II. International Seljuk Historical Geography Symposium FULL TEXT BOOK-I
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Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi Yayınları
An Andalusian scholar, Muhammad b. Velīd at-Turtūshī (d. 520/1127) who lived and travelled many parts of the geography where Muslims live, in his work Siraj al-Muluk, with examples from the lives of Prophet Muhammad (d. 11/632), Rashidun Caliphs, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphs and rulers in Andalusia, he gave place to the qualities that he deems necessary to have in the character of a ruler, as well as the qualities that he ought to have for administration. In addition to these statesmen, at-Turtūshī mentioned the rulers such as Alexander the Great (d. 323 BC), Seyf b. Zīyezen (d. 575 [?]) and Alp Arslan (d. 465/1072) among his ideal rulers and presented sections from their lives. Muhammad b. Velīd at-Turtūshī did not live under the rule of the Seljuk State. However, he went to Baghdad during the reign of Malik-Shah (d. 485/1092) and studied there for a short time at the Nizamiyyah Madrasah. Therefore, he mentions the activities of Nizam al-Mulk (d. 485/1092) as a vizier and the Nizamiyyah Madrasahs in his work. at-Turtūshī had not seen the period of Alp Arslan, however, he mentioned the Battle of Manzikert and included Alp Arslan’s management style as a distinguished ruler and the method he used in the war as a commander. Although no information about Berkyaruq (d. 498/1104) and Muhammed Tapar (ö. 511/1118) is mentioned in the work, it is cited about a situation that Sultan Sanjar (d. 552/1157) had with his vizier. In our study, it will be discussed in which context at-Turtūshī gave examples from the lives of the Seljuk sultans. In addition, it will be tried to determine the main subject that he wants to tell with these examples. Particularly, at-Turtūshī s perception of the Seljuks and the background in the formation of this perception will be discussed by revealing the similarity and differences of the narratives of other Muslim scholars in the narrative of the struggles in the Battle of Manzikert, which at-Turtūshī conveys in detail