Seljuk administrative system

Timeline

1. c. 990–1040Syr Darya steppe · steppe zoneIn their early period the Seljuks centered on a Turkic tribal confederation and cavalry military organization, expanding westward between the Qarakhanid and Ghaznavid powers, with administration still at a rudimentary stage of military conquest and tribute collection.
2. c. 1011–1020Khurasan · KhurasanIn the early 11th century Seljuk power gradually penetrated Khurasan and northern Transoxiana, ruling local cities through a combination of suzerainty and military garrisons, and began recruiting Persian civil officials into tax administration.
3. c. 1050–1092Isfahan · IranAfter Tughril Beg entered the city, vizier Nizam al-Mulk implemented the iqta military fief system, granting land revenue rights to generals to maintain the army, while establishing the diwan bureaucracy and the Nizamiyya madrasa network to integrate religious and civil institutions.
4. c. 1100–1300Anatolia · AnatoliaAfter the Great Seljuk Empire split, branches such as the Seljuks of Rum and the Seljuks of Iraq inherited the iqta and diwan systems; their administrative model provided an important reference for Ayyubid, Mamluk, and early Ottoman state organization.