II. International Seljuk Historical Geography Symposium FULL TEXT BOOK-I
THE ROLE OF THE BATINIDS IN THE ENDING OF THE SELJUK STATE’S DOMINATION IN IRAN: AN EVALUATION OF THE MONGOL INVASION AND THE HARZEMSHAHS
Yayıncı:
Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi Yayınları
The geography of Iran was under the rule of the Seljuks from the 11th to the 13th centuries. The Seljuk dominance weakened before the Mongol invasion, for a while the Harzemshahs took their place, and with the invasion, the region came under the control of the Mongols. While the issue that bothered the Seljuks the most in the Iranian geography was the activities of the Batinids, in the historiography of the Mongol invasion and after, it was treated as if there was no Bâtini organization and it was completely destroyed, and a history was written by neglecting this issue while evaluating the events. In this paper, it will be revealed how the Batinis, who emerged with the claim of an Islamic interpretation to gain strength in Iran’s geography and to gather political, worldly and religious power in one hand, established a relationship with the Mongols, Harzemshahs and Abbasid Caliphate, and how they affected the collapse of the Great Seljuk State in the Iranian geography. Then, the activities of the Bâtinis will be followed through the Harzemshahs by asking certain questions. For example, why did the Harzemshahs, who should have the tradition of the Ghaznavid-Seljuk Islamic State, always turned to China while they were always moving towards the West after the Turks accepted Islam? Why did Muhammad Harzemşah go on the Baghdad campaign against the Turkish-Islamic states dominated by the Sunni state tradition and changed his caliph? How did this turn towards China bring Mohammed Khwarazmshah and Genghis against each other? The reasons behind how the Mongol Invasion changed direction from China to the Islamic world and Anatolia right after the Baghdad Campaign of Muhammad Harzemşah will be evaluated through the activities of the Bâtinîs.
