SELJUKS, the name of several Turkish dynasties which reigned over large parts of Asia in the I Ith, 12th and 13th cen turies. The history of these rulers forms the first part of the history of the Turkish empire. Proceeding from the deserts of Turkestan, the SeljUks inherited the traditions and at the same time the power of the Arabian caliphate, of which, when they Made their appearance, only the shadow remained in the person of the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. It is their merit from a Mo hammedan point of view to have re-established the power of orthodox Islam and delivered the Muslim world from the sub versive influence of the ultra-Shiite tenets, which constituted a serious danger to the duration of Islam itself.
The first Seljuk rulers were Toghrul Beg, Chakir Beg and Ibrahim Niyal, the son of Mikail, the son of Seljuk, the son of Tukak, or Tuqaq (also styled Timilryalik, "iron bow"). They belonged to the Turkish tribe of the Ghuzz, which traced its lineage to Oghuz, the famous eponymic hero not only of this but of all Turkish tribes.
At the beginning of the IIth century the Ghuzz were settled in Transoxiana, and became a serious danger to the adjoining Mohammedan provinces. Under the leadership of Pigu Arslan Israil, they crossed the Oxus and spread over the eastern prov inces of Persia, everywhere plundering and destroying. After a decisive battle near Mery (I040), Persia lay open to the victors, who proclaimed themselves independent at Mery (which became from that time the official capital of the principal branch of the SeljUks), and acknowledged Toghrul Beg as chief of the whole family. After this victory the three princes Toghrul Beg, Chakir Beg and Ibrahim Niyal separated in different directions and con quered the Mohammedan provinces east of the Tigris ; the last named, after conquering Hamadan and the province of Jebel (Irak i Ajami), penetrated as early as 1048 into Armenia and reached Manzikert, Erzerum and Trebizond. This excited the jealousy of Toghrul Beg, who summoned him to give up Hama dan and the fortresses of Jebel; but Ibrahim refused, and the progress of the SeljUkian arms was for some time checked by internal discord. Ibrahim was, however, compelled to submit.
named Basasiri, lieutenant of the last Buyid, Malik-ar-Rahim. Nothing could, therefore, be more acceptable to the caliph than the protection of the orthodox Toghrul Beg, whose name was read in the official prayer (khotba) as early as 5050. At the end of the same year (1055) the SeljUks entered the city and seized the person of Malik-ar-Rahim. Basasiri, of ter acknowledging the right of the Fatimites, gathered fresh troops, incited Ibrahim Niyal to rebel again, and re-entered Baghdad at the close of 1058. The next year, however, Toghrul Beg got rid of both his antagonists, and re-entered Baghdad. He re-established the caliph, and was be trothed to his daughter, but died before the consummation of the nuptials (Sept. 1063). Alp Arslan, the son of Chakir Beg, suc ceeded his uncle and extended the rule of his family beyond the former frontiers. He made himself master, e.g., of the important city of Aleppo ; and during his reign a Turkish amir, Atsiz, wrested Palestine and Syria from the hands of the Fatimites. He made successful expeditions against the Greeks, especially that of 1071, in which the Greek emperor Romanus Diogenes was taken pris oner (see ROMAN EMPIRE, LATER). The foundation of the Seljuk empire of Rum (q.v.) was the immediate result of this great victory.
Malik Shah, the son and successor of Alp Ars15.n, intervened in the affairs of Asia Minor and Syria, conceding the latter province as an hereditary fief to his brother Tutush, who estab lished himself at Damascus. He, however, like his father Alp Arslan, was indebted for his greatest fame to the wise and salutary measures of their vizier, Nizam ul-Mulk. This extraordinary man was a renowned author and statesman, and immortalized his name by the foundation of several universities (the Nizamiyah at Baghdad), observatories, mosques, hospitals and other public institutions. At his instigation the calendar was revised, and a new era, dating from the reign of Malik Shah and known as the Jelalian, was introduced. Not quite 4o days before the death of his master this great man was murdered by the Assassins. He had fallen into disfavour 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 Matimild at the expense of the elder sons of Malik Shah.