Seljuks

Seljuks, Turkish dynasty prominent in the Middle East during the 11th and 12th centuries. Originally a clan belonging to the Ghuzz, a Turkoman tribe of Central Asia, they were converted to Islam in the 10th century and established themselves in the Iranian province of Khurasan in the early 11th century. In the period between 1040 and 1055, their chief, Togrul Beg, conquered most of the area of modern Iran and Iraq and made himself protector of the caliph of Baghdad, spiritual leader of the Sunni (orthodox) Muslims. Togrul was given the title sultan by the caliph and made war on the Shiites, who rejected the caliph's authority.

Under Togrul's successors, Alp Arslan and Malik Shah, the empire of the Seljuks was further extended into Syria, Palestine, and Anatolia. Alp Arslan's victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert (1071) alarmed the Christian world, and Seljuk aggressiveness was a major reason for launching the First Crusade. The main enemy of the Seljuks, however, was the Shia Fatimid caliphate of Egypt.

Ruling from their capital at Eşfahān in Iran, the Seljuk sultans used the Persian language in their administration and were patrons of Persian literature. They founded madresahs (colleges) to train future administrators in accordance with Sunni doctrine. After the death of Malik Shah and his vizier, Nizam-al-Mulk, the empire was divided among Malik Shah's sons, and Seljuk power gradually declined.

A branch of the dynasty, the sultanate of Rum with a capital at Konya, survived in Anatolia until subjugated by the Mongols in 1243.