PERSIAN CASTLES IN THE SELJUQID PERIOD ACCORDING TO IBN AL-BALKHĪ’S FĀRSNĀMAH
Fārsnāmah, which was copyrighted by Ibn al-Balkhī, who is accepted to be originally from Balkh, is one of the precious works belonging to the Saldjūkid geography. The information regarding the author’s life is very limited. His grandfather was the bailee of the Persian Governor Atabak Rukn al-dawla Khumārtagin of the Great Saldjūkid emperor Berkyārūk (1092/1104). Although the exact date on which the work was copyrighted is not clearly known, it was probably put down on paper between 498 (1105) when Muhammad Tapar ascended to the Saldjūkid throne and 510 (1116) when Persian Governor Atabak Chavli died. Ibn al-Balkhī, who came to Persia at a young age with his grandfather, completed his education here. By means of the knowledge he gained by spending his childhood and youth in the region, he had the opportunity to give detailed information regarding the political and geographical situation of the region in his work. Fārsnāmah was written at the request of Muhammed Tapar and dedicated to him. A large part of Fārsnāmah was devoted to the political life of the region before Islam. The author used the History of Hamza al-Isfahānī, while putting down on paper this part. The rest of the work constitutes castles and cities, rivers, lakes and seas taking place in Persia. According to Ibn al-Balkhī, there were more than seventy castles in the region before the Saldjūkids. However, most of them were disappeared over time due to the reasons such as wars, natural disasters, and etc. Notwithstanding, there are many castles that continue their existence during the Saldjūkid period. As far as we can determine from the Fārsnāmah, these are Qalʿat al-Istakhr (this castle consists of 3 separate buildings), Qalʿat alBūshkānāt, Qalʿat al-Khurshah, Qalʿat al-Ramm Zavān, Qalʿat al-Abādah , Qalʿat al-Khuvār, Qalʿat al-Istahbānān, Qalʿat al-Abādān , Qalʿat al-Ispîd, Qalʿat al-Sahārah, Qalʿat al-Kārzīn, Qalʿat al-Samīrān, Qalʿat al-Fasā, Qalʿat Nayrīz and Khayrah, Qalʿat al-Khār, Qalʿat al-Khurramah, Qalʿat al-Tīr-i Khudā, Purg and Tārum, Qalʿat al-Īg, Qalʿat al-Ranbah, Qalʿat alGunbad Mallaghān, and Qalʿat al-Irāhistān. Alongside these castles, there are numerous fortified castle-like structures. In the second half of the XI century, after the Buyids lost their political power, Shabānkarāh Emirate took over the authority gap occurred in Persia. They were reigning in the northern and eastern parts of Persia. Shabānkarāhs restrained most of the castles in the region by benefiting from the authority gap just before the arrival of the Saldjūkids to Persia. When the Great Saldjūkids began to expand their imperium areas in Persia, Fazlūyah, the leader of Shabānkarāh, and his brother Hasnūyah resisted against the Saldjūkids, by effectively using the castles they captured. Although Fazlūyah was partially successful during these struggles, he was killed by being imprisoned in the Qalʿat al-Istakhr. After the death of the Great Saldjūkid Sultan Malik-Shāh, the throne struggles between his sons Berkyārūk and Muhammad Tapar and making affinity with the Shabānkarāh leaders of Kirmān Saldjūkid Malik Arslān Shāh activated them in Persia again. After a short time, Muhammad Tapar, who ascended to the Saldjūkid throne, his assignment of Amir Chavli to take the region under control was a turning point for the Saldjūkid dominance. As a result of efforts of Chavli, nearly seventy castles under the control of Shabānkarāhs were captured and taken under Saldjūkid dominance. In this study, the current situation of the Persia castles in the Saldjūkid period will be tried to be revealed, according to work named Fārsnāmah. In addition to this, emphasis will be placed on the role of Persia castles in the dominance struggle of the Great Saldjūkids and the Amirs of Shabānkarāh.