(Nizari) Ismailis of Persia and Syria Supported by:
148-502: Attash may refer to: Abd al-Malik ibn Attash , Fatimid da'i involved in Muhammad Tapar's anti-Nizari campaign Attash Durrani (1952–2018), Pakistani writer Hassan bin Attash (born 1985), Juvenile held at Guantanamo Bay Walid bin Attash (born 1978), Yemeni prisoner Attash v. Bush , Habeas corpus petition Topics referred to by
296-622: A mufti of Qazvin, though the number of assassinations was considerably less than those ordered during Hassan Sabbah's reign. Al-Mustarshid's son and successor, al-Rashid ( r. 1135–1136 ), also became involved in the Seljuk dynastic conflicts, and after being deposed by an assembly of Seljuk judges and jurists, was assassinated by the Nizaris in 5 or 6 June 1138 when he arrived in Isfahan to join his allies. In Alamut, celebrations were held again for
444-664: A Friday mosque with a newly constructed quarter in Baghdad which was surrounded by a wall. The new quarter separated the Shia community from the Sunnis, since there had been frequent outbreaks of violence. Through the influence of Tughril's vizier, al-Kunduri, a Hanafi Sunni, the Ash'ari and Ismaili Shi'ites were exiled from Khurasan and cursed at Friday sermons in Seljuk mosques. Al-Kunduri's vizierate persecuted Ash'aris and Sharifis, although this ended with
592-533: A Persian bureaucracy to administer their new polity with Tughril as its nominal overlord. By 1046, Abbasid caliph al-Qa'im had sent Tughril a diploma recognizing Seljuk rule over Khurasan . In 1048–1049, the Seljuk Turks, commanded by Ibrahim Yinal , uterine brother of Tughril, made their first incursion into the Byzantine frontier region of Iberia and clashed with a combined Byzantine-Georgian army of 50,000 at
740-503: A Seljuk sultan in an area became the regular pattern of Nizari territorial expansion during these conflicts. Hassan made Alamut as impregnable as possible. Assisted by local allies, new fortresses were seized in Rudbar. In 1093, the Ismailis took the village of Anjirud and repulsed an invading force there. In the same year, a 10,000-strong army consisting mostly of Sunnis from Rayy and commanded by
888-547: A Turkish emir , resulting in their withdrawal. This conflict marked the beginning of a long-lasting feud between the Qazvinis and the Nizaris of Rudbar. Mahmud also launched an abortive attack on Alamut. Another army sent from Iraq against Lamasar similarly failed to achieve results. In 1131, Mahmud II died and another dynastic struggle commenced. Some of the emirs involved the Abbasid caliph al-Mustarshid ( r. 1118–1135 ) in
1036-678: A branch of Shia Islam, and the Seljuks were Sunni Muslims. By the final decades of the imamate (leadership of the Ismaili Muslim community) of the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir Billah ( r. 1036–1094 ), many people in Seljuk-ruled Persia had converted to the Fatimid doctrine of Ismailism, while the Qarmatian doctrine was declining. Apparently, the Ismailis of Persia had already acknowledged
1184-413: A children's teacher. Mahdi, the commandant of the castle, eventually discovered Hassan's identity, but he was powerless since many in the castle, including his guards, were Ismailis or Ismaili converts then. Hassan permitted Mahdi to leave peacefully and then paid him via Muzaffar, a Seljuk ra'is and a secret Ismaili, 3,000 gold dinars for the castle. The seizure of the castle marks the establishment of
1332-549: A citadel and a castle near Dizkuh. Following Malik-Shah's death, the familial civil war drew attention away from religious patronage, slowing the building of madrasas and mosques. Although, in 1130, the Seljuk sultan Sanjar ordered the construction of the Quthamiyya madrasa in Samarkand. While the Seljuk sultans were prodigious builders of religious buildings, Seljuk viziers were no different. The Seljuk vizier, Nazim al-Mulk, founded
1480-469: A claim to the throne but was killed in battle against Barkiyaruq in February 1096. Upon his death, his sons Radwan and Duqaq inherited Aleppo and Damascus respectively and contested with each other as well, further dividing Syria amongst emirs antagonistic towards each other. In 1118, the third son Ahmad Sanjar took over the empire. His nephew, the son of Muhammad I, did not recognize his claim to
1628-569: A cluster of mountain strongholds only after a half-century of continuous efforts. The methods of struggle of the da'i s in Syria were the same as those in Persia: acquiring strongholds as bases for activity in the nearby areas, selective elimination of prominent enemies, and temporary alliances with various local factions, including Sunnis and the Crusaders, to reach objectives. Nizari activity in Syria began in
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#17328442007041776-498: A dagger beside Sanjar's bed while he was asleep. Several manshur s (decrees) by Sanjar are recorded in the library of Alamut, in which the sultan had conciliated the Nizaris. Sanjar reportedly paid the Nizaris an annual of 3,000-4,000 dinars from taxes of Qumis and allowed them to levy tolls from the caravans passing beneath Girdkuh on the Khurasan Road . The peaceful final years of Hassan-i Sabbah, which were mostly spent consolidating
1924-568: A direct assault, so they began a war of attrition by systematically destroying the crops of Rudbar for eight years and engaging in sporadic battles with the Nizaris. In 1117/1118, the atabeg Anushtagin Shirgir , the governor of Sawa, took up the Seljuk command and began the sieges of Lamasar on June 4 and Alamut on July 13. The Nizaris were in a difficult position. Hassan-i Sabbah and many others sent their wives and daughters to Girdkuh and elsewhere. The Nizari resistance surprised their adversary, which
2072-453: A large assembly in presence of Sultan Muhammad Tapar—a blow to the prestige of the Seljuks. The Nizaris used an opportunity to recover during another destructive civil war among the Seljuks after Muhammad Tapar's death. For the rest of the Seljuk period, the situation was a stalemate and a tacit mutual acceptance emerged between the Nizaris and the Sunni rulers. The great movement to establish
2220-464: A new millennium in the name of the hidden Imam had been reduced to regional conflicts and border raids, and the Nizari castles had been turned into centers of small local sectarian dynasties. Seljuk campaigns after Muhammad Tapar's death were mostly half-hearted and indecisive, while the Nizaris lacked the initial strength to repeat successes such as the capture of Shahdiz. The Seljuk sultans did not consider
2368-502: A professional army; however, warfare was a way of life for nearly all of adult male Turkmens. According to a Seljuk vizier , Nizam al-Mulk , by the reign of Malik-Shah I , the sovereign had a large army at his disposal. There were Turkmens , mamluks , a standing army, infantry and the sultan's personal guard. Nizam al-Mulk also estimated Malik-Shah's forces at 400,000 men, and often opposed cost-cutting plans (instituted by Taj al-Mulk ) to bring these to 70,000. Vizier Nizam al-Mulk,
2516-625: A re-establishment of Sunni Islam in Iraq and western Persia since the 10th century. In 1046, Tughril built the madrasa, al-Sultaniya in Nishapur, while Chaghri Beg founded a madrasa in Merv. Tughril and Alp Arslan chose Hanafi qadis and preachers for these madrasas. By 1063, there were twenty-five madrasas scattered throughout Persia and Khorasan, founded by Seljuk princes. In the 12th century there were over thirty madrasas in Baghdad. In 1056, Tughril built
2664-451: A reputation of being a defender of Sunnis and hence expediently incorporated Ismailis in his forces at times of dire necessity. In 1100, near Girdkuh, 5,000 Ismailis from Quhistan and elsewhere under ra'is Muzaffar fought alongside Habashi and Barkiyaruq against Sanjar; Habashi was killed and Muzaffar later transferred the former's treasure to Girdkuh and, after completing the fortifications, publicly declared himself an Ismaili and transferred
