Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

635
S E L J IT K S
large sum. The foundation of the Seljhk empire of Rum
(Asia Minor, see below) was the immediate result of this
great victory. Alp Arslan afterwards undertook an ex¬
pedition against Turkestan, and met with his death at the
hands of a captured chief, Jusof Barzami, whom he had
intended to shoot with his own hand.
Malik Sh&h, the son and successor of Alp Arshin, had to
encounter his uncle Khwurd, founder of the Seljukian em¬
pire of Kerm&n (see below), who claimed to succeed Alp
Arslan in accordance with the Turkish laws, and led his
troops towards Hamadan. However, he lost the battle
that ensued, and the bowstring put an end to his life
(1073). Malik Shhh regulated also the affairs of Asia Minor
and Syria, conceding the latter province as an hereditary
fief to his brother Tutush, who established himself at
Damascus and killed Atsiz. He, however, like his father
Alp Arshin, was indebted for his greatest fame to the
wise and salutary measures of their vizier, Nizdm al-Mulk.
This extraordinary man, associated by tradition with 'Omar
Khayyam {q.v.), the well-known mathematician and free-
thinking poet, and with Hasan b. Sabbah, afterwards the
founder of the Ismaelites or Assassins, was a renowned
author and statesman of the first rank, and immortalized
his name by the foundation of several universities (the
Nizamiyah at Baghdad), observatories, mosques, hospitals,
and other institutions of public utility. At his instigation
the calendar was revised and a new era, dating from the
reign of Malik Shhh and known as the Jelalian, was in¬
troduced. Not quite forty days before the death of his
master this great man was murdered by the Ismaelites.
He had fallen into disfavour shortly before because of
his unwillingness to join in the intrigues of the princess
Turkhn KMtun, who wished to secure the succession to
the throne for her infant son Mahmud at the expense of
the elder sons of Malik Shhh.
Constitution and Government of the Seljuk Empire.—It has been
already observed that the Seljuks considered themselves the de¬
fenders of the orthodox faith and of the 'Abbasid caliphate, while
they on their side represented the temporal power which received
its titles and sanction from the successor of the Prophet. All
the members of the Seljuk house had the same obligations in this
respect, but they had not the same rights, as one of them occu¬
pied relatively to the others a place almost analogous to that of
the great khan of the Mongols in later times. This position was
inherited from father to son, though the old Turkish idea of the
rights of the elder brother often caused rebellions and violent family
disputes. After the death of Malik Shah the head of the family
was not strong enough to enforce obedience, and consequently the
central government broke up into several independent dynasties.
Within the limits of these minor dynasties the same rules were ob¬
served, and the same may be said of the hereditary fiefs of Turkish
emirs not belonging to the royal family, who bore ordinarily the
title of atabek (properly “father bey”), c.g., the atabeks of Pars, of
Adharbaijan (Azerbijan), of Syria, &c. The title was first given to
Nizam al-Mulk and expressed the relation in which he stood to the
prince,—as lala, “tutor.” The affairs of state were managed by the
divan under the presidency of the vizier ; but in the empire of Rum
its authority was inferior to that of the perv&neh, whom we may
name “lord chancellor.” In Rum the feudal system was extended
to Christian princes, who were acknowledged by the sultan on con¬
dition of paying tribute and serving in the armies. The court
dignitaries and their titles were manifold ; not less manifold were
the royal prerogatives, in which the sultans followed the example
set by their predecessors, the Biiyids.
Notwithstanding the intrigues of Turkan KMtun, Malik
Sh&h was succeeded by his elder son Barkiydrok (1092-
1104), whose short reign was a series of rebellions and
strange adventures such as one may imagine in the story
of a youth who is by turns a powerful prince and a miser¬
able fugitive.1 Like his brother Mohammed (1104-1118),
who successfully rebelled against him, his most dangerous
enemies were the Ismaelites, who had succeeded in taking
the fortress of Alamut (north of Kazvln) and become a
1 A sketch of his reign has been given by Defremery, Journ. Asia-
tique, 1853, i. 425 sq., ii. 217 sq.
formidable political power by the organization of bands of
fiddwis, who were always ready, even at the sacrifice of
their own lives, to murder any one whom they were com¬
manded to slay (see Assassins).
