Nizam al-Mulk

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Nizam al-Mulk

For info about rulers of Hyderabad state
Hyderabad State

Hyderabad state was the largest princely state in the erstwhile British Indian Empire. It was located in the south-central region of the Indian subcontinent, and was ruled, from 1724 until 1948, by a hereditary Nizam....
, see the page Nizam state of Hyderabad
Nizam

Nizam , a shortened version of Nizam-ul-Mulk , meaning Administrator of the Realm, was the title of the native sovereigns of Hyderabad state, India, since 1719, belonging to the Asaf Jah dynasty....
.

Abu Ali al-Hasan al-Tusi Nizam al-Mulk (????? ?????????? ???? in Persian

Persian language

Vizier

A Vizier , is a term for a high-ranking political advisor or minister, often to a Muslim monarch such as a Caliph, or Sultan. It sometimes refers to ministers and advisors of the Persian Empire's Shahs....
of the Seljuq Empire.

in Tus in Persia (Iran)

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
, and initially serving the Ghaznavid

Ghaznavid Empire

The Ghaznavids were an Islamic and Persianate dynasty of Turkic peoples mamluk origin which existed from 975 to 1187 and ruled much of Persia, Transoxania, and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent....
sultans, Nizam ul-Mulk became chief administrator of the entire Khorasan

Khorasan

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Abu Ali al-Hasan al-Tusi Nizam al-Mulk (????? ?????????? ???? in Persian

Persian language

Vizier

His life

Born in Tus in Persia (Iran)

Iran

Ghaznavid Empire

Khorasan

Khorasan Khorasan is famous world wide for its saffron and Berberis#Zereshk which are produced in the southern cities of the province. Production is more than 170 tons per year....
province by 1059 AD. From 1063, he served the Seljuks as vizier and remained in that position throughout the reigns of Alp Arslan

Alp Arslan

Malik Shah I

Jalal al-Dawlah Malik-shah or simply Malik Shah was the Seljuk Turks sultan from 1072 to 1092.He drove the Byzantine Empire out of most of Anatolia following their defeat by his father Alp Arslan at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071....
(1072-1092). He left a great impact on organization of the Seljuk governmental bodies and hence the title Nizam al-Mulk which translates as "the order of state".

Aside from his extraordinary influence as vizier with full authority, he is also well-known for systematically founding a number of schools of higher education

Higher education

Higher education refers to a level of education that is provided by university, vocational university, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, Institute of technology and other collegiate level institutions, such as Vocational school, trade schools and career colleges, that award academic degrees or professional certifications....
in several cities, the famous Nizamiyyah

Nizamiyyah

A nizamiyya is one of the medieval institutions of higher education established by Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century in present-day Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan....
schools, which were named after him. In many aspects, these schools turned out to be the predecessors and models of universities that were established in Europe.

Nizam ul-Mulk is also widely known for his voluminous treatise on kingship titled Siyasatnama
Siyasatnama

Siyasatnama / Siyasat nameh , also known as Siyar al-muluk, is the most famous work by Nizam al-Mulk, the founder of Nizamiyyah schools in medieval Persia and vizier to the Seljuq dynasty sultans Alp Arslan and Malik Shah....
(The Book of Government

Government

Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies....
). He also wrote a book titled Dastur al-Wuzara, written for his son Abolfath Fakhr-ol-Malek, which is not dissimilar to the famous book of Qabus nama

Qabus nama

Qabus nama or Qabus nameh [variations: Qabusnamah, Qabousnameh, Ghabousnameh, or Ghaboosnameh, in Persian: ??????????, book of Qabus] is a major work of Persian literature from the eleventh century ....
.