2812-675: A result, the Ismailis of the Seljuk territories (i.e. Persia , Iraq, and parts of Syria), now under the authority of Hassan, severed the already weakened ties with the Fatimid organization in Cairo and effectively established an independent da'wa organization of their own on behalf of the then-inaccessible Nizari Imams . In 1095, Nizar's revolt was crushed in Egypt and he was imprisoned in Cairo. Further revolts by his offspring were also unsuccessful. Apparently, Nizar himself had not designated any successor. Hassan
2960-530: A revolt by Ismailis in Persia under Hassan-i Sabbah , starting the so-called Alamut Period. Due to the increasingly significant socio-economic issues, the decentralization of the Seljuk government leading to inefficient army mobilization, and a unifying factor of religion in the provinces facilitating the swift spread of the revolt and a strong sense of community within Isamilis, the Seljuks were unable to quickly put down
3108-464: A siege involving many negotiations; some of the Ismailis safely withdrew per an agreement, while a small group kept fighting. Their leader, Da'i Ahmad ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Attash , was captured and executed together with his son. The fortress of Khanlanjan was probably destroyed too, and the Ismaili presence in Isfahan was brought to an end. Muhammad Tapar issued a fathnama (victory proclamation) after
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#17328442007043256-454: A situation later exploited by the victorious Turkmens, whose hordes would overrun Khorasan unopposed, wreaking colossal damage on the province and prestige of Sanjar. Sanjar eventually escaped from captivity in the fall of 1156, but soon died in Merv in 1157. After his death, Turkic rulers, Turkmen tribal forces, and other secondary powers competed for Khorasan. In 1181, Sultan Shah , a pretendent to
3404-520: A word about it openly". Bahram was killed in 1128 while fighting local hostile tribes in Wadi al-Taym . The Fatimids in Cairo rejoiced after receiving his head. He was succeeded by Isma'il al-Ajami who kept using Banias and following his predecessor's policies. Tughtigin's successor and son, Taj al-Muluk Buri , initially continued to support the Nizaris, but, in a repetition of the events of 1113 in Aleppo, he
3552-615: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Muhammad Tapar%27s anti-Nizari campaign By the late 11th century, the Shi'a sub-sect of Ismailism (later Nizari Ismailism) had found many adherents in Persia , although the region was occupied by the Sunni Seljuk Empire . The hostile tendencies of the Abbasid–Seljuk order triggered
3700-540: Is uncertain who was actually behind it. Ridwan died shortly after and his young son and successor Alp Arslan al-Akhras initially supported the Nizaris, even ceding the Balis fortress on the Aleppo–Baghdad road to Abu Tahir. Soon Alp Arslan was turned against the Nizaris by Muhammad Tapar , who had just begun an anti-Nizari campaign, as well as Sa'id ibn Badi', the ra'is of Aleppo and militia ( al-ahdath ) commander. In
3848-478: Is uncertain; it may have been motivated by a perceived weakness of the Nizaris after Hassan's death. The campaign ended with limited success. In Quhistan, a Seljuk victory in the village of Tarz (near Bayhaq ) and a successful raid on Turaythith have been recorded. In the same year, Mahmud sent an army led by Shirgir's nephew, Asil, against Rudbar; this campaign was even less successful and was repelled. Another Seljuk campaign launched with local support against Rudbar
3996-674: The Artuqids against him. This event triggered the launch of the Second Crusade. Nur ad-Din , one of Zengi's sons who succeeded him as atabeg of Aleppo , created an alliance in the region to oppose the Second Crusade, which landed in 1147. Ahmad Sanjar fought to contain the revolts by the Kara-Khanids in Transoxiana , Ghurids in Afghanistan and Qarluks in modern Kyrgyzstan , as well as
4144-705: The Battle of Didgori on August 12, 1121, the Seljuks were routed, being run down by pursuing Georgian cavalry for several days afterward. The battle helped the Crusader states, which had been under pressure from Ilghazi's armies. The weakening of the main enemy of the Latin principalities also benefitted the Kingdom of Jerusalem under King Baldwin II . During this time conflict with the Crusader states
4292-465: The Battle of Kapetrou on 10 September 1048. The devastation left behind by the Seljuk raid was so fearful that the Byzantine magnate Eustathios Boilas described, in 1051–1052, those lands as "foul and unmanageable... inhabited by snakes, scorpions, and wild beasts." The Arab chronicler Ibn al-Athir reports that Ibrahim brought back 100,000 captives and a vast booty loaded on the backs of ten thousand camels. In 1055, Tughril entered Baghdad and removed
4440-508: The Battle of Qatwan . He suffered his first defeat in his long career, and as a result lost all Seljuk territory east of the Syr Darya . Sanjar's as well as the Seljuks' rule collapsed as a consequence of yet another unexpected defeat, this time at the hands of the Seljuks' own tribe, in 1153. Sanjar was captured during the battle and held in captivity until 1156. It brought chaos to the Empire –
4588-723: The Hanafi scholar Za'farani was defeated in Taliqan . Soon another raid by the Seljuk emir Anushtagin was also repulsed. As a result of these Nizari victories, the local chiefs of Daylam gradually shifted their allegiance to the nascent Alamut state. Among these was a certain Rasamuj who held the strategic Lamasar castle near Alamut. He later tried to defect to Anushtagin, but in November 1096 (or 1102, per Juwayni) an Ismaili force under Kiya Buzurg-Ummid , Kiya Abu Ja'far, Kiya Abu Ali, and Kiya Garshasb attacked
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4736-575: The Ismaili state in Persia (also called the "Alamut state") and the beginning of the so-called Alamut Period during which the Ismaili mission unfolded as an open revolt against the Sunni authorities. The Ismailis of Alamut quickly began to construct or capture (by conversion or force) new strongholds in Rudbar valley on the bank of the Shahrud river. Meanwhile, Hassan dispatched Husayn Qa'ini to his homeland, Quhistan (a region southwest of Khurasan), where he
4884-581: The Jabal al-Summaq highlands located between the Orontes River and Aleppo. The authority over the upper Orontes valley was being shared between the assassinated Janah al-Dawlah, the Munqidhites of Shayzar , and Khalaf ibn Mula'ib , the Fatimid governor of Afamiyya ( Qal'at al-Mudhiq ) who had seized the fortified city from Ridwan. Khalaf was probably a Musta'li that had refused the Nizari alliance. Abu Tahir, with
5032-609: The Karakum Desert . First, they made their way to the important city of Merv, but perhaps due to its strong fortification, they changed their route westwards to take refuge in Nasa. Finally, the Seljuks arrived on the edges of Khorasan , the province considered a jewel in the Ghaznavid crown. After moving into Khorasan, Seljuks under Tughril wrested an empire from the Ghaznavids . Initially
5180-690: The Kingdom of Georgia began to become a regional power and extended its borders at the expense of the Great Seljuk Empire. The same was true during the revival of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , under Leo II of Armenia , in Anatolia. The Abbasid caliph An-Nasir also began to reassert the authority of the caliph and allied himself with the Khwarezmshah Takash . For a brief period, Toghrul III
5328-616: The Levant in the west to the Hindu Kush in the east, and from Central Asia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, and it spanned the time period 1037–1308, though Seljuk rule beyond the Anatolian peninsula ended in 1194. The Seljuk Empire was founded in 1037 by Tughril (990–1063) and his brother Chaghri (989–1060), both of whom co-ruled over its territories; there are indications that
5476-801: The Ma'munids , was under the nominal control of the Samanid Empire . By 999, the Samanids had fallen to the Kara-Khanid Khanate in Transoxiana , while the Ghaznavids occupied the lands south of the Amu Darya . The Seljuks supported the last Samanid emir against the Kara-Khanids before establishing an independent base. Oghuz Turks (also known as Turkmens at the time), led by Seljuk's son, Musa and his two nephews, Tughril and Chaghri, were one of several groups of