Mohammed had been successful by the aid of his brother
Sinjar, who from the year 1097 held the province of
KhorAsan with the capital Merv. After the death of
Mohammed Sinjar became the real head of the family,
though Tr&k acknowledged Mahmiid, the son of Mo¬
hammed. Thus there originated a separate dynasty of
Trak with its capital at Hamadan; but Sinjar during
his long reign often interfered in the affairs of the new
dynasty, and every occupant of the throne had to acknow¬
ledge his supremacy. In 1117 he led an expedition against
Grhazna and bestowed the throne upon Behram ShAh, who
was also obliged to mention Sinjar’s name first in the
official prayer at the Ghaznavid capital,—a prerogative
that neither Alp Arslan nor Malik Shah had attained. In
1134 Belmim Shah failed in this obligation and brought on
himself a fresh invasion by Sinjar in the midst of winter j
a third one took place in 1152, caused by the doings of
the Ghurids (Hosain Jihfinshz, or “ world-burner ”). Other
expeditions were undertaken by him against Khfirizm and
Turkestan ; the government of the former had been given
by Barkiyarok to Mohammed b. Anushtegfn, who was suc¬
ceeded in 1128 by his son Atsiz, and against him Sinjar
marched in 1138. Though victorious in this war, Sinjar
could not hinder Atsiz from afterwards joining the gurkh&n
(great kh&n) of the then rapidly rising empire of the Kara-
chitai, at whose hands the Seljuk suffered a terrible defeat
at Samarkand in 1141. By the invasion of these hordes
several Turkish tribes, the Ghuzz and others, were driven
beyond the Oxus, where they killed the Seljuk governor
of Balkh, though they professed to be loyal to Sinjar.
Sinjar resolved to punish this crime; but his troops deserted
and he himself was taken prisoner by the Ghuzz, who
kept him in strict confinement during two years (1153-55),
though treating him with all outward marks of respect.
In the meantime they plundered and destroyed the flourish¬
ing cities of Merv and NisMpur; and when Sinjar, after
his escape from captivity, revisited the site of his capital
he fell sick of sorrow and grief and died soon afterwards
(1157). His empire fell to the Karachitai and afterwards
to the sMh of Khftrizm. Of the successors of Mohammed
in Tr&k we give only the names with the date of the death
of each:—Mahmud (1131); Toghrul, son of Mohammed,
proclaimed by Sinjar (1134); Mas'iid (1152); Malik ShAh
and Mohammed (1159), sons of Mahmud; SulaimAn Shah,
their brother (1161); Arslfin, son of Toghrul (1175); and
Toghrul, son of Arskn, killed in 1194 by InAnej, son of
his atabek, Mohammed, who was in confederation with the
Khdrizm sh&h of the epoch, Takash. This chief inherited
his possessions; Toghrul was the last representative of the
Seljuks of Trcik.
The province of Kermdn was one of the first conquests
of the Seljuks, and became the hereditary fief of Kdwurd,
the son of Chakir Beg. Mention has been made of his
war with Malik SMh and of his ensuing death (1073).
Nevertheless his descendants were left in possession of
their ancestor’s dominions; and till 1170 Kerm&n, to
which belonged also the opposite coast of 'Om&n, enjoyed
a well-ordered government, except for a short interruption
caused by the deposition of IrAn ShAh, who had embraced
the tenets of the Ismaelites, and was put to death (1101)
in accordance with a fatwa of the ulema. But after the
death of Toghrul ShAh (1170) his three sons disputed with
each other for the possession of the throne, and implored
foreign assistance, till the country became utterly devas¬
tated and fell an easy prey to some bands of Ghuzz, who,
under the leadership of Malik Dinar (1185), marched into