TheSaljūq-Nāma (Persian:سلجوقنامه, "Book of Seljuk [Empire]") is a history of theGreat Seljuk Empire written by the Persian historianZahir al-Din Nishapuri around 1175.[1] Written in Persian,[2] it has been acknowledged as the primary source for Saljuq material for Persian works dating from 13th century to 15th century, which include;Rahat al-sudur,Jami al-tawarikh,Tarikh-i Guzida,Zubdat al-Tawarikh andRawdat as-Safa. Abu l'Qasim Qashani, a historian who wrote about theIlkhanids,[3] made alterations and additions to the original text, which was later misidentified as the originalSaljuq-nama.[4]
TheSaljuq-nama is vague concerning the history of the sultans prior toToghrul III, as noted byClaude Cahen, that Nishapuri had "...relatively poor sources at his disposal for the Seljuqs before his own lifetime..."[5] Yet it is a short, restrained history using different sources than those used by Arabic writers of that time.[1] Its textual history is complicated; as a preface in rhyme, it first appears as the historical part of a compendium known asRahat al-sudur.[6] A later version appears in the 14th century compendium of histories known asJami al-tawarikh, which was compiled by Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah, vizier of theIlkhanids of Iran.[6]
In 1953, Ismail Afshar claimed he had found a copy of theSaljuq-nama.[7] A.H. Morton believes this copy to be a work byAbu al-Qasim Kashani.[4] Accordingly, no copy of theSaljuq-nama is believed to exist today. However, A.H. Morton is producing a text based onMS. Persian 22b which is an anonymous history of the Seljuqs dedicated to Sultan Toghrul III. Morton contends that this is a copy of Nishapuri's original work.[8]
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