The Seljuk Empire

THE POST-ROMAN WEST and THE CRUSADING MOVEMENT HIST 1301 | History The Seljuk Empire Because both dynasties had opposing claims to the caliphate and the Fatimids formed a state that endangered Sunni Islam, the devolution of Abbasid authority under the Fatimids and the Umayyads at Cordoba is remarkable. Still, this disintegration of centralised power was not confined to remote areas. As the ninth century came to an end, the Abbasids either allowed or had to tolerate the establishment of emirs on their land. The Buyid dynasty seized control of Abbasid lands in Persia and Mesopotamia in the early tenth century, while the Samanid dynasty ruled over the Khorasan and Transoxiana parts of eastern Persia. They did not call themselves caliphs, but they did pay the Abbasid state just a token respect and made its leaders acknowledge their own power. The Seljuks, an outside faction, were the dynasty that profited most from this upheaval. A division of the Oghuz Turks, a confederation of Turkic tribes, was the Seljuk Turks. These seminomadic clans, like to the Mongols in structure, had the freedom to join or quit bigger confederations. After escaping battles with other Turkic confederations in the ninth century and uprooting several pastoral communities, the Oghuz left Central Asia. They followed a polytheistic religion, similar to many other steppe peoples, with Tengri, the sky deity, at the apex of a hierarchy of gods and spirits. Experts known as shamans were thought to have the ability to bargain with these gods for good luck and favour. The Oghuz and the Islamic world did not have a cordial first interaction. Enslaved men, known as mamluks, were obtained during raids between the two parties and used by the Abbasids. The Seljuk dynasty was called after the clan head Saljuq, who in the tenth century went from the Oghuz empire southward and interacted, sometimes violently, with Abbasid emirs and other Turkic peoples. Although it could have caused tension with the Oghuz, the Seljuk commanders' conversion to Islam brought them closer to the Abbasids. In the eleventh century, they started to forge their own state both inside and outside of the Abbasid lands, led by figures like Tughril. They forced other Turkic peoples towards India by driving them out of Afghanistan. They prevailed in their battles with the Byzantine Empire and a few of its allies, most notably the Kingdom of Georgia. They took Anatolia from the Byzantines under Alp Arslan and threatened Constantinople's existence. The Seljuks established an empire via invasion that spanned from India to the Mediterranean by the middle of the eleventh century. The Seljuk leaders took on the appellation sultan, which means "the authority," in place of the Abbasid title of caliph. As non-Arab newcomers to Islam with no ties to Muhammad's family, they felt that the title of caliph was unattainable for them. Although they respected the caliph's status, they held the actual power. The Seljuks now ruled over a sizable portion of Byzantine territory as well as the centre of Islamic civilization, eager to demonstrate their enthusiasm by combating Christians and Fatimids. The Seljuks invested in artistic and cultural endeavours and stood up for Sunni Islam to establish their legitimacy. They funded the activity of missionaries and religious experts in addition to constructing mosques. Al-Ghazali, the renowned philosopher, was employed by Seljuk sultans in their courts. He was a natural scientist and mathematician, but he disapproved of the way Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West) had applied Greek logic to questions of faith. The Seljuks constructed palaces, madrasas, and mosques while also supporting the arts, just like the Abbasids did before them. They encouraged academics such as Omar Khayyam, the poet and mathematician. They embraced urban living and Persian as a literary language, just like the previous Arab invaders. They engaged in cross-cultural interactions, and the aristocratic courts, mosques, and madrasas served as the focal points for the development of Islamic cultural institutions. The caravansaries, which have long provided long-distance travellers with a secure place to rest along trade routes, are another aspect of the Seljuk culture that makes them stand out. The sultans were strict Sunnis who drove the Shia Fatimids out of Jerusalem and subsequently Mecca. Even though they were still largely accepting of other religions, such as Christianity and Judaism, they made sure Sunni Islam remained dominant by refusing to allow Shia to hold positions of authority and by demanding regular contributions from non-Muslim groups. The triumph of the Seljuks against Christian nations sparked accusations of religious persecution in western Europe. The advent of the Turkic peoples and their conversion to Islam had a significant role in the revival of Sunni Islam and the struggle against Christian powers. But by the end of the eleventh century, rivalries over the succession were beginning to wear thin, even in spite of the successes of leaders such as Alp Arslan. The dynasty's members started battling one another, dividing the empire into tiny nations. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, named for the region's previous membership in both the Roman and Byzantine Empires, was one of the most significant successor kingdoms that was founded in Anatolia, close to the Byzantine Empire. The Islamic world was split apart by the Seljuks' internal strife, their battle with the Fatimids, and the competing caliphate in Spain. Seljuk governance was made more difficult by the Abbasids' attempts to seize actual control of their kingdom. When the caliphs alienated indigenous Amazigh cavalry by incorporating Turkic cavalry, internal instability undermined the fatima of power. The Islamic world kept producing talented poets and philosophers who explored concepts from ancient Greece, Persia, and India. Nonetheless, the Islamic kingdoms were weak and fragmented politically. Through the Crusades, Christians from western Europe were able to create their own colonies in the Islamic world as a result of this division.