Turks Rise in Anatolia Rise of the Turks

Turks Rise in Anatolia

Rise of the Turks • Turks rise as Abbasids start to lose control – Lose Spain, Morocco, & Tunisia – 868: Lose control of Egypt • 945: Persians conquer Baghdad, end power of the caliph • Caliph still religious leader, but Persian rulers now control political power

The Seljuks • Nomadic horsemen, herded sheep, camel caravans • Great military skills; Abbasids bought Turkish children to train as soldiers (Mamelukes) • Convert to Islam & migrate into the Abbasid Empire • 1055 – Capture Baghdad from the Persians • 1071 – Crush Byzantines @ Manzikert • Gain majority control of Anatolia within 10 years

Turks & Persians Cooperate • Seljuks gain support of Persians through favorable treatment – Choose Isfahan as capital – Nizam al-Mulk – vizier • Turks use Persians to educate themselves – illiterate • Rulers take the name shah (king = Persian)

Turks & Persians Cooperate (cont) • Seljuks adopt the Persian language • Arabic only maintained through the Qu’ran • Malik Shah (sultan) focused on building Seljuk culture (art, learning, religion) • Built several mosques – Masjid-i-Jame

Seljuk Empire – 1092

Seljuk Decline & Start of the Crusades • 1092: Malik Shah dies unexpectedly; empire disintegrates into kingdoms • 1095: Pope Urban II launches the First Crusade – Goal: Drive Turks from Anatolia & reclaim Jerusalem • 1099: Christians capture Jerusalem, massacre Jews & Muslims, establish a kingdom

Saladin & the Crusades • Saladin establishes a strong Seljuk kingdom to confront Christians • 1187: re-takes Jerusalem for the Muslims • Signs a truce with Richard I – Jerusalem is Muslim, but open to Christians • Several other crusades are issued to regain the city, but are easily defeated

Seljuks v. Mongols • Mongols consolidate power & move west • Hulagu leads Mongolians to the gates of Baghdad; burns the caliph’s palace & kills thousands • - p. 317 • Mongols could not spill sacred blood – Abbasid caliph trampled to death by horses

Baghdad

Mongols • Campaigns in Asia & conquests against Byzantines & Turks = largest land empire in history • Little knowledge of administration = crumble of empire in a few generations • Leads to the rise of the Ottomans