The History of the Seljuq State: A Translation with Commentary of the Akhbar al-dawla al-saljuqiyya (Routledge Studies in the History of Iran and Turkey)

245 Pages·2010·4.09 MB·English

by  Clifford Edmund Bosworth

The History of the Seljuq State

The Akhbar al-dawla al-saljuqiyya is one of the key primary documents on the
history of Western Persia and Iraq in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This
book provides an accessible English translation and commentary on the text,
making available to a new readership this significant work on the pre-modern
history of the Middle East and the Turkish peoples.
The text is a chronicle of the Seljuq dynasty as it emerged within the Iranian
lands in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, dominating the Middle Eastern lands,
from Turkey and Syria to Iran and eastern Afghanistan. During this formative
period in the central and eastern Islamic lands, they inaugurated a pattern of
Turkish political and military dominance of the Middle East and beyond, from
Egypt to India, in some cases well into the twentieth century.
Shedding light on many otherwise obscure aspects of the political history of the
region, the book provides a more detailed context for the political history of the
wider area. As such, it will be of great interest to scholars of Middle Eastern
history and is an important addition to the existing literature on the Seljuq
dynasty.
Clifford Edmund Bosworth is a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Arabic and
Islamic Studies at Exeter University. His research interests include the pre-
modern history of the Central and Eastern Islamic lands, especially Turkey, Iran,
Afghanistan and Central Asia, on which he has published several books.
Routledge Studies in the History of Iran and Turkey

Edited by Carole Hillenbrand, University of Edinburgh

This series publishes important studies dealing with the history of Iran and
Turkey in the period 1000–1700 AD. This period is significant because it heralds
the advent of large numbers of nomadic Turks from Central Asia into the Islamic
world. Their influence was felt particularly strongly in Iran and Turkey,
territories which they permanently transformed.
The series presents translations of medieval Arabic and Persian texts which
chronicle the history of the medieval Turks and Persians, and also publishes
scholarly monographs which handle themes of medieval Turkish and Iranian
history such as historiography, nomadisation and folk Islam.
Mediaeval Islamic Historiography and Political Legitimacy
Bal’ami’s Tarikhnamah
A.C.S. Peacock
History of the Seljuq Turks
The Seljuq-nama of Zahir al-Din Nishpuri
Translated by Kenneth Allin Luther
Edited by Edmund Bosworth
The Annals of the Seljuq Turks
Selections from al-Kamil fi’l-Ta’rikh of Ibn al-Athir
D. S. Richards
Early Mongol Rule in Thirteenth Century Iran
A Persian Renaissance
George Lane
The Ghaznavid and Seljuk Turks
Poetry as a source for Iranian history
G.E. Tetley
Iranian Elites and Turkish Rulers
A history of Isfahan in the Seljuq period
David Durand-Guédy
Early Seljuq History
A new interpretation
A.C.S. Peacock
The Great Seljuqs
A history
Aziz Basan
The History of the Seljuq State
A translation with commentary of the Akhbār al-dawla al-saljūqiyya
Clifford Edmund Bosworth
The History of the Seljuq State

A translation with commentary of the Akhbār al-dawla
al-saljūqiyya

Clifford Edmund Bosworth

LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2011
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
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This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011.
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© 2011 Clifford Edmund Bosworth
The right of Clifford Edmund Bosworth to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Husayni, Sadr al-Din ibn Nasir, fl. 1180–1225.
[Akhbār al-dawla al-Saljūqiyyah. English]
The history of the Seljuq state: a translation with commentary
of the Akhbār al-dawla al-saljūqiyya/Clifford Edmund Bosworth.
p. cm. – (Routledge studies in the history of Iran and Turkey)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Seljuks. 2. Islamic Empire–History–750–1258. I. Bosworth,
Clifford Edmund. II. Title.
DS27.H8313 2011
956’.014—dc22
2010015416
ISBN 0-203-84125-5 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 978–0–415–58844–7 (hbk)
ISBN 978–0–203–84125–9 (ebk)
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Contents

