The Seljuqs (also Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuk,
sometimes also Seljuq Turks; in Turkish
Selçuklular; in Persian: سلجوقيان Ṣaljūqīyān; in
Arabic سلجوق Saljūq, or السلاجقة al-Salājiqa) were a
Sunni Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of Central
Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th
centuries. They set up an empire known as "Great
Seljuk Empire" that stretched from Anatolia to
Punjab and was the target of the First Crusade.
The dynasty had its origins in the Turcoman
tribal confederations of Central Asia and marked
the beginning of Turkic power in the Middle East.
Today they are regarded as the cultural
ancestors of the Western Turks, the present-day
inhabitants of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and
Turkmenistan, and they are remembered as great
patrons of Persian culture, art, literature
- (LO.1402)
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