| Ahmad Sanjar | |
|---|---|
 Ahmad Senjer seated on his throne, in a 1307Ilkhanid miniature. | |
| Sultan of theGreat Seljuq Empire | |
| Reign | 18 April 1118 – 8 May 1157 |
| Predecessor | Muhammad I |
| Co-sultan | Mahmud II (1118–1131) Dawud (1131–1132) Tughril II (1132–1134) Mas'ud (1134–1152) Malik-Shah III (1152–1153) Muhammad II (1153–1157) |
| Malik ofKhorasan | |
| Reign | 1097–1118 |
| Predecessor | Muhammad I Tapar |
| Successor | Khwarezmian Empire conquest |
| Born | 6 November 1086 Sinjar |
| Died | 8 May 1157(1157-05-08) (aged 70) Merv |
| Consort |
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| Issue |
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| Dynasty | Seljuq |
| Father | Malik-Shah I |
| Mother | Taj Safariyya Khatun[1][2] |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Ahmad Sanjar (Persian:احمد سنجر;full name:Muizz ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Adud ad-Dawlah Abul-Harith Ahmad Sanjar ibn Malik-Shah[3]) (6 November 1086 – 8 May 1157)[4] was theSeljuq ruler ofKhorasan from 1097 until 1118,[5] when he became theSultan of theSeljuq Empire, which he ruled until his death in 1157.
Sanjar was born on 6 November 1086[6] inSinjar, a town situated in northwesternIraq. Although primary sources state that he was named after his birthplace (Rāvandi, p. 185; Ebn al-Jawzi, XVIII, p. 161)Bosworth notesSanjar is aTurkic name, denoting "he who pierces", "he who thrusts".[5] He was a son ofMalik Shah I and participated in wars of succession against his three brothers and a nephew, namelyMahmud I,Barkiyaruq,Malik Shah II andMuhammad I. In 1096, he was given the province ofKhorasan to govern under his brother Muhammad I.[7] Over the next several years Ahmad Sanjar became the ruler of most ofIran with his capital atNishapur.
A number of rulers revolted against Sanjar and continued the split of the Great Seljuq Empire that had started upon dynastic wars. In 1102, he repulsed an invasion fromKashgaria, killing Jibrail Arslan Khan nearTermez.[7] In 1107, he invaded the domains of theGhurid rulerIzz al-Din Husayn and captured him, but later released him in return for tribute.
Sanjar undertook a campaign to eliminate theNizari Ismailis within Persia and successfully drove them from a number of their strongholds, includingQuhistan andTabas.[8] However, an anecdote indicates that en route to their chief stronghold atAlamut, Sanjar woke up one day to find a dagger beside him, pinning a note fromHassan-i Sabbah stating that he (Hassan) would like peace. Sanjar, shocked by this event, sent envoys to Hassan and they both agreed to stay out of each other's way.[9]
In 1117, he marched against theGhaznavid SultanArslan-Shah, defeating him atBattle of Ghazni and installing Arslan's brotherBahram-Shah in the throne as a Seljuk vassal.
