The Foundations of Persian Historiography during the Anatolian Seljuk Period

Document Type : Research/Original/Reqular Article

Author

PhD Candidate in Islamic History, Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The rise of the Seljuks of Rūm in Anatolia during the late 5th/11th century represents a pivotal moment in the region’s historical trajectory. This political development was accompanied by successive waves of Iranian migration, particularly of scholars and bureaucrats who entered the Seljuk administrative apparatus. The presence of these Iranian elites played a crucial role in the diffusion of Persian language and literary culture throughout Anatolia, while also catalyzing the emergence of a distinctly Persianate historiographical tradition within the territories of the Seljuks of Rūm. This phenomenon intensified during the Mongol invasions and reached its zenith following the fall of the ʿAbbāsid caliphate in 656/1258. Iranian functionaries, operating within the Seljuk state structure, utilized several factors-including Mongol patronage of historical writing, the Seljuks’ ambition to immortalize their imperial legacy, and the symbolic vacuum left by the demise of the caliphate-to produce historical texts that conveyed a characteristically Iranian narrative framework. This study contends that the institutional presence and intellectual activity of Iranian bureaucrats were directly responsible for establishing the foundations of Persian historiography in Anatolia under Seljuk rule.

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