5624-553: The Mirrors for princes genre, such as the prominent Siyasatnama (Book of Politics) composed by Nizam al-Mulk . During this period, these type of books consciously made use of Islamic and Iranian traditions, such as an ideal government based on the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his successors, or the Sasanian King of Kings Khosrow I ( r. 531–579 ). In most of their coins,
5772-569: The Oghuz Yabghu Ali Tegin and his allies, forcing them to escape from Transoxiana . Initially, the Seljuks took refuge in Khwarazm , which served as one of their traditional pastures, but they were also encouraged by the local Ghaznavid governor, Harun, who hoped to utilise Seljuks for his efforts to seize Khorasan from his sovereign. When Harun was assassinated by Ghaznavid agents in 1035, they again had to flee, this time heading south across
5920-558: The Qarakhanids and Ghaznavids had to acknowledge the overlordship of the Seljuks. Seljuk dominion was established over the ancient Sasanian domains, in Iran and Iraq , and included Anatolia , Syria , as well as parts of Central Asia and modern Afghanistan . Their rule was modelled after the tribal organization common among Turkic and Mongol nomadic cultures, resembling a 'family federation' or ' appanage state'. Under this organization,
6068-800: The Shah-Armens and the Mengujekids in Eastern Anatolia, Artuqids in Southeastern Anatolia, Danishmendis in Central Anatolia, Rum Seljuks (Beylik of Suleyman , which later moved to Central Anatolia) in Western Anatolia, and the Beylik of Tzachas of Smyrna in İzmir ( Smyrna ). Under Alp Arslan 's successor, Malik Shah , and his two Persian viziers , Nizām al-Mulk and Tāj al-Mulk,
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6216-511: The Siege of Baghdad (1136) , forcing Caliph Al-Rashid Billah to abdicate, but the next Caliph Al-Muqtafi (1136–1160) managed to restore a high degree of independence and successfully resisted the Seljuk Siege of Baghdad (1157) . The army of the earliest Seljuks was not similar to the renowned Turkic military of the classical 'Abbasid era. Their first invasions were more of a great nomadic migration accompanied by their families and livestock rather than planned military conquests. They were not
6364-407: The Sultanate of Rum , and Kerbogha exercised independence as the atabeg of Mosul . During the First Crusade , the fractured states of the Seljuks were generally more concerned with consolidating their own territories and gaining control of their neighbours than with cooperating against the crusaders . The Seljuks easily defeated the People's Crusade arriving in 1096, but they could not stop
6512-452: The da'wa into the towns as well as Barkiyaruq's court and army, thereby directly meddling in Seljuk affairs. Despite assassination attempts against Barkiyaruq himself, the opposing Seljuk factions often blamed him for the assassination attempts against their officers and accused all Barkiyaruq's soldiers of subscribing to Ismailism. By 1100, the da'i Ahmad ibn Abd al-Malik , the son of the prominent da'i Abd al-Malik ibn Attash , captured
6660-419: The tughra . The populace of the Seljuk Empire would have considered this Perso-Islamic tradition more significant than that of steppe customs. Highly Persianized in culture and language, the Seljuks also played an important role in the development of the Turko-Persian tradition , even exporting Persian culture to Anatolia. Under the Seljuks, Persian was also used for books lecturing about politics in
6808-416: The 'Lesser Seljuks'. Much of the ideological character of the Seljuk Empire was derived from the earlier Samanid and Ghaznavid kingdoms, which had in turn emerged from the Perso-Islamic imperial system of the Abbasid caliphate. This Perso-Islamic tradition was based on pre-Islamic Iranian ideas of kingship molded into an Islamic framework. Little of the public symbolism used by the Seljuks was Turkic, namely
6956-399: The Atabegs effectively independent. The breakaway states and dynasties included: After the Second Crusade, Nur ad-Din's general Shirkuh , who had established himself in Egypt on Fatimid land, was succeeded by Saladin . In time, Saladin rebelled against Nur ad-Din ; upon his death, Saladin married his widow, captured most of Syria and created the Ayyubid dynasty. On other fronts,
7104-401: The Byzantine resistance to the Turkish invasion of Anatolia, although the Georgians were able to recover from Alp Arslan's invasion by securing the theme of Iberia . The Byzantine withdrawal from Anatolia brought Georgia in more direct contact with the Seljuks. In 1073 the Seljuk Amirs of Ganja, Dvin and Dmanisi invaded Georgia and were defeated by George II of Georgia , who successfully took
7252-521: The Franks in 1126. Moreover, Bahram had probably helped in the assassination of Tughtigin's enemy Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi , the governor of Mosul. Therefore, Toghtekin welcomed Bahram and his followers. Al-Mazadaqani persuaded Toghtekin to give a Mission House in Damascus and the frontier stronghold Banias to Bahram, who refortified it and made it his military base, performing extensive raids from there and possibly capturing more places. By 1128, their activities had become so formidable that "nobody dared to say
7400-403: The Ismaili leaders (Rudbar, Quhistan, and later Arrajan ) had several common advantages: difficult mountainous terrains, dissatisfied populations, and local traditions of Ismaili or at least Shia tendencies. Initially, the Ismailis gained support mostly in rural areas. They also received crucial support from non-Ismailis who sympathized with them due to socio-economic or political reasons. Thus,
7548-436: The Ismailis against the Seljuks was possibly before the capture of Alamut. A group of Ismailis performing joint prayers was arrested in Sawa by the Seljuk police chief and were freed after being questioned. The group later unsuccessfully attempted to convert a muezzin from Sawa who was active in the Seljuk capital Isfahan. Fearing that he would denounce Ismailism, the group murdered the muezzin. The vizier Nizam al-Mulk ordered
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#17328442007047696-496: The Ismailis transformed into a formidable and disciplined revolutionary group against the staunchly Sunni Abbasid–Seljuk order that had dominated the Islamic World. A complex set of religious and political motives was behind the revolt. The anti-Shia policies of the Seljuks, the new pioneers of Sunni Islam (see Sunni Revival ), were not tolerable for the Ismailis. The early widespread Ismaili revolt in Persia was, less conspicuously, an expression of national Persian Muslim sentiment:
7844-447: The Khwarezmian throne, managed to take control of Khorasan, until 1192 when he was defeated near Merv by the Ghurids , who captured his territories. The Ghurids then took control of all Khorasan following the death of his successor Tekish in 1200, as far as Besṭām in the ancient region of Qūmes. The province was finally conquered by Khwarazmians after the Ghurid defeat at the Battle of Andkhud (1204). The Tomb of Ahmed Sanjar
7992-442: The Nizari position, including the recapture of strongholds in Rudbar that had been lost in Shirgir's campaign, as well as intensifying the da'wa in Iraq, Adharbayjan, Gilan, Tabaristan, and Khurasan, is partly attributed to the Nizari ties with Sanjar. Some Nizaris joined Sanjar's forces in his invasion of Mahmud II's territories in 1129. Mahmud II was defeated in Sawa and most of northern Persia, including Tabaristan and Qumis, which
8140-421: The Nizari state, which boasted its rapid success in Persia. The first phase of Nizari activity lasted until 1113. Under the da'i al-Hakim al-Munajjim , the Nizaris allied with Ridwan , the emir of Aleppo who was a key political figure in Syria along with his brother Duqaq , the emir of Damascus. The da'i even joined Ridwan's entourage, and the Aleppine Nizaris established a Mission House ( dar al-dawah ) in
