Great Seljuk Empire: Map & History
The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian empire established and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks.
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The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian empire established and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. The empire spanned a total area of 3.9 million square kilometres from Anatolia and 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 covered the time period 1037–1308, though Seljuk rule beyond the Anatolian peninsula ended in 1194.
Modern Countries Once Part of Great Seljuk Empire
At its mapped extent, Great Seljuk Empire covered territory in 19 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
- Armenia1072–1191 CE · nearly all
- Uzbekistan1040–1151 CE · nearly all
- Iraq1056–1201 CE · nearly all
- Iran1040–1201 CE · nearly all
- Azerbaijan1072–1125 CE · most
- Syria1072–1138 CE · most
- Tajikistan1085–1146 CE · most
- Georgia1085–1125 CE · most
- Turkmenistan1040–1187 CE · most
- Lebanon1072–1110 CE · most
- Palestine1072–1098 CE · most
- Turkey1072–1191 CE · most
- Jordan1072–1125 CE · a large part
- Israel1072–1098 CE · a large part
- Afghanistan1040–1176 CE · a large part
- Oman1056–1168 CE · a large part
- United Arab Emirates1056–1168 CE · a large part
- Kyrgyzstan1085–1146 CE · a small part
- Kazakhstan1040–1146 CE · a small part
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Great Seljuk Empire's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Great Seljuk Empire in Depth
History
The founder of the dynasty was Seljuk, a warlord, who belonged to the Qïnïq 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 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.
The Oghuz Turks (also known as Turkmens at the time) were one of several groups of the Oghuz who made their way to Iran between about 1020 and 1040. They were led by Seljuk's son, Musa, and Musa's two nephews, Tughril and Chaghri.
Military
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 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.
Culture and language
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 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 Turco-Persian tradition, even exporting Persian culture to Anatolia.
Legacy
The dynasty brought revival, energy, and reunion to the Islamic civilization hitherto dominated by Arabs and Persians. The Seljuks founded universities and were also patrons of art and literature. Their reign is characterized by Persian astronomers such as Omar Khayyam, and the Persian philosopher al-Ghazali. Under the Seljuks, New Persian became the language for historical recording, while the center of Arabic language culture shifted from Baghdad to Cairo.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Seljuk Empire (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Great Seljuk Empire: Key Facts
| Capitals | Nishapur, Ray, Hamadan |
|---|---|
| Official languages | Persian, Arabic, Proto-Oghuz |
| Form of government | monarchy |
| Founded | 1037 |
| Dissolved | 19 March 1194 |
Facts from Wikidata Q3708094 (CC0).
Great Seljuk Empire Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Great Seljuk Empire appears, with the other states of the time.
Great Seljuk Empire Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 4,142,668 km² in 1089 CE.
Great Seljuk Empire: Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Great Seljuk Empire exist?
The Great Seljuk Empire is dated to 1040 CE – 1201 CE, in the High & Late Middle Ages era.
What was the capital of the Great Seljuk Empire?
The capital of the Great Seljuk Empire was Nishapur (1037–1043), Ray (1043–1051), Isfahan (1051–1118), Merv (1118–1153, eastern), Hamadan (1118–1194, western).
How large was the Great Seljuk Empire at its peak?
At its peak in 1089 AD the Great Seljuk Empire covered about 4,142,668 km².
How did the map of the Great Seljuk Empire change over time?
The Great Seljuk Empire appears on 2 dated world maps in the atlas, from 1100 CE to 1200 CE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.
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