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Nizam al-Mulk was vizier, or chief minister, to the Seljuk sultans Alp Arslan and Malik Shah from 1064 until his assassination in 1092, and one of the most powerful statesmen of the medieval Islamic world.

Nizam al-Mulk

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The story behind the card

Born near Tus in north-eastern Iran in 1018, Nizam al-Mulk ('Order of the Realm', an honorific title) organised taxation and the system of land grants that paid the army, and founded the Nizamiyya, colleges in Baghdad, Nishapur and other cities that trained scholars and officials. He also wrote the Siyasatnama, a handbook of advice on government. In October 1092 he was stabbed near Nahavand by a man disguised as a Sufi; tradition blames Hasan-i Sabbah's Ismailis, though some historians suspect rivals at court. Malik Shah died barely a month later, and the succession struggles that followed split the empire.

Türkçe oku
Nizamülmülk, 1064'ten 1092'de bir suikastla öldürülmesine kadar Selçuklu sultanları Alparslan ile Melikşah'ın veziriydi; Orta Çağ İslam dünyasının en güçlü devlet adamlarından biri sayılır.

1018'de İran'ın kuzeydoğusunda, Tus yakınlarında doğan Nizamülmülk'ün adı aslında bir unvandı ve “devletin düzeni” anlamına gelir. Vergi düzenini ve askerlere maaş yerine toprak geliri veren ikta sistemini örgütledi; Bağdat, Nişabur ve başka kentlerde âlim ve devlet görevlisi yetiştiren Nizamiye medreselerini kurdu. Yönetim üzerine öğütlerini topladığı Siyasetname'yi de o yazdı. Ekim 1092'de Nihavend yakınlarında sufi kılığına girmiş bir adam onu bıçaklayarak öldürdü. Gelenek suikastı Hasan Sabbah'ın İsmailileriyle ilişkilendirir; bazı tarihçiler ise saraydaki rakiplerinden şüphelenir. Melikşah ondan yalnızca bir ay kadar sonra öldü; ardından gelen taht kavgaları imparatorluğu böldü.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Nizam al-Mulk
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