On February 26, 1105 SultanBarkiyaruq died. He chose his younger son, Muizzeddin Malik-Shah, as heir to the throne. Malikshah took the nameMalik-Shah II after being proclaimed the Sultan of the Seljuk Empire. However, the true power was in the hands of his uncle,Muhammad Tapar. In the same year, Muhammad Tapar dethroned his nephew and started to rule the State himself as sultan. When Muhammad died on April 4, 1118, his sonMahmud II was declared as new sultan. When Muhammad's son Mahmud II ascended the throne,Emir ofYazdGarshasp II fell into disgrace; slander about him spread to the court that made him lose confidence, and made Mahmud send a military force to Yazd where Garshasp was arrested and jailed inJibal, while Yazd was granted to the royal cupbearer. Garshasp, however, escaped and returned to Yazd, where he requested protection from Ahmad Sanjar (Garshasp's wife was the sister of Ahmad).[10]
Garshasp urged Ahmad to invade the domains of Mahmud in Central Iran and gave him information on how to march to Central Iran, and the ways to combat Mahmud. Ahmad accepted and advanced with an army to the west in 1119, where he together with "five kings" defeated Mahmud atSaveh.[11] The kings who aided Ahmad during the battle were Garshasp himself, theEmir ofSistan and theKhwarazmshah,[11] including two other unnamed kings.[12]Nizari forces were also present in Sanjar's army.[13] After being victorious, Ahmad then restored the domains of Garshasp II.[12] Ahmad then marched as far as Baghdad, where he agreed with Mahmud that he should marry one of his daughters, and that he should give up strategic territories in northern Persia.[11]
In 1141, Ahmad, along with Garshasp II, marched to confront theKara Khitan threat and engaged them near Samarkand at theBattle of Qatwan. He suffered an astounding defeat, and Garshasp was killed. Ahmad escaped with only fifteen of his elite horsemen, losing all Seljuq territory east of theSyr Darya (Jaxartes).[14][15]
Sanjar's as well as the Seljuks' rule collapsed as a consequence of yet another unexpected defeat, this time at the hands of the Seljuks’ own tribe, theGhuzz Turks, in 1153.[5] Sanjar was captured during the battle and held in captivity until 1156.[16] It brought chaos to the Empire - situation later exploited by the victorious Turkmens, whose hordes would overrun Khorasan unopposed, wreaking colossal damage on the province and prestige of Sanjar.[16] Sanjar eventually escaped from captivity in the fall of 1156, but soon died inMerv (present-day Turkmenistan), in 1157. After his death, Turkic rulers, Turkmen tribal forces, and other secondary powers competed for Khorasan, and after a long period of confrontations, the province was finally conquered by theGhurids in 1192, and by theKhwarazmians in the early 1200s.[17][18]
Sanjar died in 1157 and was buried inMerv.His tomb was destroyed by theMongols in 1221, during theirinvasion of the Khwarezmian Empire.[19]
The death of Sanjar meant the end of the Seljuq dynasty as an empire, since they controlled onlyIraq andAzerbaijan afterwards. Sanjar is considered one of the most prominent Seljuq sultans and was the longest reigning Muslim ruler untilthe Mongols arrived. Although of Turkic origin, Sanjar was highly Iranized, and due to his feats, even became a legendary figure like some of the mythological characters in theShahnameh.[20] Indeed, medieval sources described Sanjar as having "the majesty of theKhosrows and the glory of theKayanids".[5]Persian poetry flourished under Sanjar, and his court included some of the greatest Persian poets, such asMu'izzi,Nizami Aruzi, andAnvari.[5]
One of his wives was Turkan Khatun. She was the daughter of Muhammad Arslan Khan, the ruler of theKara-Khanid Khanate.[21] She died in April 1156,[22] and was buried in Yusuf Hamadani Mausoleum Complex in Merv.[23] Another wife wasAbkhaziyya Khatun. She was the daughter of KingDemetrius I of Georgia, and the widow of his nephew SultanGhiyath ad-Din Mas'ud. They married after Mas'ud's death in 1152.[24][25][26] One of Sanjar's daughters was Mah-i Mulk Khatun. She was born in 1105. In probably 1119, Sanjar married her to his nephewMahmud II. When she died aged seventeen[27] in 1122,[28] Sanjar sent another daughter, Amir Sitti Khatun, to be his wife.Melik Shah III and Gawhar Nasab Khatun were the children of this union.[27] She died in 1129.[28]Amira Khatun,[29] another of Sanjar's daughters married Abbasid CaliphAl-Mustarshid[27] in 1124.[30] Another daughter of Sanjar, Gawhar Khatun, married his nephew,Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud in 1134.[31] A daughter of this union was married by Mas'ud to his nephew Dawud, son of Mahmud II. They failed to get on together, and Ma'sud gave his daughter to Dawud's brother,Muhammad II.[27]
false.
| Preceded by | Sultan of the Seljuq Empire 1118–1153 | Succeeded by Divisions ofSeljuq dynasty |
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