Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/661

Rh S E L J U K S 635 large sum. The foundation of the Seljuk empire of Hum (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 Shah, the son and successor of Alp Arslan, had to encounter his uncle Kawurd, founder of the Seljukian em- pire of KennAn (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 Shah 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 Arslan, was indebted for his greatest fame to the wise and salutary measures of their vizier, Nizam al-Mulk. This extraordinary man, associated by tradition with 'OMAR KHAYYAM (<i.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 Shah 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 Turkan KhAtun, who wished to secure the succession to the throne for her infant son Mahmud at the expense of the elder sons of Malik Shah. 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 01 the hereditary fiefs of Turkish emirs not belonging to the royal family, who bore ordinarily the title ofatabek (properly "father bey"), e.g., the atabeks of Fare, 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 pervdneh, 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 Buyids. Notwithstanding the intrigues of Turkan Khatun, Malik Shah was succeeded by his elder son Barkiyarok (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 Kazvin) and become a 1 A sketch of his reign has been given by Defreinery, Journ. Asia- tique, 1853, i. 425 sq., ii. 217 sq. formidable political power by the organization of bands of jiddivls, 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 'Irak acknowledged Mahmud, the son of Mo- hammed. Thus there originated a separate dynasty of 'Irak 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 1 1 1 7 he led an expedition against Ghazna and bestowed the throne upon Behrdm 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 Behrdm Shah failed in this obligation and brought on himself a fresh invasion by Sinjar in the midst of winter ; a third one took place in 1152, caused by the doings of the Ghurids (Hosain Jihansiiz, or " world-burner "). Other expeditions were undertaken by him against Kharizm 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 gurkhan (great khan) 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 Seljulj 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 Nishapiir ; 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 shah of Kharizm. Of the successors of Mohammed in 'Irak we give only the names with the date of the death of each: Mahmud (1131); Toghrul, son of Mohammed, proclaimed by Sinjar (1134) ; Mas'ud (1152) ; Malik Shah and Mohammed (1159), sons of Mahrmtd ; Sulaiman Shah, their brother (1161); Arslan, son of Toghrul (1175); and Toghrul, son of Arslan, killed in 1194 by Inanej, son of his atabek, Mohammed, who was in confederation with the Kharizm shah of the epoch, Takash. This chief inherited his possessions ; Toghrul was the last representative of the Seljuks of 'Irak The province of Kerman was one of the first conquests of the Seljuks, and became the hereditary fief of Kawurd, the son of Chakir Beg. Mention has been made of his war with Malik Shah and of his ensuing death (1073). Nevertheless his descendants were left in possession of their ancestor's dominions; and till 1170 KermAn, to which belonged also the opposite coast of 'OmAn, enjoyed a well-ordered government, except for a short interruption caused by the deposition of IrAn Shall, 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