Description
Book SynopsisReceived an honorable mention at the 2016 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book PrizeThe Great Seljuk Empire was the Turkish state which dominated the Middle East and Central Asia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This book surveys that period, which was one of exceptional importance, witnessing profound demographic, religious, political and social changes in the Islamic Middle East. The Turkish invasions played a role in provoking the Crusades, led to the collapse of Byzantine power in Anatolia and brought about the beginnings of Turkish settlement in what is now Turkey and Iran, permanently altering their ethnic and linguistic composition.
Table of ContentsList of box texts; Illustrations and maps; Abbreviations; A note on transliteration, conventions and geographical terminology; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Chapter 1. The Rise of the Seljuk Empire: from the Eurasian Steppe to the Gates of Cairo, c. 965 1092; Chapter 2. Crisis, Consolidation and Collapse: the Great Seljuk Empire and the Sultanate of Iraq, 1092 1194; Chapter 3. Sovereignty, Legitimacy and the Contest with the Caliphate; Chapter 4. The Dargah: Courts and Court Life; Chapter 5. The Kuttab: Bureaucrats and Administration; Chapter 6. The 'Askar: The Seljuk military; Chapter 7. Religion and the Seljuk Empire; Chapter 8. The Economic and Social Organisation of the Seljuk Empire; Conclusion: The Seljuk Legacy; Appendices: Regnal Dates of Seljuk Sultans; 'Abbasid Caliphs, Khwarazmshahs and principal Atabegs; Genealogical chart of the Seljuk Sultans; Chronological Outline; Glossary; Bibliography.
