The Seljuqs: Politics, Society and Culture

AUTHOR APPROVEDDespite many important developments and innovations that can be traced to the Seljuq period (5th-7th/11th-13th centuries), the Seljuqs remain one of the least studied Muslim dynasties. /The Seljuqs/ is a unique collaborative exploration of this pivotal dynasty's achievement, making a valuable contribution to the growing interest in this period of Muslim history.The various chapters in this volume cover a representative geographical spectrum, from Central Asia and Persia to Iraq, Syria and Anatolia. They also address new issues such as the ideological foundations and ritual expressions of Seljuq power: the mutual attitudes of the learned classes and the Seljuq state; the organization of space; and the relationship between nomads and the settled peoples.The first of the book's three parts covers the origins of the Seljuqs, their gradual transformation into a powerful dynasty and their concepts of political legitimation. Part II looks at the social history of the Seljuq period, particularly with regard to the 'ulama' and the urban populations. Part III deals with developments in religious thought, jurisprudence, belles-lettres and architecture under the Seljuqs.Christian Lange is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He is author of /Justice, Punishment and the Medieval Muslim Imagination/ (2008) and co-editor (with Maribel Fierro) of /Public Violence in Islamic Societies: Power, Discipline and the Construction of the Public Sphere, 7th-19th Centuries/ (Edinburgh Univeristy Press, 2009).Songül Mecit is a part-time Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh.