| shah | |||||||||||
| • 963-977 | Alptigin | ||||||||||
| • 1160-1187 | Khusrau Malik | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Medieval | ||||||||||
| • Established | 963 | ||||||||||
| • Disestablished | 1187 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The Ghaznavids (Template:Lang-fa,Template:Lang-tr) were a Turkic mamluk origin which existed from 975 to 1187 and ruled much of Persia, Transoxania, and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The Ghaznavid state was centered in Ghazni, a city in present Afghanistan. Due to the political and cultural influence of their predecessors - that of the Persian Samanid Empire - the originally Turkic Ghaznavids became thoroughly Persianized.
The dynasty was founded by Sebuktigin upon his succession to rule of territories centered around the city of Ghazni from his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, a break-away ex-general of the Samanid sultans. Sebuktigin's son, Shah Mahmoud, expanded the empire in the region that stretched from the Oxus river to the Indus Valley and the Indian Ocean; and in the west it reached Rayy and Hamadan. Under the reign of Mas'ud I it experienced major territorial losses. It lost its western territories to the Seljuqs in the Battle of Dandanaqan resulting in a restriction of its holdings to Afghanistan, Balochistan and the Punjab. In 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to Ala'uddin Hussain of Ghor and the capital was moved to Lahore until its subsequent capture by the Ghurids in 1186.
Rise to power
Two military families arose from the Turkic Slave-Guards of the Samanids — the Simjurids and Ghaznavids — who ultimately proved disastrous to the Samanids. The Simjurids received an appanage in the Kohistan region of eastern Khorasan. Alp Tigin founded the Ghaznavid fortunes when he established himself at Ghazna (modern Ghazni, Afghanistan) in 962. He and Abu al-Hasan Simjuri, as Samanid generals, competed with each other for the governorship of Khorasan and control of the Samanid empire by placing on the throne emirs they could dominate when Abdul Malik I of Samanid died in 961. But when the Samanid Emir Abdul Malik I died in 961 CE it created a succession crisis between Abdul Malik's brothers. A court party instigated by men of the scribal class—civilian ministers as contrasted with Turkic generals—rejected Alp Tigin's candidate for the Samanid throne. Mansur I was installed, and Alp Tigin prudently retired to his fief of Ghazna. The Simjurids enjoyed control of Khorasan south of the Oxus but were hard-pressed by a third great Iranian dynasty, the Buwayhids, and were unable to survive the collapse of the Samanids and the rise of the Ghaznavids.
The struggles of the Turkic slave generals for mastery of the throne with the help of shifting allegiance from the court's ministerial leaders both demonstrated and accelerated the Samanid decline. Samanid weakness attracted into Transoxania the Qarluq Turks, who had recently converted to Islam. They occupied Bukhara in 992 to establish in Transoxania the Qarakhanid, or Ilek Khanid, dynasty. Alp Tigin had been succeeded at Ghazna by Sebüktigin (died 997). Sebüktigin's son Mahmud made an agreement with the Qarakhanids whereby the Oxus was recognized as their mutual boundary.
Domination
Saboktekin made himself lord of nearly all the present territory of Afghanistan and of the Punjab by conquest of Samanid and Shahi lands. In 997, Mahmud, the son of Sebük Tigin, succeeded his father upon his death, and with him Ghazni and the Ghaznavid dynasty have become perpetually associated. He completed the conquest of Samanid, Shahi lands, the Ismaili Kingdom of Multan, Sindh as well as some Buwayhid territory. Under him all accounts was the golden age and the height of the Ghaznevid Empire. Mahmud carried out seventeen expeditions through northern India establishing his control and setting up tributary states. His raids also resulted in the looting of a great deal of plunder. From the borders of Kurdistan to Samarkand, from the Caspian Sea to the Yamuna, he established his authority.
The wealth brought back from the Indian expeditions to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi, Ferdowsi) give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital, as well as of the conquerors munificent support of literature. Mahmud died in (1030). Even though there was some revival of importance under Ibrahim (1059-1099), the empire never reached anything like the same splendor and power. It was soon overshadowed by the Seljuqs of Iran.
Decline
Mahmud's son Mas'ud was unable to preserve the empire and following a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Dandanaqan in (1040) lost all the Ghaznavid lands in Iran and Central Asia to the Seljuks and plunged the realm into a "Time of troubles". Mas'ud's son Ibrahim who re-established a truncated empire on a firmer basis by arriving at a peace agreement with the Seljuks and a restoration of cultural and political linkages. Under Ibrahim and his successors saw a period of sustained tranquility for the empire. Shorn of its western land it was increasingly sustained by riches accrued from raids across Northern India where it faced stiff resistance from Rajput rulers such as the Paramara of Malwa and the Gahadvala of Kannauj. Signs of weakness in the state became apparent when Masud III died in 1115 with internal strife between his sons ending with the ascension of Sultan Bahram Shah as a Seljuk Vassal. Sultan Bahram Shah, was the last Ghaznavid King ruling Ghazni, the first and main Ghaznavid capital. Ala'uddin Hussain, a Ghorid King, conquered the city of Ghazni in 1151, for the revenge of his brother's death. He razed all the city, and burned it for 7 days, after which he got famous as "Jahānsoz" (World Burner). Ghazni was restored to the Ghaznavids by the intervention of the Seljuks who came to Behrams aid. Ghaznavid struggles with the Ghurids continued in the subsequent years as they nibbled away at Ghaznavid territory and Ghazni and Zabulistan was lost a group of Oghuz Turks before captured by the Gurids. Ghaznavid power in northern India continued until the conquest of Lahore from Khusrau Malik in 1186.