8288-434: The Nizaris confined to heavily defended castles in unfavorable terrain, the Seljuks reluctantly accepted the independence of the Nizari state. The bulk of the sources authored by the Nizaris was lost after the Mongol invasion and during the subsequent Ilkhanate period (1256–1335). Much of what is known about the Nizari history in Persia is based on the hostile Ilkhanate-era history works Tarikh-i Jahangushay (written by
8436-451: The Nizaris in Isfahan and purged his army by executing suspected Ismaili officers, while the Abbasid caliph al-Mustazhir persecuted suspected Nizaris in Baghdad and killed some of them, as requested by Barkiyaruq. Meanwhile, Sanjar's campaign commanded by emir Bazghash against Quhistan caused much damage to the region. In 1104, another campaign in Quhistan destroyed the city of Tabas and many Nizaris were massacred; however, no stronghold
8584-401: The Nizaris still held their ground and threatened the Seljuk lands from Syria to eastern Persia, including their capital of Isfahan . Naturally, the new sultan regarded the war against the Nizaris as an imperative. Muhammad Tapar launched a series of campaigns against the Nizaris and checked their expansion within two years after his accession. A Seljuk siege against Takrit failed to capture
8732-401: The Nizaris), accompanied by Chawli, against the Nizari heartland of Rudbar. The campaign devastated the area but failed to capture Alamut, and the Seljuks withdrew. Muhammad Tapar unsuccessfully attempted to receive assistance from the Bavandid ruler Shahriyar IV ibn Qarin . In 1109, Muhammad Tapar began another campaign against Rudbar. The Seljuks had realized the impregnability of Alamut to
8880-476: The Nizaris, who were now mostly in remote fortresses, a threat to their interests. The Seljuks even used the Nizaris for their assassinations, or at least used their notoriety for the use of assassination to cover up their own assassinations; such as those of Aqsunqur al-Ahmadili and the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustarshid in 1135, probably by Sultan Mas'ud. The number of the recorded assassinations dwindles after Hassan-i Sabbah's reign. The Nizaris eventually abandoned
9028-407: The Oghuz who made their way to Iran between about 1020 and 1040, first moving south to Transoxiana , and then to Khorasan , initially at the invitation of the local rulers, then under alliances and conflicts. Contemporary sources mention places such as Dahistan , Farawa and Nasa , as well as Sarakhs , all in present-day Turkmenistan. Around 1034, Tughril and Chaghri were soundly defeated by
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#17328442007049176-424: The Persians, who had been Islamized but not Arabized, were conscious of their distinct identity in the Muslim World and viewed the Seljuk Turks (and their Turkish predecessors Ghaznavids and Qarakhanids which had put an end to the so-called Iranian intermezzo ) as foreigners who had invaded their homeland from Central Asia. Seljuk rule was detested by multiple social classes. Hassan himself openly resented
9324-411: The Seljuk Empire. While the Maliknama was compiled from Turkic oral accounts, it was written in Persian and Arabic languages. Steppe traditions influenced Seljuk marriages, with Tughril marrying his brother Chaghri 's widow, a practice despised in Islam . Seljuk ceremonies were based on the Abbasid model, but sometimes ancient Iranian ceremonies were observed. During a night in 1091, all of Baghdad
9472-418: The Seljuk administrative and military prowess. After nine years of intelligence operations, Hassan concentrated his missionary efforts in Daylam , a traditional stronghold for the minority Zaydi Shias which had already been penetrated by the Ismaili da'wa . By 1087, Hassan had chosen the inaccessible castle of Alamut , located in the remote area of Rudbar (nowadays called "Alamut") in northern Persia, as
9620-418: The Seljuk army against Quhistan, led by emir Qizil-Sarigh and supported by forces from Khorasan and Sistan , was concentrating its efforts on the castle of Darah , a dependency of the major Ismaili castle of Mu'min-Abad . Sultan Malikshah died in November 1092 and the soldiers besieging Darah immediately withdrew because the Seljuk soldiers traditionally owed their allegiance only to the sultan himself. With
9768-426: The Seljuk leadership otherwise functioned as a triumvirate and thus included Musa Yabghu , the uncle of the aforementioned two. During the formative phase of the empire, the Seljuks first advanced from their original homelands near the Aral Sea into Khorasan and then into the Iranian mainland , where they would become largely based as a Persianate society . They then moved west to conquer Baghdad , filling up
9916-443: The Seljuk state expanded in various directions, to the former Iranian border of the days before the Arab invasion, so that it soon bordered China in the east and the Byzantines in the west. Malik Shah's brother Tutush defended Seljuk' interests in Syria in the battle of Ain Salm against Suleiman ibn Qutalmish who had started to carve out an independent state in Anatolia. Nevertheless, despite various attempts to bring afterwards
10064-461: The Seljuk sultans used the Sasanian title of shahanshah (King of Kings), and even used the old Buyid title of "Shahanshah of Islam." The title of malik was used by lesser princes of the Seljuk family. Like the caliphate, the Seljuks relied on a refined Persian bureaucracy. The settlement of Turkic tribes in the northwestern peripheral parts of the empire, for the strategic military purpose of fending off invasions from neighboring states, led to
10212-462: The Seljuks were repulsed by Mahmud and retired to Khwarezm , but Tughril and Chaghri led them to capture Merv and Nishapur (1037–1038). Later they repeatedly raided and traded territory with Mahmud's successor, Mas'ud, across Khorasan and Balkh . In 1040, at the Battle of Dandanaqan , Seljuks decisively defeated Mas'ud I of Ghazni , forcing him to abandon most of his western territories. Afterwards, Turkmens employed Khorasanians and set up
10360-438: The Turks. The Ismaili state was the first Muslim entity that adopted Persian as a religious language. Economic issues further contributed to the widespread revolt. The new Seljuk social order was based on iqta' (allotted land), which subjugated the locals under a Turkic emir and his army that levied heavy taxes. In contrast, the Ismaili state was dedicated to the ideal of social justice. The first bloodshed perpetrated by
10508-413: The authority of a single Chief Da'i (missionary) based in a secret headquarters in the Seljuk capital Isfahan . The Chief Da'i in the 1070s was Abd al-Malik ibn Attash , a Fatimid scholar who was respected even among Sunni elites. He led a revolt in 1080 provoked by the increasingly severe Seljuk repressions of the Ismailis. The Ismailis in Persia, including Da'i Hassan-i Sabbah , were aware of
10656-460: The base of operations. From Damghan and later Shahriyarkuh , he dispatched several da'i s to convert the locals of the settlements in the Rudbar valley near the castle. These activities were noticed by the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk , who ordered Abu Muslim, the governor of Rayy , to arrest the da'i . Hassan managed to remain hidden and secretly arrived at Daylam, temporarily settling in Qazvin . He
10804-592: The capture of Shahdiz. Probably soon after destroying Shadiz, Seljuk forces under Muhammad Tapar's atabeg of Fars , Fakhr al-Dawla Chawli , destroyed the Nizari fortresses in Arrajan in a surprise attack as he pretended to be preparing for an attack against his neighbor Bursuqids . Little is recorded about Nizaris in the area after this event. In 1106-1109, Muhammad Tapar sent an expeditionary force under his vizier Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk (whose father Nizam al-Mulk and brother Fakhr al-Mulk had been assassinated by
