IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eas/arthum/v21y2025i21p18-29.html

The Institutionalization Process Of The Great Seljuk State: Political, Military And Scientific Structuring

Author

Listed:
  • Harun AYDEMÄ°R

    (Balıkersir Üniversitesi)

  • Mehmet ÖZEK

    (Ä°stanbul GeliÅŸim Ãœniversitesi)

Abstract

The Great Seljuk Empire (1040–1157) became a major power in the medieval Islamic world and established deep-rooted institutions during its process of institutionalization in political, military, and scholarly domains. Politically, the sultan became the symbol of central authority, and state affairs were organized through the vizierate, various councils (divans), and provincial administrations. The administrative system was significantly shaped by Nizam al-Mulk's reforms. Militarily, the iqta (land-grant) system played a central role, providing resources for the army while ensuring efficient land management. The cavalry forces (spahis) and the slave-soldier system (ghulams) were also key components of the military structure. In the scholarly realm, madrasahs (Islamic schools) were prominent. The Nizamiyya Madrasahs offered education in both religious and secular sciences, producing scholars and strengthening Sunni Islam doctrine. Institutional development in these three areas enabled the Seljuks to build a stable and influential imperial structure that left a lasting legacy.

Suggested Citation

  • Harun AYDEMÄ°R & Mehmet ÖZEK, 2025. "The Institutionalization Process Of The Great Seljuk State: Political, Military And Scientific Structuring," Eurasian Art & Humanities Journal, Eurasian Academy Of Sciences, vol. 21(21), pages 18-29, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eas:arthum:v:21:y:2025:i:21:p:18-29
    DOI: 10.17740/eas.art.2025-V21-03
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://eurasianacademy.org/index.php/arthum/article/view/1646
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17740/eas.art.2025-V21-03?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eas:arthum:v:21:y:2025:i:21:p:18-29. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kutluk Kagan Sumer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.eurasianacademy.org/index.php/arthum .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.