Legacy
The Ghaznavid empire grew to cover much of present-day Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest India, and the Ghaznavids are generally credited with launching Islam into Hindu-dominated India. In addition to the wealth accumulated through raiding Indian cities, and exacting tribute from Indian Rajas the Ghaznavids also benefited from their position as an intermediary along the trade routes between China and the Mediterranean. They were however unable to hold power for long and by 1040 the Seljuks had taken over their Persian domains and a century later the Ghurids took over their remaining sub-continental lands.
Culture
Although the Ghaznavids were of Turkic origin and their military leaders were generally of the same stock, as a result of the original involvement of Sebuktigin and Mahmud in Samanid affairs and in the Samanid cultural environment, the dynasty became thoroughly Persianized, so that in practice one cannot consider their rule over Iran one of foreign domination. In terms of cultural championship and the support of Persian poets, they were far more Persian than the ethnically Iranian Buyids rivals, whose support of Arabic letters in preference to Persian is well known.
In fact with the adoption of Persian administrative and cultural ways the Ghaznavids threw off their original Turkish steppe background and became largely integrated with the Perso-Islamic tradition.
The Ghaznavid Dynasty
- Alptigin (963-977)
- Sebük Tigin, (Abu Mansur) (977-997)
- Ismail (997-998)
- Mahmud (Yamin ud-Dawlah ) (998-1030)
- Mohammed (Jalal ud-Dawlah) (1030-1031)
- Mas'ud I (Shihab ud-Dawlah) (1031–1041)
- Mohammed (Jalal ud-Dawlah (second time) (1041)
- Maw'dud (Shihab ud-Dawlah) (1041-1050)
- Mas'ud II (1050)
- Ali (Baha ud-Dawlah) (1050)
- Abd ul-Rashid (Izz ud-Dawlah) (1053)
- Toğrül (Tughril) (Qiwam ud-Dawlah) (1053)
- Farrukhzad (Jamal ud-Dawlah) (1053-1059)
- Ibrahim (Zahir ud-Dalah) (1059-1099)
- Mas'ud III (Ala ud-Dawlah) (1099-1115)
- Shirzad (Kemal ud-Dawlah) (1115)
- Arslan Shah (Sultan ud-Dawlah) (1115-1118)
- Bahram Shah (Yamin ud-Dawlah ) (1118-1152)
- Khusrau Shah (Mu'izz ud-Dawlah) (1152-1160)
- Khusrau Malik (Taj ud-Dawlah) (1160-1187)
See also
Footnotes
- "Encyclopedia Britannica - Ghaznavid Dynasty"
- ^ C.E. Bosworth: The Ghaznavids. Edinburgh, 1963
- C.E. Bosworth, "Ghaznavids", in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition 2006, (LINK)
- ^ C.E. Bosworth, "Ghaznavids", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition; Brill, Leiden; 2006/2007
- M.A. 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 ..."
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, Iran: Islamic Period - Ghaznavids, E. Yarshater
- B. Spuler, "The Disintegration of the Caliphate in the East", in the Cambridge History of Islam, Vol. IA: The Central islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War, ed. by P.M. Holt, Ann K.S. Lambton, and Bernard Lewis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970). pg 147: One of the effects of the renaissance of the Persian spirit evoked by this work was that the Ghaznavids were also Persianized and thereby became a Persian dynasty.
- Anatoly M Khazanov, André Wink, "Nomads in the Sedentary World", Routledge, 2padhte padhte to pagla jayega aadmi, "A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia", Blackwell Publishing, 1998. pg 370: "Though Turkic in origin and, apparently in speech, Alp Tegin, Sebuk Tegin and Mahmud were all thoroughly Persianized"
- Robert L. Canfield, Turko-Persia in historical perspective, Cambridge University Press, 1991. pg 8: "The Ghaznavids (989-1149) were essentially Persianized Turks who in manner of the pre-Islamic Persians encouraged the development of high culture"
- ^ Encyclopedia Britannica, Ghaznavid Dynasty, Online Edition 2007 (LINK)
- ^ Encyclopedia Iranica, Ghaznavids, Edmund Bosworth, Online Edition 2007, (LINK)
- Encyclopedia Iranica, Iran, EHSAN YARSHATER, Online Edition 2008, ()
- Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The new Islamic dynasties: a chronological and genealogical manual, Edition: 2, Published by Edinburgh University Press, 2004, ISBN 0748621377, p. 297
Further reading
- Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1963) The Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran 994–1040 Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, OCLC 3601436
- Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1977) The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay, The Dynasty in Afghanistan and Northern India 1040–1186 Columbia University Press, New York, ISBN 0-231-04428-3
- M. Ismail Marcinkowski (2003) Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey Pustaka Nasional, Singapore, ISBN 9971-77-488-7
External links
- Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition) - Mahmud of Ghazna
- Encylopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Mahmud
- Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Ghaznavid Dynasty
- Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Ghaznavids and Ghurids
- Mahmud Ghaznavi's 17 invasions of India
- Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; published by London Trubner Company 1867–1877. (Online Copy: The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; by Sir H. M. Elliot; Edited by John Dowson; London Trubner Company 1867–1877 - Online version posted by: The Packard Humanities Institute; Persian Texts in Translation)
- Afghan secrets revealed on Google Earth
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)