10952-626: The castle and captured it. Hassan appointed Buzurg-Ummid as Lamasar's commandant, who expanded it into the largest Ismaili fortress. In 1094, the Fatimid Caliph- Imam al-Mustansir died and his vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah quickly placed the young al-Musta'li on the Fatimid throne, who was subsequently recognized as the Imam by the Ismailis under Fatimid influence (i.e. those of Egypt , much of Syria, Yemen , and western India ). However, al-Mustansir had originally designated Nizar as his heir. As
11100-468: The castle due to a lack of supplies. However, Hassan claimed that he had received a special message promising good fortune from Imam al-Mustansir Billah, persuading the garrison to continue their resistance. The Ismailis eventually emerged victorious when Yurun-Tash died of natural causes. Alamut was nicknamed baldat al-iqbāl ( lit. ' the city of good fortune ' ) after this victory. Sultan Malikshah and his vizier Nizam al-Mulk soon realized
11248-463: The citadel after several months, but the Nizaris under Kayqubad were also unable to keep it and ceded it to an independent local Twelver Shia Arab ruler, the Mazyadid Sayf al-Dawla Sadaqa. At the same time, Sanjar attacked Quhistan, but the details are unknown. Muhammad Tapar's main campaign was against Shahdiz which was threatening his capital Isfahan. He eventually captured Shahdiz in 1107 after
11396-448: The city, operating under Ridwan's aegis. One of their military actions was the assassination of Janah ad-Dawla , the emir of Hims and a key opponent of Ridwan. Al-Hakim al-Munajjim died in 1103 and was replaced by the da'i Abu Tahir al-Sa'igh , also sent by Hassan-i Sabbah. Abu Tahir enjoyed an alliance with Ridwan as well and continued using the Nizari base in Aleppo. He attempted to seize strongholds in pro-Ismaili areas, especially
11544-422: The conflicts against Sultan Mas'ud ( r. 1133–1152 ). In 1135 or 1139, Mas'ud captured the caliph, together with his vizier and several dignitaries, near Hamadan , treated him with respect, and brought him to Maragha. However, while the caliph and his companions were in the royal tentage, he let a large group of Nizaris enter the tent and assassinate al-Mustarshid and his companions. Rumors arose suggesting
11692-553: The crusaders. After pillaging the County of Edessa , Seljuk commander Ilghazi made peace with the Crusaders. In 1121 he went north towards Georgia and with supposedly up to 250,000 – 350,000 troops, including men led by his son-in-law Sadaqah and Sultan Malik of Ganja , he invaded the Kingdom of Georgia . David IV of Georgia gathered 40,000 Georgian warriors, including 5,000 monaspa guards, 15,000 Kipchaks , 300 Alans and 100 French Crusaders to fight against Ilghazi 's vast army. At
11840-460: The death of a caliph and the first victory for the new Lord of Alamut, Muhammad ibn Buzurg-Ummid . In Isfahan, a great massacre of the Nizaris (or those accused to be Nizaris) was committed. During the reign of Muhammad ibn Buzurg-Ummid, the Seljuk sultan Da'ud , who had persecuted the Nizaris of Adharbaijan , was assassinated in Tabriz in 1143 by four Syrian fida'i s. They were allegedly sent by Zangi,
11988-459: The deaths of Nizam al-Mulk and Malikshah, all planned actions against the Ismailis were aborted. [The assassination of Nizam al-Mulk] was the first of a long series of such attacks which, in a calculated war of terror, brought sudden death to sovereigns, princes, generals, governors, and even divines who had condemned Nizari doctrines and authorized the suppression of those who professed them. The sudden deaths of Nizam al-Mulk and Malikshah reshaped
12136-503: The declining power of the Fatimids during the final decades of the imamate of al-Mustansir. Hassan was a new Ismaili convert who had been appointed to a post in the da'wah organization by Ibn Attash in May–June 1072. Within nine years of his missionary activity in several Seljuk provinces, Hassan had evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the Seljuk military and government and took note of
12284-538: The dominant power in the region, but the Mongol invasion in 1219–1220 soon destroyed it. The Sultanate of Rum, the last remnants of the Seljuks in Anatolia, ended too with the Mongol invasions of Anatolia through the 1260s, and was divided into small emirates called ' beyliks '. One of these, the Ottomans , would eventually rise to power and conquer the rest. Seljuk power was indeed at its zenith under Malikshāh I, and both
12432-536: The early years of the 12th century or a few years earlier in the form of da'i s dispatched from Alamut. Tutush I 's death in 1095 and Frankish Crusader advances in 1097 caused Syria to become unstable and politically fragmented into several rival states. The decline of the Fatimids after al-Mustansir Billah's death coupled with the aforementioned political confusion of Seljuks and the Crusader threats all urged Sunnis and Shias (including Musta'lis and non-Ismailis such as Druzes and Nusayris ) to shift their allegiance to
12580-637: The east by the Khwarazmian Empire in 1194 and the Zengids and Ayyubids in the west. The last surviving Seljuk sultanate to fall was the Sultanate of Rum , which fell in 1308. The founder of the dynasty was Seljuk, a warlord, who belonged to the Qiniq tribe of Oghuz Turks . He led his clan to the banks of the Syr Darya river, near city of Jend , where they converted to Islam in 985. Khwarezm, administered by
12728-480: The execution of his predecessor Abu Tahir al-Sa'igh and the uprooting of the Nizaris in Aleppo, Bahram al-Da'i was sent by Alamut in an attempt to resurrect the Nizari cause in Syria. In 1118, Aleppo was captured by Ilghazi , the Artuqid prince of Mardin and Mayyafariqin . The Nizaris of Aleppo demanded Ilghazi cede to them a small castle called Qal'at al-Sharif, but Ilghazi had the castle demolished and pretended that
12876-460: The execution of the group's leader, Tahir, whose corpse was then dragged through the market. Tahir was a son of a senior preacher who had been lynched by a mob in Kirman for being an Ismaili. Yurun-Tash, the emir holding the iqta' of Rudbar, quickly began to harass and massacre the Ismailis at the foot of Alamut. The besieged garrison of Alamut was on the verge of defeat and was considering abandoning
13024-451: The expeditionary force of Mawdud , the Seljuk atabeg of Mosul , who had come to Syria to fight the Crusaders. However, in his final years, Ridwan retreated from his earlier alliances with the Nizaris due to the determined anti-Nizari campaign of Muhammad Tapar ( see below ) coupled with the increasing unpopularity of the Nizaris among the Aleppines. Mawdud was assassinated in 1113, but it
13172-677: The first madrasa in Baghdad, in 1063, called the Nizamiya . In the madrasas he built, he patronized Shafi'is. The vizier Taj al-Mulk and Malik-shah's widow, Terken Khatun, patronized the building of a madrasa to compete with Nazim's Nizamiya . The region of Iraq was under the control of the Seljuk Empire from 1055 to 1135, since the Oghuz Turk Tughril Beg had expelled the Shiite Buyid dynasty . Tughril Beg entered Baghdad in 1055 and
13320-461: The forces of Anushtagin, and turned the sultan against Anushtagin, who had the latter imprisoned and executed. Muhammad Tapar's campaign ended in a stalemate. The Seljuks failed to reduce the Nizari strongholds, while the Nizari revolt lost its initial effectiveness. Unable to repel the concerted Seljuk campaigns, the Nizaris had continued to rely on assassinating important Seljuk leaders, such as Ubayd Allah ibn Ali al-Khatibi ( qadi of Isfahan and
13468-488: The fortress into Nizari possession in the same year. Abu Hamza, another Ismaili da'i from Arrajan who had been a shoemaker studied in Fatimid Egypt, returned home and seized at least two nearby castles in his small but important home province south of Persia. The Nizaris were successful during the reign of Barkiyaruq, especially after 1096. Besides consolidating their positions and seizing new strongholds, they spread
13616-737: The fortress of Kars . A retaliatory strike by the Seljuk Amir Ahmad defeated the Georgians at Kvelistsikhe . Alp Arslan authorized his Turkoman generals to carve their own principalities out of formerly Byzantine Anatolia, as atabegs loyal to him. Within two years the Turkmens had established control as far as the Aegean Sea under numerous beyliks : the Saltukids in Northeastern Anatolia,
