Editing History of Iran (section)

===={{anchor|Persianate states and dynasties (977-1219)}}Persianate states and dynasties (977–1219)====
{{Main|Persianate|Ghaznavids|Great Seljuq|Khwarazmian dynasty}}
[[File:Kharaghan.jpg|thumb|The [[Kharraqan towers|Kharaghan twin towers]], built in 1067, Persia, contain tombs of Seljuq princes.]]

In 977, a Turkic governor of the Samanids, [[Sabuktigin]], conquered [[Ghazna]] (in present-day Afghanistan) and established a dynasty, the [[Ghaznavids]], that lasted to 1186.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/> The Ghaznavid empire grew by taking all of the Samanid territories south of the [[Amu Darya]] in the last decade of the 10th century, and eventually occupied parts of Eastern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-west India.<ref name="AHGC"/>

The Ghaznavids are generally credited with launching Islam into a mainly [[Hindu]] India. The invasion of India was undertaken in 1000 by the Ghaznavid ruler, [[Mahmud of Ghazna|Mahmud]], and continued for several years. They were unable to hold power for long, however, particularly after the death of Mahmud in 1030. By 1040 the Seljuqs had taken over the Ghaznavid lands in Iran.<ref name="AHGC"/>

The [[Seljuqs]], who like the Ghaznavids were Persianate in nature and of Turkic origin, slowly conquered Iran over the course of the 11th century.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/> The dynasty had its origins in the [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turcoman]] tribal confederations of Central Asia and marked the beginning of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] power in the Middle East. They established a [[Sunni Muslim]] rule over parts of [[Central Asia]] and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries. They set up an empire known as Great Seljuq Empire that stretched from Anatolia in the west to western Afghanistan in the east and the western borders of (modern-day) [[China]] in the north-east; and was the target of the [[First Crusade]]. Today they are regarded as the cultural ancestors of the Western [[Turkish people|Turks]], the present-day inhabitants of [[Turkey]], [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Turkmenistan]], and they are remembered as great patrons of [[Persian culture]], [[Persian art|art]], [[Persian literature|literature]], and [[Persian language|language]].<ref name="britannica3">''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', "Seljuq", Online Edition, ([https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066688 LINK] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219231803/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066688 |date=2007-12-19 }}): ''"... Because the Turkish Seljuqs had no Islamic tradition or strong literary heritage of their own, they adopted the cultural language of their Persian instructors in Islam. Literary Persian thus spread to the whole of Iran, and the Arabic language disappeared in that country except in works of religious scholarship ..."''</ref><ref name="iranica">{{citation
|first= Osman G. | last =Özgüdenli
| date = 20 July 2005
| url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/persian-manuscripts-1-ottoman
| title= Persian Manuscripts I. in Ottoman and modern Turkish libraries 
| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Iranica
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201205211832/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/persian-manuscripts-1-ottoman
| url-status=live 
| archive-date= 5 December 2020
}}</ref><ref name="Ravandi">{{ cite journal
| year=2005
| title= Ravandi, the Seljuq court at Konya and the Persianisation of Anatolian Cities
| journal= Mesogeios (Mediterranean Studies)
| publisher= Editions Herodotos
| volume= 25/26 | pages= 157–169
| last = Hillenbrand | first = Carole
}}</ref>

[[File:Seljuk Empire locator map.svg|thumb|300px|Seljuq empire at the time of its greatest extent, at the death of Malik Shah I{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}|alt=]]

The founder of the dynasty, [[Tughril Beg]], turned his army against the Ghaznavids in Khorasan. He moved south and then west, conquering but not wasting the cities in his path. In 1055 the caliph in Baghdad gave Tughril Beg robes, gifts, and the title King of the East. Under Tughril Beg's successor, [[Malik Shah I|Malik Shah]] (1072–1092), Iran enjoyed a cultural and scientific renaissance, largely attributed to his brilliant Iranian vizier, [[Nizam al Mulk]]. These leaders established the observatory where [[Omar Khayyám]] did much of his experimentation for a new calendar, and they built [[Nizamiyya|religious schools]] in all the major towns. They brought [[Al-Ghazali|Abu Hamid Ghazali]], one of the greatest Islamic theologians, and other eminent scholars to the Seljuq capital at Baghdad and encouraged and supported their work.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/>

When Malik Shah I died in 1092, the empire split as his brother and four sons quarreled over the apportioning of the empire among themselves. In Anatolia, Malik Shah I was succeeded by [[Kilij Arslan I]] who founded the [[Sultanate of Rûm]] and in Syria by his brother [[Tutush I]]. In Persia he was succeeded by his son [[Mahmud I of Great Seljuq|Mahmud I]] whose reign was contested by his other three brothers [[Barkiyaruq]] in [[Iraq]], [[Muhammad I (Seljuq sultan)|Muhammad I]] in [[Baghdad]] and [[Ahmed Sanjar|Ahmad Sanjar]] in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]]. As Seljuq power in Iran weakened, other dynasties began to step up in its place, including a resurgent Abbasid caliphate and the [[Khwarezmid Empire|Khwarezmshahs]]. The Khwarezmid Empire was a Sunni Muslim Persianate dynasty, of East Turkic origin, that ruled in Central Asia. Originally vassals of the Seljuqs, they took advantage of the decline of the Seljuqs to expand into Iran.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9045365|title=Academic Home|access-date=2007-06-23|archive-date=2021-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304083325/http://academic.eb.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1194 the Khwarezmshah [[Ala ad-Din Tekish]] defeated the Seljuq sultan [[Toghrul III of Seljuq|Toghrul III]] in battle and the Seljuq empire in Iran collapsed. Of the former Seljuq Empire, only the [[Sultanate of Rum]] in Anatolia remained.

A serious internal threat to the Seljuqs during their reign came from the [[Nizari Ismaili state|Nizari Ismailis]], a secret sect with headquarters at [[Alamut Castle]] between [[Rasht]] and [[Tehran]]. They controlled the immediate area for more than 150 years and sporadically sent out adherents to strengthen their rule by murdering important officials. Several of the various theories on the etymology of the word ''[[assassination|assassin]]'' derive from these killers.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/>{{clear}}

Parts of northwestern Iran were conquered in the early 13th century AD by the [[Kingdom of Georgia]], led by [[Tamar the Great]].<ref name="Lordkipanidze-154">Lordkipanidze, Mariam (1987), ''Georgia in the XI-XII Centuries''. Tbilisi: Ganatleba, p. 154.</ref>