ABSTRACT
The provincial organization of the Seljukid state of Rum was 'feudal' that it was based on the iqṭā', which has been regarded as equivalent to the fief in medieval Europe. Historians in search of an evolution by universally social types or periods, whether or not they are Marxists, tend to call any regime 'feudal' which falls chronologically between 'primitive slavery' and modern capitalism, and in which the labour of a more or less servile peasantry is exploited for the benefit of great landholders. The history of Turkish Asia Minor from the conquest to the Mongol period can be divided into four periods: simultaneous establishment of the Turcoman chiefs and the Seljukid prince at the semi-tribal stage, without well-established territorial or personal links of dependence; progressive absorption of the Turcoman groups, and the constitution of apanages; resumption of apanages and marcher territories under direct government; break-up of the system resulting from the way of functioning of the Mongol protectorate.