13764-684: The help of local Nizaris under a certain Abu al-Fath of Sarmin , assassinated Khalaf in February 1106 and acquired the citadel of Qal'at al-Mudhiq by an "ingenious" plan. Tancred , the Frankish regent of Antioch besieged the city, but he was unsuccessful. A few months later in September 1106, he besieged the city again and captured it with the help of Khalaf's brother, Mus'ab. Abu al-Fath was executed, but Abu Tahir ransomed himself and returned to Aleppo. In 1111, Nizari forces joined Ridwan as he closed Aleppo's gate to
13912-471: The host of Yelu Dashi at the Battle of Qatwan on September 9, 1141. While Sanjar managed to escape with his life, many of his close kin including his wife were taken captive in the battle's aftermath. As a result of Sanjar's failure to deal with the encroaching threat from the east, the Seljuk Empire lost all its eastern provinces up to the river Syr Darya , and vassalage of the Western Kara-Khanids
14060-564: The inability of the local emirs to manage the Ismaili rebels. In 1092, they sent two separate armies against Rudbar and Quhistan. The garrison of Alamut consisted of only 70 men with limited supplies when the Seljuk army under emir Arslan-Tash invested the castle. Hassan asked for assistance from the Qazvin-based da'i Dihdar Abu Ali Ardestani . The latter broke the Seljuk line with a force of 300 men and resupplied and reinforced Alamut. A coordinated surprise attack in September or October 1092 by
14208-556: The influence of the Buyid dynasty , under a commission from the Abbasid caliph. Iraq would remain under the control of the Seljuk Turks until 1135. Alp Arslan, the son of Chaghri Beg, expanded significantly upon Tughril's holdings by adding Armenia and Georgia in 1064 and invading the Byzantine Empire in 1068, from which he annexed almost all of Anatolia. Arslan's decisive victory at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 effectively neutralized
14356-454: The involvement (or deliberate negligence) of Mas'ud and even Sanjar (the nominal ruler of the empire). In Alamut, celebrations were held for seven days. The governor of Maragha was also assassinated shortly before the arrival of the caliph. Several other Seljuk elites were also assassinated during the reign of Kiya Buzurg-Ummid in Alamut, including a prefect of Isfahan, a prefect of Tabriz , and
14504-400: The leader of the anti-Ismaili movement there) in 1108-1109, Sa'id ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ( qadi of Nishapur), and other bureaucrats and emirs. Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk , who led the expedition against Alamut, survived an assassination attempt in Baghdad, though he was wounded. In 1116/1117, the Seljuk emir of Maragha , Ahmadil ibn Ibrahim al-Kurdi , was assassinated by the Nizaris in
14652-456: The leading member of the paramount family assigned to family members portions of his domains as autonomous appanages. Seljuks exercised full control over Islamic Central Asia and the Middle East between 1040 and 1157. For most of its history, the empire was split into a western and eastern half and did not have a single capital or political center. In the east, the chief seat of Seljuk rule
14800-550: The most prominent development of Malik Shah's rule was the continuous increase in the power of the Nizām al-Mulk. Some contemporary chroniclers refer to the period as "al-dawla al-Nizamiyya", the Nizam's state, while modern scholars have mentioned him as "the real ruler of the Seljuq empire". The 14-century biographer Subki claimed that Nizām al-Mulk's vizierate was "not just a vizierate, it was above
14948-592: The nomadic invasion of the Kara-Khitais in the east. The advancing Kara-Khitais first defeated the Eastern Kara-Khanids, then followed up by crushing the Western Kara-Khanids, who were vassals of the Seljuks at Khujand . The Kara-Khanids turned to their Seljuk overlords for assistance, to which Sanjar responded by personally leading an army against the Kara-Khitai. However, Sanjar's army was decisively defeated by
15096-516: The official protection of the Burid ruler Tughtigin , atabeg of Damascus, whose vizier al-Mazadaqani had become a reliable Nizari ally. At this point in 1125, Damascus was under threats of the Frankish Crusaders under Baldwin II of Jerusalem , and Ismailis from Homs and elsewhere had earlier joined Tughtigin's troops and had been noted for their courage in the Battle of Marj al-Saffar against
15244-549: The order was given earlier. The demolition was conducted by qadi Ibn al-Khashshab , who had been earlier involved in a massacre of the Nizaris (he was later assassinated by the Nizaris in 1125). In 1124, Ilghazi's nephew Balak Ghazi , the (nominal) governor of Aleppo, arrested Bahram's representative there and expelled the Nizaris. Bahram focused on Southern Syria as recommended by his supporter, Ilghazi. The da'i resided there in secret and practiced his missionary activities in disguise. Supported by Ilghazi, he managed to obtain
15392-423: The political landscape of the Seljuk realm. A decade-long civil war began involving the Seljuk claimants and the semi-independent Seljuk emirs who constantly shifted their allegiances. Barkiyaruq had been proclaimed as the ruler, supported by the relatives of Nizam al-Mulk and the new Abbasid caliph al-Mustazhir . His rivals included his half-brother Muhammad Tapar and Tutush , the governor of Syria . The latter
15540-683: The power vacuum that had been caused by struggles between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Iranian Buyid Empire . The subsequent Seljuk expansion into eastern Anatolia triggered the Byzantine–Seljuk wars , with the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 marking a decisive turning point in the conflict in favour of the Seljuks, undermining the authority of the Byzantine Empire in the remaining parts of Anatolia and gradually enabling
15688-562: The progress of the army of the subsequent Princes' Crusade (First Crusade), which took important cities such as Nicaea ( İznik ), Iconium (Konya) , Caesarea Mazaca ( Kayseri ), and Antioch ( Antakya ) on its march to Jerusalem ( Al-Quds ). In 1099 the crusaders finally captured the Holy Land and set up the first Crusader states . The Seljuks had already lost Jerusalem to the Fatimids , who had recaptured it in 1098 just before its capture by
15836-512: The progressive Turkicization of those areas. According to the 12th-century poet Nizami Aruzi , all of the Seljuk sultans had a liking for poetry, which is also demonstrated by the large compilation of Persian verses written under their patronage. This had already started under Tughril, who was praised in Arabic and Persian by poets such as Fakhruddin As'ad Gurgani and Bakharzi, albeit he could not understand
15984-514: The region's Turkification . The Seljuk Empire united the fractured political landscape in the non-Arab eastern parts of the Muslim world and played a key role in both the First and Second Crusades ; it also bore witness to in the creation and expansion of multiple artistic movements during this period By the 1140s, the Seljuk Empire began to decline in power and influence, and was eventually supplanted in
16132-424: The reinforced garrison and allied locals resulted in a rout of the Seljuk besiegers. While planning further anti-Ismaili campaigns, Nizam al-Mulk was assassinated on October 14, 1092, in western Persia. The assassination was performed by a fida'i sent by Hassan-i Sabbah, but it was probably at the instigation of Sultan Malikshah and his wife Terken Khatun , who were wary of the all-powerful vizier. Meanwhile,
16280-424: The revolt. The conflict was characterized by the weaker Nizaris employing impregnable strongholds and assassinating key opponents (for which they gained the designation of Assassins ), and the Seljuks massacring the Ismailis and their sympathizers. Due to the Seljuks and Nizaris being unable to complete the war quickly, the Nizaris lost their momentum in the war leading to a stalemate on both sides. Combined with