Preface and acknowledgements
Abbreviations of journals, books, etc., cited
Map of Persia and Iraq in the Seljuq period
Introduction
Translation of the text
Mention of the fact that the first of them to become a Muslim was the Amir
Tuqāq
The fitting-out of Sübashï’s army for war against the Seljuq Amirs
Mention of what happened between Malik Chaghrï Beg and Sultan Mawdūd b.
b. b. Sebüktegin
Mention of the killing of Sultan b. b. Sebüktegin
The conflict between the Commander of the Faithful bi-amr Allāh and
Arslān al-Basāsīrī, and the march on Baghdad of Sultan Rukn al-Dīn Abū
Beg b. Dāwūd (sic) b. b. Seljuq
Mention of Sultan Rukn al-Dīn Abū b. b. Seljuq’s character and
way of life
The story of the vizier al-Mulk Abū al-Kundurī
The story of Malik Chaghrï Beg Dāwūd b. b. Seljuq and the warfare
between Sultan al-Dawla Abū Alp Arslān b. Dāwūd b. b.
Seljuq and Sultan Mawdūd b. b. b. Sebüktegin, and Mawdūd’s
defeat and the peace agreement between the two of them
Mention of Malik Chaghrï Beg Dāwūd b. b. Seljuq’s death and the
succession to sole authority of Sultan al-Dawla Abū Alp Arslān
The historical events of the reign of Sultan al-Dawla Abū Alp Arslān
b. Dāwūd b. b. Seljuq
The Exalted Sultan al-Dawla Abū Alp Arslān b. Dāwūd b. b.
Seljuq’s battle with Malik b. and his victory over him
The story of the of Khurasan b. al-Nasawī
Mention of the Exalted Sultan al-Dawla Abū Alp Arslān’s expedition
against the Byzantine lands (al-Rūm)
The Exalted Sultan al-Dawla Abū Alp Arslān b. Dāwūd b. b.
Seljuq’s march from Georgia to Byzantium
The Exalted Sultan Alp Arslān’s journey to Fars and Kirman for a second time
The story of and the conquest of his stronghold
The Exalted Sultan al-Dawla Abū Alp Arslān’s march to the
Byzantine lands for a second time
The Exalted Sultan al-Dawla Abū Alp Arslān’s march against the
Byzantine king Romanus (Armānūs) for a second time and his taking him
captive
The Exalted Sultan al-Dawla Abū Alp Arslān b. Dāwūd b. b.
Seljuq’s march to Samarqand and his finding a martyr’s death there
The reign of the Exalted Sultan Jalāl al-Dawla Abu Malik Shāh b. Alp
Arslān b. Dāwūd b. b. Seljuq
The death of the Commander of the Faithful bi-amr Allāh on 12
467 [/2 April 1075]
Mention of the revolt of Malik Shihāb al-Dawla Tekish b. Alp Arslān b. Dāwūd
b. b. Seljuq
The birth of the Exalted Sultan al-Dunyā wa ’l-Dīn Abu Sanjar b.
Malik Shāh b. Alp Arslān b. Dāwūd b. b. Seljuq, Yamīn Amīr
The Exalted Sultan Jalāl al-Dawla Abu Malik Shāh b. Alp Arslān’s march
into Transoxania for a second time
The murder of the vizier al-Mulk Qiwām al-Dīn Khwāja-yi Buzurg Abū
b. , Amīr
The death of the Exalted Sultan Jalāl al-Dunyā wa ’l-Dīn Abu Malik Shāh
b. Alp Arslān b. Dāwūd b. b. Seljuq
The sultanate of , son of Sultan Malik Shāh b. Alp Arslān
The reign of Sultan Rukn al-Dīn Abu Berk-yārūq b. Malik Shāh b. Alp
Arslān
The reign of Sultan Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū , Qasīm Amīr
Mention of the coming to Iraq (i.e Jibāl and western Persia) from Khurasan of
the Exalted Sultan al-Dunyā wa ’l-Dīn Malik al-Islām wa ’l-Muslimīn, the
Support of the House of Seljuq and Right Hand of the Commander of the
Faithful, Abu Sanjar b. Malik Shāh and his victory [over his rivals] and
his forgiving [them]
The reign as sultan in Iraq (i.e. Jibāl and western Persia) of Sultan Mughīth al-
Dīn Abu ’l-Qāsim , Yamīn Amīr
The reign of Sultan Rukn al-Dīn b. b. Malik Shāh b. Alp
Arslān b. Dāwūd b. b. Seljuq
The reign of Sultan Ghiyāth al-Dunyā wa ’l-Dīn Abu b.
b. Malik Shāh b. Alp Arslān b. Dāwūd b. b.
Seljuq, Qasīm Amīr
Mention of his character and conduct