ABSTRACT
Turkish historians were not agreed on the periods that made up the history of the Great Seljuqs (1040-1194). Kafesoğlu (IA/10: 353-416) divided their reign into two: rise (1040-92) and fall (1092-1194). Turan (1993a: 236) added a period in between: rise (1040-92), stagnation (1092-1157) and fall (1157-94). In his overview of the Great Seljuqs, Köymen (1963) likewise divided Great Seljuq history into three periods: foundation (985/993-1040), empire (1040-1153) and fall (1153-94). However, in his main body of work he identified five periods: foundation (985/993-1040), first empire (1040-92), interregnum (1092-1114), second empire (1115-53) and dissolution (1153-94) (1954: 1-2, 1979: 24-5*). The Seljuqs did not cease their conquests until the interregnum following Sultan Malik-Shah’s death, but it is difficult to equate Tuğrul and Çağrı Beg’s reigns with empire. Even when Tuğrul Beg had been proclaimed sultan his hegemony was not secure. Besides his step-brother Ibrahim Yınal, there was his cousin Kutalmış who was still in full rebellion at the time of his death. Under Tuğrul and Çağrı Beg the Great Seljuq realms were ruled according to Turkic tradition, which was bi-partite. Other members of the dynasty were subordinated to their seniors in the East and the West. Despite the vizier Nizam al-Mulk’s efforts to put Great Seljuq hegemony on a traditional Irano-Islamic footing, under Sultan Alp-Arslan and Malik-Shah there was the emergence of the Seljuqs of Kirman and of Anatolia. While this does not prevent their reigns from being referred to as ones of empire, given the extent of the realms they ruled directly, after Sultan Malik-Shah Great Seljuq hegemony was once again put on a bi-partite basis. However, unlike under Tuğrul and Çağrı Beg, rather than help each other, Sultan Tapar and, after him, his uterine brother Great Sultan Sancar seem to have gone out of their way to undermine the Seljuqs of Syria and later the Seljuqs of Iraq. Moreover, as Köymen argued, having attempted to usurp power in Syria and Iraq during the interregnum, the commanders continued to struggle with the Seljuqs and each other after the interregnum as well, establishing their own dynasties first in Syria, then in Iraq al-Arab and finally throughout the Seljuq realms in the wake of the Oguz rebellion. Consequently, this work divides Great Seljuq history into four periods: conquest (985/993-1063), empire (1063-92), interregnum (1092-1105) and dissolution
(1105-94), which are summarized herein with reference to themes that will be discussed in the penultimate chapter.
