Seljuk (Arabic: السلاجقة, Turkish: Selçuk; also Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuq) (d. c. 1038) was the eponymous hero of the Seljuks. He was the son of a certain Duqaq surnamed Timuryaligh -of the iron bow- and either the chief or an eminent member from the Kınık tribe of the Oghuz Turks. In about 985 the Seljuk clan split off from the bulk of the Tokuz-Oghuz, a confederacy of nine clans long settled between the Aral and Caspian Seas, and set up camp on the right bank of the lower Syr Darya(Jaxartes), in the direction of Jend, near Kzyl Orda in present day south-central Kazakhstan where they were converted to Islam.

The biblical names of his four sons -Mîkâîl, Isrâîl (Arslan), Mûsâ, and Yûnus (Jonah)- suggest previous acquaintance with either Khazar Judaism or Nestorian Christianity.^[1] According to some sources, Seljuk began his career as an officer in the Khazar army.^[2]

Under Mikail's sons Toghrul and Chaghri the Seljuks migrated into Khurasan. Ghaznavid attempts to stop Seljuks raiding the local Muslim populace led to the Battle of Dandanaqan on 23 May 1040. Victorious Seljuks became masters of Khurasan, expanding their power into Transoxiana and across Iran. By 1055 Toghrul had expanded his control all the way to Baghdad, setting himself up as the champion of the Abbasid caliph, who honored him with the title sultan. Earlier rulers may have used this title but the Seljuks seem to have been the first to inscribe it on their coins.^[3]

Preceded by -

Seljuk Founder ?–1038[citation needed]

Succeeded by Toghrül

[edit] See also

• Great Seljuk Empire
• Seljuk Sultanate of Rum

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Brook, Kevin Alan. The Jews of Khazaria. 2nd ed. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006.
• Dunlop, D.M. "The Khazars." The Dark Ages: Jews in Christian Europe, 711-1096. 1966.
• Findley, Carter Vaughn. The Turks in World History, pp. 68, 2005, Oxford University Press
• Grousset, Rene . The Empire of the Steppes Rutgers University Press, 1970.
• Rice, Tamara Talbot. The Seljuks in Asia Minor. Thames and Hudson, London, 1961.

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