Seljuk polity

Timeline

1. c. 985–1037Khurasan · KhurasanThe Seljuk family led Oghuz Turkic tribesmen from the Central Asian steppes into Khurasan, successively submitting to the Ghaznavid and Qarakhanid regimes, and using cavalry mobility and Sunni faith to win support from Persian towns, accumulating military and political capital for founding an independent sultanate.
2. 1037–1055Nishapur–Rayy · IranAfter Tughril received the title of sultan he divided rule east and west with his brother Chaghri, conquering most of Persia and defeating remaining Ghaznavid forces; he implemented iqta allocations to support Turkic cavalry, integrating Persian bureaucratic tradition with Turkic military aristocracy to form a sultan–vizier co-governance system.
3. 1031–1040Khurasan–Afghan border · KhurasanIn the 1030s Seljuk power expanded rapidly in Khurasan and the Iranian Plateau, repeatedly clashing with Ghaznavid Sultan Mas'ud I; the decisive Seljuk victory at the Battle of Dandanqan in 1040 cost the Ghaznavids Khurasan, making the Turkic polity the dominant power of Central Asia–West Asia.
4. 1055–1194Baghdad · IraqTughril entered Baghdad and was invested by the Abbasid caliph as 'Sultan', becoming the nominal protector of the Sunni world; the empire reached its height under Alp Arslan and Malik Shah I, with the Battle of Manzikert (1071) opening Anatolia and Nizam al-Mulk's reforms establishing the madrasa and administrative order.