Nizam ul-Mulk was finally assassinated en route from Isfahan

Isfahan (city)

Esfahan or Isfahan , located about 340 km south of Tehran at , is the capital of Esfahan Province and Iran's third largest city . Esfahan City had a population of 1,583,609 and the Esfahan metropolitan area had a population of 3,430,353 in the 2006 Census, the second most populous metropolitan area in Iran after Tehran....
to Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous. With a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq, and the second largest city in the Arab World....
on the 10th of Ramadhan of 1092AD. The mainstream literature says he was stabbed by the dagger of a member of the Assassins (Hashshashin) near Nahavand

Nahavand

Nahavand is a town in Hamadan Province in Iran. It is located south of Hamadan, east of Malayer and southwest of Borujerd. Nahavand is one of the oldest existing cities in Iran....
, Persia

Iran

Dervish

Darvesh or Dervish , as it is known in European languages, refers to members of Sufi Muslim ascetic religious Tariqah, known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant order friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus, also called fakirs amongst Muslims ....
.

This account is particularly interesting in light of a possibly apocryphal story recounted by Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges was an Argentina writer born in Buenos Aires. He was brought up bilingual in Spanish and English. In 1914, his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, then traveled around Spain....
. In this story a pact is formed between a young Nizam ul-Mulk (at that time known as Abdul Khassem) and his two friends, Omar Khayyam

Omar Khayyám

Omar Khayyam was a Persian peoples polymath: Islamic mathematics, Iranian philosophy, Islamic astronomy and above all Persian literature.He has also become established as one of the major mathematicians and astronomers of the medieval period....
and Hassan-i-Sabah

Hassan-i-Sabah

Hassan-i Sabbah was a Persian Nizari Ismaili missionary who converted a community in the late 11th century in the heart of the Alborz Mountains of northern Iran....
. Their agreement stated that if one should rise to prominence, that they would help the other two to do likewise. Nizam ul-Mulk was the first to do this when he was appointed vizier to the sultan Alp Arslan

Alp Arslan

Alp Arslan was the second sultan of the Seljuk dynasty and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponym of the dynasty. He assumed the name of Muhammad bin Da'ud Chaghri when he embraced Islam, and for his military prowess, personal valour, and fighting skills he obtained the surname Alp Arslan, which means "a valiant lion" in Turkish lang...
. To fulfill the pact he offered both friends positions of rank within the court. Omar refused the offer, asking instead to be given the means to continue his studies indefinitely. This Nizam did, as well as building him an observatory. Although Hassan, unlike Omar, decided to accept the appointment offered to him, he was forced to flee after plotting to dispose Nizam as vizier. Subsequently, Hassan came upon and conquered the fortress of Alamut

Alamut

Alamut was once a mountain fortress located in the central Alborz south of the Caspian Sea close to Gazor Khan near Qazvin Province, about 100 km from present-day Tehran in Iran....
, from where he established the Assassins.

Another report says he was killed in secret by Malik Shah I

Malik Shah I

Jalal al-Dawlah Malik-shah or simply Malik Shah was the Seljuk Turks sultan from 1072 to 1092.He drove the Byzantine Empire out of most of Anatolia following their defeat by his father Alp Arslan at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071....
in an internal power struggle. Consequently, his murder was avenged by the vizier's loyal servants of the Nizamiyyah

Nizamiyyah

A nizamiyya is one of the medieval institutions of higher education established by Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century in present-day Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan....
, by assassinating the Sultan.

Another report says that he was assassinated with Malik Shah I

Malik Shah I

Jalal al-Dawlah Malik-shah or simply Malik Shah was the Seljuk Turks sultan from 1072 to 1092.He drove the Byzantine Empire out of most of Anatolia following their defeat by his father Alp Arslan at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071....
in the same year, after a debate between Sunni and Shiite scholars which was prepared by him by the orders of Malik Shah I

Malik Shah I

Jalal al-Dawlah Malik-shah or simply Malik Shah was the Seljuk Turks sultan from 1072 to 1092.He drove the Byzantine Empire out of most of Anatolia following their defeat by his father Alp Arslan at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071....
and which resulted in converting him and the king to the Shiites creed. The story is reported by the son-in-law of Nizam al-Mulk, Muqatil bin Atiyyah who attended the debate.

Nizam al-Mulk

His life

See also