Turks+Rise+to+Power

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Mitchell Roberts and Danya Fisher

= Turks Rise to Power =

Abbasid Slaves:
Around 1300, Abbasids began to buy Turk kids. They were considered slaves but were actually treated fairly well. From a young age, they were trained to be good soldiers. These slaves, called mamelukes, were used as soldiers and body guards to caliphs. They were extremely skilled and very valuable to their owners. Over time, they became more powerful and caliphs granted them more freedom. The slaves eventually became more powerful than their owner, the caliphs. Even though their religous power remained, this helped put an end to the cliphs political power.



Turks Migrate and Conquer:
Around year 970, the large Turkish group called the Seljuks begins migrating to Abbasid Empire. About thirty years later, they converted to Sunni branch of Islam but kept fighting other Muslims. In 1055, the fight the Persians and win over Baghdad. But, they stay friendly with Persia, as you will read later. Next, they moved on to take, Syria, Palestine, and almost all of Asia Minor. Expanding their empire greatly.



Turks and Persian Relations:
Even tough the Persians were the Turk's subjects, they decide to stay on good terms with them. Shortly after they took over Baghdad, the Turks decided to chose the Persian city Isfahan as their capital The uneducated Turks respected Persians for their education so in honor of them, they made Persian the National language. It is very interesting and smart that they did this. This made Persians happy and made them loyal to the Turks. If the Turks were to have oppressed the Persians instead, things wouldnt have been peaceful. The Persians probably would have violently fought back and the Turks could have fallen from power.

Seljuks and the Mongols:
After taking Syria, Palestine, and Asia Minor, Pope Urban II recovered much land including Constantinople and Palestine. The Seljuks were able to fight them off but more war was coming. As this was all happening, Genghis Khan and his brutal millitary were marching east, destroying everything that got in their way and soon would ben forced to fight the Seljuks. The Mongols had an organized army with lots of experience in destroying cities and populations. The Seljuks, although skilled, weren't as experienced or organized easily took over the Seljuks. The Mongols took Baghdad and brought it the ground. They maliciously killed tens of thousands of people and burned down buildings, even the caliph's palace.



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[|Seljuk Turks Timeline]

Bibliography:
Beck, Roger B., et al. World History, Patterns of Interaction. N.p.: McDougal Littel, 1999. Print. This source is a factual textbook. It helped with background info. This source provided a general overview of events about the Seljuks.

Grischy, Janet. "Mamluks: An Army of Turkish Slaves for Abbasid Caliphs." Helium. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2011. . This is a factual source that provides an overview and facts on history. It provided background info on Turks being used as slaves.

"Islam from the Begining to 1300." International World History Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. . This is a factual website with lots of info. This gave us an overwiew and facts on history. It provided info about the Seljuks and things they did.

Lewis, Bernard. "Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East." Council on Foreign Relations. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2011. . This source is factual and provides an overview. It provided background info on the concepts of Islam, which is what the Seljuks converted to.