Internal and External Challenges and Tensions in Seljuq Clan in the Collapse of the Seljuq Dynasty

Amongst the most important issues on exploring the history of Seljuq dynasty is identifying the way the dynasty collapsed and its most obvious reasons. The Turkish tribes of Seljuq dynasty that had their hand on the throne were once desert nomads, but through creating a firm and fixed army, forming disciplined court structure, and employing Iranian bureaucrats could make a very powerful empire in Iran and diverse regions like Georgia, Asia Minor, Antakya, or say, from Kashgar to the Mediterranean Sea. Soon, however, a series of events as well as internal and external changes, gradually made the empire weak and made it collapse. Many small and big issues resulted in the collapsing of the powerful dynasty, among of which one can say, in-tribe conflicts, Kings’ taken policies, war and tension with foreign invaders, Turkmens’ continuous attacks on Seljuq’s territory, fight for the succession of Seljuq kings, kings’ governing methods, too much power of commanders, and famous minsters’ gained power. Some studies have pointed out to the internal and external challenges among Seljuq dynasty, but there is not a comprehensive study in this regard. Therefore, the study tried to explore the challenges and tensions by taking the historical research methods and using survived documents.