Rum Seljuks of Anatolia

During the 20th and early 21st centuries, a good number of articles were published, the authors of which had expressed their ideas about the Byzantine origin of the Golden Horde double-headed eagle, as well as borrowing a similar Russian symbol from the Golden Horde (resp. Chingizid) set of emblems. Coins of the Ulus of Juchi, Byzance and some oriental dynasties were used as evidence therefor. The present article deals with the analysis of the numismatic heritage of the Juchids, Seljuqs of Rum, Ilkhans and some Turkish beyliks, revealing the fallacy in the conclusions of supporters of both versions. It has been shown that the «double-headed eagle» emblem had first emerged on the contemporary coins of the eastern part of Asia Minor, from which it would spread throughout the Crimean peninsula, and only then it penetrated into the Golden Horde coin production. The numismatic evidence, in fact, provides no data for eliminating the Russian coat of arms from the images on the Juchid copper coins.

Baiju’s career encapsulates the tensions arising between the military and the administration during the rapid expansion of the Mongol imperial domains. The ad hoc predatory behavior of military commanders often clashed with the aims of Mongol civilian administrators in charge of implementing bureaucratic rule over subjugated sedentary populations and restoring sedentary agricultural lands and cities following the initial trauma of conquest often through violent means. Baiju was the rapacious and implacable Mongol commander par excellence, hated and feared by local populations, Christian or Muslim, implementing the Mongol military strategy of terror as an effective way to subjugate sedentary populations. Baiju is primarily known as the conqueror of Anatolia. In 1243 he rendered the Seljuks of Anatolia, the Cilician kingdom of Armenia, and Mosul under the rule of Sultan Badr al-Dīn Luʾluʾ (r. 1233-59) as tributary states, and in 1256 he placed Seljuk Anatolia under Hülegü’s direct authority with a second military campaign. In addition to being the twice-conqueror of Anatolia, Baiju likewise conducted raids and campaigns throughout neighboring regions, going as far as Baghdad. Together with his superior, the first Mongol commander-in-chief of the western territories, Chormaqan, Baiju was largely responsible for imposing Mongol rule in the western regions of the empire.

In the medieval Middle East, the Sufi experience was not only a male enterprise. Women also participated in the development of this mystical representation of Islam in different ways. Despite the existence of scholarly studies on Sufism in medieval Anatolia, the role played by women in this period has generally been overlooked. Only recently have studies started to highlight the relevance that some of these Sufi ladies had in spreading Sufism in the Middle East. Accounts of women’s deeds are especially abundant in hagiographic literature produced in the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries. However, it has been generally downgraded as historically unreliable for consisting of biased ‘inside accounts’ of the lives of Sufi shaykhs and their followers. This article has a twofold goal: first, to investigate what information hagiographies provide about the role of women in medieval Anatolia; and second, to try to vindicate the option of using hagiographic literature as a relevant source of information in researching aspects of cultural history that cannot be found in other source materials.

The paper investigates the use of Firdawsī's Shāhnāma as a source of inspiration for monumental inscriptions produced during the three centuries following its composition (11th-13th c.). Although the Persian epic is relatively seldom transposed to epigraphy, evidence spanning from Afghanistan to Anatolia demonstrates that the poem could be adapted to convey both legitimising and ethical messages. Such a survey opens up new perspectives on the reception and transformation of themes echoing back to the pre Islamic past of Iran, and on their assimilation to the visual and material culture of the medieval Persianate world.

A seal of Ikhtiyār al-Dīn al-Ḥasan ibn Ghafras, a member of a noble Byzantine family serving at the court of sultan Qilijǧ Arslān, is witness of a brief moment of historical opportunities in the history of the Rūm-Saljūqs. Al-Ḥasan assumed the title of al-sulṭān, indicating that he claimed the sultanate for himself, presumably after the death of Qilij Arslān in 588/1192. No literary source corroborates his usurpation. While the sources on the political turmoil at the end of Qilij Arslān's reign are few and contradictory, an anonymous chronicle, Tārīkh-i Āl-i Saljūq, opens a possible window onto al-Ḥasan's ascension to the sultanate. Based on this narrative his only legitimation would have been the 'law of the Turks' on regicide, namely that he who kills the ruler, becomes ruler himself. According to the Tārīkh-i Āl-i Saljūq he poisoned Qilij Arslān.

This is an exploration of medieval Turkish architecture, based on photos and journals from 1969-73.  Issues include cultural contacts along the Silk Road and the development of unique styles of stone embellishment development in the era of the Rum Seljuk Sultanate and its successors.

The historiography of Seljuk Empire, starts with various histories. “Seljuks” is a topic, that had been studied especially in European and American universities. But that, does not suggest that it had never been studied elsewhere. Apart from the scholars originated in Turkey,  many indivuduals’ contributions are incontrovertible. But in this discussion the aim is to unite, the widely accepted historiography in a single geography(which will be named as “Western”) and the historiography which is created in the land of Seljuk; for this paper, “Turkey”. The aim of this paper is to constitute a continuous timeline from historiography to the architectural history, When the chronological method become insufficient in conveying the argument; approaching to the end the methodology will follow a pattern that is composed of several headlines which scholars specialized in their studies on Seljuk Architecture.

В статье рассматривается архитектурная композиция «сельджукского портала» — особого оформления входов в здания, построенные в XIII в. анатолийской династией Сельджуков Рума и ее преемниками. Портал стал центром фасадной композиции сельджукских мечетей и медресе, мог выполняться из дорогих материалов, украшаться резьбой каллиграфией, содержащей в том числе сведения о заказчике и строителях здания.  За-крепление в монументальной форме представления об официальном патронате привело к перенесению «сельджукских порталов» на мусульманские культовые сооружения и превращению их в часть пропагандистской программы, направленной на распространение и монументальное закрепление представлений о сильном мусульманском государстве. Сельджукская политическая риторика эпохи расцвета Конийского султаната была унаследована и фактическими правителями периода монгольского владычества, что свидетельствует о ее результативности. Сам факт использования «сельджукского портала» позволяет уточнить датировки средневековых зданий Анатолии.