16428-603: The ruler of Mosul, who feared that Da'ud may depose him. An attack by Mas'ud against Lamasar and other places in Rudbar was repelled in the same year. Seljuk Empire The Seljuk Empire , or the Great Seljuk Empire , was a high medieval , culturally Turco-Persian , Sunni Muslim empire, established and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks . The empire spanned a total area of 3.9 million square kilometres (1.5 million square miles) from Anatolia and
16576-408: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Attash . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Attash&oldid=901777843 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
16724-566: The same time, the son of Suleiman ibn Qutalmish , Kilij Arslan I , escaped Malikshāh's imprisonment and claimed authority in the former lands of his father . In Persia , Malikshāh's four year old son Mahmud I was proclaimed sultan but his reign was contested by his three brothers Barkiyaruq in Iraq , Muhammad I in Baghdad , and Ahmad Sanjar in Khorasan . Additionally, Malikshāh's brother Tutush I made
16872-411: The same year, Mahmud moved to make peace by inviting an envoy from Alamut. The envoy, Khwaja Muhammad Nasihi Shahrastani, and his colleague were lynched by a mob in Isfahan after visiting Mahmud. The latter apologized but refused Buzurgummid's request to punish the murderers. In response, the Nizaris attacked Qazvin, killing some and taking much booty; when the Qazvinis fought back, the Nizaris assassinated
17020-758: The scholar Ata-Malik Juwayni , who was present during the Mongol takeover of the Nizari castles), Zubdat at-Tawarikh (by Abd Allah ibn Ali al-Kashani), and Jami' at-Tawarikh (by Rashid al-Din Hamadani ). In the tenth century, the Muslim World was dominated by two powers: the Fatimid Caliphate ruled over North Africa and the Levant while the Seljuk Empire controlled Persia . The Fatimids were adherents of Ismailism ,
17168-510: The strategic fortress of Shahdiz just outside the Seljuk capital Isfahan . Ahmad reportedly converted 30,000 people in the region and began collecting taxes from several nearby districts. A second fortress, Khanlanjan ( Bazi ) located south of Isfahan was also seized. In response to growing Nizari power, Barkiyaruq reached an agreement with Sanjar in 1101 to exterminate all Nizaris in their subordinate regions, i.e. western Persia and Khurasan , respectively. Barkiyaruq supported massacres of
17316-509: The subsequent persecution led by Sa'id, Abu Tahir and many other Nizaris in Aleppo were executed and others dispersed or went underground. An attempt by the regrouped Nizaris of Aleppo and elsewhere to seize the Shayzar castle was defeated by the Munqidhites. Although the Nizaris failed to establish a permanent base in Syria, they managed to establish contacts and convert many locals. After
17464-453: The sultanate". The Assassins ( Hashshashin ) of Hassan-i Sabāh started to become a force during his era, however, and they assassinated many leading figures in his administration; according to many sources these victims included Nizām al-Mulk. Ahmad was the son of Malik Shah I and initially took part in wars of succession against his three brothers and a nephew: Mahmud I , Barkiyaruq , Malik Shah II and Muhammad I Tapar . In 1096, he
17612-569: The tactic of assassination, because political terrorism was considered reprehensible by the common people. The nature of Nizari–Seljuk relations gradually changed in this period: the Seljuqs no longer repudiated the Nizari mission, but the Nizari presence in inner Seljuk territories was brought to an end and they began to focus on consolidating their remote territories instead. Small (semi)-independent Nizari states were established, which busied themselves with local alliances and rivalries. Muhammad Tapar
17760-412: The throne, and Mahmud II proclaimed himself Sultan and established a capital in Baghdad, until 1131 when he was finally officially deposed by Ahmad Sanjar. Elsewhere in nominal Seljuk territory were the Artuqids in northeastern Syria and northern Mesopotamia ; they controlled Jerusalem until 1098. The Dānišmand dynasty founded a state in eastern Anatolia and northern Syria and contested land with
17908-545: The various Turkish warlords in Anatolia under control, they largerly maintained their independence. Malikshāh was the one who moved the capital from Ray to Isfahan . 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. Internally,
18056-506: The verses. The last Seljuk sultan Tughril III was well known for his Persian poetry. The Saljuq-nama of Zahir al-Din Nishapuri , which was most likely dedicated to Tughril III, indicates that the Seljuk family now used Persian to communicate, and even were taught about the achievements of their forefathers in that language. Tughril relied on his vizier to translate from Arabic and Persian into Turkic for him, and Oghuz songs were sung at
18204-516: The vigorous Nizari da'wa soon replaced the doctrine of the declining Fatimids there, particularly in Aleppo and the nearby Jazr region, such that the Syrian Musta'li community was reduced to an insignificant element by 1130. Nevertheless, the Nizari mission in Syria proved to be more challenging than in Persia: their fledgling presence in Aleppo and later Damascus was soon eliminated, and they acquired
18352-452: The vizierate of Nizam al-Mulk. It was under the vizierate of al-Kunduri that the Islamic scholar, Al-Juwayni was forced to flee to Mecca and Medina. In 1065, Alp Arslan campaigned against the Kingdom of Georgia , subjugated Tbilisi , and built a mosque in the city. In 1092, Malik-shah built the Jami al-Sultan Mosque in Baghdad . At the capital, Isfahan, Malik-shah had constructed a madrasa,
18500-607: The wedding of Tughril to the caliph's daughter. Later sultans, like Mahmud , could speak Arabic alongside Persian, however, they still used Turkic among themselves. The most significant evidence of the importance of Turkic language is the extensive Turkic–Arabic dictionary, or the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk , assembled in Baghdad for Caliph al-Muqtadi by Mahmud al-Kashgari . However, besides the Diwan, no works written in Turkic language survive from
18648-601: Was Marv in present-day Turkmenistan . In the west, various cities, where the Seljuk rulers lived periodically, served as capitals: Rayy , Isfahan , Baghdad , and, later, Hamadan . These western lands were known as the Sultanate of Iraq. After 1118, the Seljuk rulers of Iraq recognized the suzerainty of the Seljuk sultan Sanjar , who mostly ruled from Marv, and was known by the title of al-sultān al-a'zam, 'the Greatest Sultan'. The Seljuk rulers of Iraq were often mentioned as
18796-557: Was also defeated and a Seljuk emir, Tamurtughan, was captured. He was released later as requested by Sanjar. At the same time or shortly after the campaign in Quhistan, the Nizaris lost Arrajan; after this point, little is recorded about them in Arrajan and, consequently, in Khuzestan and Fars also. The Nizaris were quick to take revenge—the commander of the Quhistan's campaign, vizier al-Kashi,
18944-457: 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, Zengi succeeded Kerbogha as atabeg and successfully began the process of consolidating the atabegs of Syria. In 1144 Zengi captured Edessa , as the County of Edessa had allied itself with
19092-517: Was assassinated in March 1127 by two fida'i s who had infiltrated into his household. At the end of Buzurg-Ummid's reign in 1138, the Nizaris were stronger than before. Several fortresses (including Mansur ) were captured in Taliqan , while several new ones were constructed, including Sa'adatkuh and most famously the major stronghold of Maymun-Diz in Rudbar. In 1129, the Nizaris (presumably of Quhistan) mobilized an army and raided Sistan . In May of
19240-404: Was being continually reinforced by other emirs. In April 1118, the Seljuk forces were once again on the verge of victory when the news of Muhammad Tapar's death caused them to withdraw. Many Seljuks were killed in the retreat and the Nizaris obtained many supplies and weapons. The Seljuk vizier Abu al-Qasim Dargazini , who was allegedly a secret Nizari, procured the new sultan Mahmud II to withdraw
