Alp Arslan, born Muhammad Alp Arslan bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. He greatly expanded the Seljuk territory and consolidated his power, defeating rivals to the south, east and northwest, and his victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, in 1071, ushered in the Turkmen settlement of Anatolia.
Malik-Shah I was the third sultan of the Seljuk Empire from 1072 to 1092, under whom the sultanate reached the zenith of its power and influence.
Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi, better known by his honorific title of Nizam ul-Mulk, was a Persian scholar, jurist, political philosopher and vizier of the Seljuk Empire. Rising from a low position within the empire, he became the de facto ruler of the empire for 20 years after the assassination of Sultan Alp Arslan in 1072, serving as the archetypal "good vizier". Viewed by many historians as "the most important statesman in Islamic history", the policies implemented by Nizam ul-Mulk remained the basic foundation for administrative state structures in the Muslim world up until the 20th century.
Abu Talib Muhammad Tughril ibn Mika'il, better known as Tughril, was a Turkoman chieftain, who founded the Seljuk Empire, ruling from 1037 to 1063.
Abu Sa'id Taj al-Dawla Tutush or Tutush I, was the Seljuk emir of Damascus from 1078 to 1092, and sultan of Damascus from 1092 to 1094.
Suleiman Shah I ibn Qutalmish founded an independent Seljuk Turkish state in Anatolia and ruled as Seljuk Sultan of Rûm from 1077 until his death in 1086.
Muhammad I Tapar, was the sultan of the Seljuk Empire from 1105 to 1118. He was a son of Malik-Shah I and Taj al-Din Khatun Safariya.
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn al-Hasan al-Mustaḍīʾ, better known by his laqabal-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh or simply as al-Nasir, was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1180 until his death. His laqab literally can mean The One who Gives Victory to the Religion of God. He continued the efforts of his grandfather al-Muqtafi in restoring the caliphate to its ancient dominant role and achieved a surprising amount of success as his army even conquered parts of Iran. According to the historian, Angelika Hartmann, al-Nasir was the last effective Abbasid caliph.
Nasir al-Din Mahmud I (1088–1094) was an infant sultan of the Seljuk Empire from 1092 to 1094, with most power held by his mother Terken Khatun. He was a younger son of the former sultan Malik Shah I and proclaimed sultan at Baghdad by the caliph al-Muqtadi. Under his notional reign, the empire built by his father and Alp Arslan fragmented. After Mahmud's forces lost a battle at Borujerd, he and his mother were assassinated by the family of the former vizir Nizam al-Mulk.
Rukn al-Din Abu'l-Muzaffar Berkyaruq ibn Malikshah, better known as Berkyaruq (برکیارق), was the fifth sultan of the Seljuk Empire from 1094 to 1105.
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids, Seljuqs, also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans or the Saljuqids, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture in West Asia and Central Asia. The Seljuks established the Seljuk Empire (1037–1194), the Sultanate of Kermân (1041–1186) and the Sultanate of Rum (1074–1308), which stretched from Iran to Anatolia and were the prime targets of the First Crusade.
Anushtegin Gharchai was a Turkic slave commander (ghulam) of the Seljuks and the governor of Khwarazm from approximately 1077 until 1097. He was the first member of his family to play a role in the history of Khwarazm, and the namesake for the dynasty that would rule the province in the 12th and early 13th centuries.
Toghrul III was the last sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire and the last Seljuk Sultan of Iraq. His great uncle Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud had appointed Shams ad-Din Eldiguz as atabeg of his nephew Arslan-Shah, the son of his brother Toghrul II, and transferred Arran to his nephew's possession as iqta in 1136. Eldiguz eventually married Mu’mina Khatun, the widow of Toghril II, and his sons Nusrat al-Din Muhammad Pahlavan and Qizil Arslan Uthman were thus half-brothers of Arslan Shah, but despite close ties with the Royal Seljuk house, Eldiguz had remain aloof of the royal politics, concentrating on repelling the Georgians and consolidating his power. In 1160, Sultan Suleiman-Shah named Arslan Shah his heir and gave him governorship of Arran and Azerbaijan, fearful of the power of Eldiguz.
Kara Arslan Ahmad Qavurt, better simply known as Qavurt was a Seljuq prince. Upon his brother's death, he led an unsuccessful rebellion against his nephew in an attempt to gain the Seljuk throne.
Fakhr al-Din Fariburz ibn Sallar, better simply known as Fariburz I (فریبرز), was the sixteenth Shah of Shirvan, ruling from 1063 to 1096. His reign saw many major political balance changes in Caucasus, including expansion by the Seljuqs. He was considered a ruler with great diplomatic skills, and his kingdom extended from Mughan to Kumuk and Alania.
Muhammad II ibn Mahmud was Sultan of Seljuq Empire from 1153 to 1159. He was son of Mahmud II and brother of Malik-Shah III. The Cambridge History of Iran notes that Sultan Muhammad "tried energetically to restore the slipping authority of his dynasty in Iraq".
Amid al-Mulk Abu Nasr al-Kunduri, commonly known as al-Kunduri, was a Persian bureaucrat, who served as the vizier of the first Seljuk Sultan Tughril and his nephew Alp Arslan.
The Kerman Seljuk Sultanate was a Turco-Persian society Sunni Muslim state, established in the parts of Kerman and Makran which had been conquered from the Buyid dynasty by the Seljuk Empire which was established by the Seljuk dynasty, which was of Oghuz Turkic origin. The Founder of this dynasty, Emadeddin Kara Arslan Ahmad Qavurt who succeeded the ruler of this dynasty after the surrender of the ruler of Buyyids, Abu Kalijar Marzuban. For first time in this period, an independent state was formed in Kerman; eventually, after 150 years, with the invasion of the Oghuz leader Malik Dinar, the Kerman Seljuk Sultanate fell.
Savtegin was a prominent emir of the early Seljuk Empire, during the reigns of Tughril I, Alp Arslan, and Malik-Shah I. His full name in Arabic, as given by Münejjim Bāshī Ahmad Effendi, was 'Imād ad-Dawlah Sarhang Sāw Takīn. He first appears in sources during the reign of Tughril I, when he was sent as an ambassador when rumors arose that Ibrahim Yinal would rebel. He later took part in the campaign against Arslan Besasîrî, a Turkic commander under the Buyids who had captured the Abbasid caliph al-Qa'im. Arslan Besasîrî was killed in battle on 18 January 1060. Later, in April–May 1061, Savtegin was part of the delegation sent to Baghdad to negotiate a marriage between Tughril and al-Qa'im's daughter Sayyida.
Sa'd ad-Dawla Gohar-Ā'īn was an 11th-century Turkic eunuch mamluk who served as a government official, diplomat, and military commander for the Seljuk Empire. The name "Gohar-Ā'īn" means "jewel-mirror". Medieval authors had differing opinions about him – Ibn al-Jawzi spoke highly of him, praising "his capability, clear view, and leadership of the army" as well as his "piousness, uprightness and justice". Ibn al-Athir also had a positive opinion of him, saying he "did not take anything for himself from the people of his wilaya". Bundari, on the other hand, spoke negatively of him, calling him "cunning like a dog, something like a beast, a man without penis, a woman without vagina".
