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The Siyasatnama, or Book of Government, written by the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk around 1091, advises a ruler in fifty chapters on handling religion, soldiers, taxes, courtiers and spies.

Siyasatnama

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The story behind the card

In the late 1080s Sultan Malik Shah asked his senior officials to write down how a good government should run, and Nizam al-Mulk's answer was the one he approved. The vizier wrote 39 chapters first and added 11 more shortly before his murder in 1092; his copyist released the book only after his death. It mixes direct advice on appointments, taxation, justice and the army with stories of earlier kings, and insists that a ruler needs trustworthy informers watching his own officials. The later chapters warn at length against religious rebels, the Ismailis above all.

Türkçe oku
Selçuklu veziri Nizamülmülk'ün 1091 dolaylarında yazdığı Siyasetname, elli bölümde bir hükümdara din işlerini, askerleri, vergiyi, saray erkânını ve casusları nasıl idare edeceğini anlatır.

1080'lerin sonunda Sultan Melikşah, üst düzey devlet adamlarından iyi bir yönetimin nasıl olması gerektiğini yazmalarını istedi; beğendiği metin Nizamülmülk'ünkü oldu. Vezir önce 39 bölüm yazdı, 1092'de öldürülmeden kısa süre önce 11 bölüm daha ekledi; kitabı kâtibi ancak onun ölümünden sonra ortaya çıkardı. Eser atamalar, vergi, adalet ve ordu üzerine doğrudan öğütleri eski hükümdarların hikâyeleriyle birleştirir ve bir hükümdarın kendi memurlarını izleyecek güvenilir haberciler bulundurması gerektiğini ısrarla vurgular. Son bölümler ise dinî isyancılara, en çok da İsmaililere karşı uzun uzun uyarır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Siyasatnama
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