Saljuq-nama
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The Saljūq-Nāma (Persian: سلجوقنامه, "Book of Seljuk [Empire]") is a history of the Seljuk Empire written by the Persian historian Zahir al-Din Nishapuri around 1175.[1] Written in New Persian,[2] it has been acknowledged as the primary source for Saljuq material for Persian works from the 13th to 15th centuries, which include the Rahat al-sudur, Jami' al-tawarikh, Tarikh-i guzida, Zubdat al-Tawarikh and Rawzat as-safa. Abu al-Qasim Qashani, a historian who wrote about the Ilkhanids,[3] made alterations and additions to the original text, which was later misidentified as the original Saljuq-nama.[4]
The Saljuq-nama is vague concerning the history of the sultans before Toghrul III, as noted by Claude Cahen, that Nishapuri had "relatively poor sources at his disposal for the Seljuqs before his own lifetime..."[5] Yet it is a short, restrained history using different sources than those used by Arabic writers of that time.[1] Its textual history is complicated; as a preface in rhyme, it first appears as the historical part of a compendium known as Rahat al-sudur.[6] A later version appears in the 14th century compendium of histories known as Jami al-tawarikh, which was compiled by Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah, vizier of the Ilkhanate of Iran.[6]