19388-455: Was destroyed by the Mongols led by Tolui , who sacked the city of Merv in 1221, killing 700,000 people according to contemporary sources during their catastrophic invasion of Khwarazm ; however, modern scholarship holds such figures to be exaggerated. When Malikshāh I died in 1092, the empire split as his brother and four sons quarrelled over the apportioning of the empire among themselves. At
19536-476: Was instigated by his advisors at the right moment to shift his policy, killing al-Mazdaqani and ordering a massacre of all Nizaris, which was conducted by al-ahdath (militia) and the Sunni population. Around 6,000 Nizaris were killed. Ismail al-Ajami surrendered Banias to the advancing Franks during their Crusade of 1129 and died in exile among the Franks in 1130. Despite elaborate security measures taken by Buri, he
19684-407: Was killed in 1095 in battle. Fighting with Muhammad Tapar, who was backed by Sanjar , was indecisive, however. Exploiting this political ferment and the power vacuum that developed, the Ismailis consolidated and expanded their positions into many places such as Fars, Arrajan, Kirman, and Iraq , often with temporary help from Seljuk emirs. Filling the power vacuum following diminished authority of
19832-505: Was later appointed as the Fatimid Da'i of Daylam. From Qazvin Hassan dispatched one further da'i to Alamut. Meanwhile, Ismailis from elsewhere infiltrated and populated the region near Alamut. Hassan then moved to Ashkawar , and then Anjirud , gradually getting closer to the castle, and secretly entered the castle itself on the eve of September 4, 1090, living there for a while disguised as
19980-669: Was later lynched by the Seljuks). Many new scattered strongholds were also seized, including Ustunawand in Damavand and Mihrin (Mihrnigar), Mansurkuh , and the strategic Girdkuh in Qumis , situated on the Great Khorasan Road . Gerdkuh was acquired and refortified by the Seljuk ra'is Muzaffar , a secret Ismaili convert and lieutenant of emir Habashi , who in turn had acquired the fort in 1096 from Sultan Barkiyaruq. The latter never enjoyed
20128-480: Was lit with candles under the orders of Malik-Shah I, which resembled the Zoroastrian ritual of sadhak . In 985, the Seljuks migrated to the city of Jend where they converted to Islam. The arrival of the Seljuk Turks into Persia, and their patronage of constructing madrasas, allowed for Sunni Islam to become the dominant sect of Islam. Until the death of Sultan Sanjar, the Seljuks were pious Sunnis, and represented
20276-522: Was lost and the Nizaris maintained their overall position; in fact, in 1104–1105, the Nizaris of Turshiz campaigned as far west as Rayy . The Nizaris expanded into Kirman too, and even won the Seljuk ruler of Kerman , Iranshah ibn Turanshah (1097–1101). Prompted by the local Sunni ulama (Islamic scholars), the townspeople soon deposed and executed him. Most Ismailis of Syria had originally recognized al-Musta'li as their Imam ( see above ). However,
20424-451: Was more successful. The Quhistani people resented the rule of their oppressive Seljuk emir more, such that the movement spread there not through secret conversion, but an open revolt. Soon the major towns of Tun (modern Ferdows ), Tabas , Qa'in , and Zuzan came under Ismaili control. Quhistan became a well-established Ismaili province governed by a local ruler, titled muhtasham , appointed from Alamut. The areas that had been chosen by
20572-685: Was named Governor of Mosul, where the Atabegdom of Mosul was formed. The Seljuk control of the Abassids ended in 1135, with direct military confrontation between the Abassids and the Seljuks: after rebuilding the walls of Baghdad and recreating a Caliphal after many centuries, Al-Mustarshid confronted the subordinate Seljuk Sultan of Iraq Mas'ud in battle. The caliph lost and was taken prisoner, and died in captivity in 1135, but conflicts continued with Al-Mustarshid's successors. Mas'ud briefly recaptured Baghdad in
20720-465: Was penetrated by the Nizaris, came under Sanjar's rule. Mahmud II's brother, Tughril, later rebelled and took Gilan, Qazvin, and other districts. In 1126, two years after Kiya Buzurg-Ummid succeeded Hasan Sabbah as the head of the Alamut state, Sanjar sent his vizier Mu'in al-Din Ahmad al-Kashi to attack the Nizaris of Quhistan with orders to massacre them and confiscate their properties. The casus belli
20868-473: Was recognized as the hujja (full-representative) of the then-inaccessible Imam. Rare Nizari coins from Alamut belonging to Hassan and his two successors bear the name of an anonymous descendant of the Nizar. In 1095, the Seljuk vizier al-Balasani , who was a Twelver Shia , entrusted the citadel of Takrit in Iraq to the officer Kayqubad Daylami, an Ismaili. The citadel, one of the few open Nizari strongholds, remained in their hands for 12 years (al-Balasani
21016-434: Was restricted to the only rule of Iraq, while Sanjar took control of the rest of the Empire. In order to counter the ambitions of Abbasid Caliph al-Mustarshid (1118–1135), who wanted to acquire world dominance, in 1124 Mahmūd granted the city of Wasit to Imad al-Din Zengi as an ıqta , and conferred him the Military Governorship of Basra together with Baghdad and the whole of Iraq in 1126. In 1127, Imad al-Din Zengi
21164-419: Was struck in May 1131 by fida'i s from Alamut and died of his wounds a year later. Nevertheless, the Nizari position in Damascus was already lost forever. Barkiyaruq died in 1105. Due to this, Muhammad Tapar , along with Sanjar who acted as his eastern viceroy, became the unchallenged Seljuk sultan who ruled the stabilized empire until 1118. Although their expansion had been checked by Barkiyaruq and Sanjar,
21312-413: Was succeeded by his son Mahmud II ( r. 1118–1131 ), who ruled over western Persia and (nominally) Iraq, but he faced many claimants. Sanjar, who held Khorasan since 1097, was generally recognized as the head of the Seljuk family. The Nizaris maintained peaceful or friendly relations with Sanjar. According to Juwayni, Sanjar was prompted into these good ties after Hassan-i Sabbah had a eunuch place
21460-420: Was tasked to govern the province of Khorasan by his brother Muhammad I. Over the next several years, Ahmad Sanjar became the ruler of most of Iran (Persia), and eventually in 1118, the sole ruler of the Great Seljuk Empire, but with a subordinate Sultan in Iraq in the person of Mahmud II . In 1141, Ahmad marched to eliminate the threat posed by Kara Khitans and faced them in the vicinity of Samarkand at
21608-454: Was the Sultan of all Seljuk lands except for Anatolia. He spent his reign conquering cities, destroying the citadel of Ray in the process, but was unable to hold any cities long enough to rebuild them. Toghrul III, however, was defeated by Ala al-Din Tekish , Shah of Khwarazmian Empire , and the Seljuk Empire finally collapsed in 1194. Of the former Empire, only the Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia remained. The Khwarazmian Empire took over as
21756-495: Was the first Seljuk ruler to style himself Sultan and Protector of the Abbasid Caliphate. From that time, the Abassids were only "puppets" in the hands of the Seljuks. In 1058, the Abassid Caliph granted to Tughril the title of "King of East and West", officially becoming the temporal protector of Abassid Caliph Qa'im . Iraq remained under the control of the Great Seljuks during the reign of Muhammad I Tapar (1082–1118 CE), but from 1119, his 14 years old son Mahmud II (1118–1131)
21904-429: Was usurped by the Kara-Khitai, otherwise known as the Western Liao in Chinese historiography. In 1153, the Oghuz Turks rebelled and captured Sanjar. He managed to escape after three years but died a year later. The Atabegs, such as the Zengids and Artuqids , were only nominally under the Seljuk Sultan, and generally controlled Syria independently. When Sanjar died in 1157, the empire fractured even further and rendered
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