Terken Khatun (; 1053 – September–October 1094) was the second/third wife and chief consort of
Malik Shah I
Jalāl al-Dawla Mu'izz al-Dunyā Wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fatḥ ibn Alp Arslān (8 August 1055 – 19 November 1092, full name: fa, ), better known by his regnal name of Malik-Shah I ( fa, ), was the third sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire from 1072 t ...
, Sultan of the
Seljuk Empire
The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turko-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total are ...
from 1072, until his death in 1092. She was born as a
Karakhanid
The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek K ...
princess, the daughter of
Tamghach Khan Ibrahim. She was the mother of
Mahmud I, the next ruler of the Seljuk Empire, and regent during his minority in 1092–1094.
Early life
Terken Khatun was born in 1053. Her father was
Tamghach Khan Ibrahim, the ruler of the
Kara-Khanid Khanate
The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek ...
. She had a brother, Shams al-Mulk Nasr.
Marriage
Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan was the second Sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. He greatly expanded the Seljuk territory and consolidated his power, defeating rivals to the south and northwest, and his v ...
, father of Malik-Shah gave his own daughter Aisha Khatun to Shams al-Mulk Nasr, the son and successor of the Qara Khanid Tamghach Khan Ibrahim, Terkhan Khatun's father. Later in 1065 he married his son to Terken Khatun, who was aged twelve at the time and Malik-Shah was about the same age. The two together had five sons, Dawud, Abu Shuja Ahmad, Sultan
Mahmud I, born in 1087–8, Abu'l-Qasim, who died in childhood, another son who died in childhood, and was buried in Ray,
and a daughter, Mah-i Mulk Khatun, who married Abbasid Caliph
Al-Muqtadi
Abū'l-Qasim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qa'im (Arabic: أبو القاسم عبد الله بن محمد بن القائم) better known by his laqab, regnal name Al-Muqtadi ''(1056 – February 1094)'' (Arabic: المقتدي 'the follower ...
in 1082.
Nizam al-Mulk's position vis-à-vis the sultan was thus to some extent unsatisfactory, and his influence at the subordinate households of the sultan's wives and those of the princes was still weaker. Terken Khatun's household became the focus of opposition, for Taj al-Mulk was also her personal intendant. The vizier doubtless had Terken Khatun in mind when in the Siyasat-Nama he denounced the malevolent influence of women at court, citing their misleading advice to the ruler and their susceptibility to promptings from their attendants and eunuchs. Terken Khatun's son Dawud had been his father's favourite son, but he died in 1082. Six years later Malik-Shah had capital approval when he proclaimed as heir another of his sons, Abu Shuja Ahmad, and gave him a resplendent string of honorifics, but in the following year he too died. After these disappointments it was not surprising that Terken Khatun wanted to promote the succession of her third son Mahmud, despite the fact that he was the youngest of all the possible candidates.
Towards the end of Malik-Shah's reign,
Qodun, the shahna of Marv, complained to the Sultan that he had been seized by
Nizam al-Mulk
Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi (April 10, 1018 – October 14, 1092), better known by his honorific title of Nizam al-Mulk ( fa, , , Order of the Realm) was a Persian scholar, jurist, political philosopher and Vizier of the Seljuk Empire. Rising fro ...
's son, Shams al-Din Uthman who was rais of Marv. Malik Shah wrote to Nizam al-Mulk reproaching him with these words, "These your children have each gained the mastery over a large district and govern large province. But this does not satisfy them and they exceed what a politic and desire to do this and that." Nizam al-Mulk defended himself but on this occasion the Sultan's jealousy was not assuaged and he began to plot against the life of the vizier. Terken Khatun added fuel to the fire, accusing Nizam al-Mulk of dividing the kingdom among his children. Her opposition to Nizam al-Mulk was due to his having urged Malik Shah to nominate
Berkyaruq
Rukn al-Din Abu'l-Muzaffar Berkyaruq ibn Malikshah ( fa, ابو المظفر رکن الدین برکیارق بن ملکشاه, Rukn al-Dīn Abuʿl-Moẓaffar Berkyāruq ibn Malik-Šāh; 1079/80 – 1105), better known as Berkyaruq (), was the f ...
, the thirteen year old son of
Zubayda Khatun
Zubayda Khatun (died 1099, Ray) was a granddaughter of Dawud Chaghri Beg, wife and cousin of Malik-Shah I. She was the mother of sultan Berkyaruq.
Biography
Zubayda was born to Emir Yaquti, son of Chaghri Beg. She married and influenced her ...
,
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
, whereas she wished her own son Mahmud, an infant, to be so nominated and was supported in this by
Taj al-Mulk
Taj al-Mulk Abu'l Ghana'em Marzban ibn Khosrow Firuz Shirazi ( fa, تاجالملک ابوالغنائم مرزبان بن خسرو فیروز), better simply known as Taj al-Mulk () was a Seljuk Empire, Seljuk courtier during the reigns of Mal ...
, who was vizier to Terken Khatun. She joined an intrigue mounted against Nizam al-Mulk by Taj al-Mulk,
Majid al-Mulk Baravistani Qummi, the mustaufi,
Sadid al-Mulk, the aird.
Regency
In 1092, when Malik Shah I was assassinated shortly after Nizam al-Mulk, Taj al-Mulk nominated Mahmud as Sultan and set out for
Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
. Mahmud was a child, and his mother Terken Khatun wished to seize power in his name. To accomplish this, she entered in negotiations with her son-in-law, the Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadi, to secure her rule. The Caliph opposed both a child and a woman as ruler, and could not be persuaded to allow the ''
khutba
''Khutbah'' ( ar, خطبة ''khuṭbah'', tr, hutbe) serves as the primary formal occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition.
Such sermons occur regularly, as prescribed by the teachings of all legal schools. The Islamic tradition ...
'', the sign of the sovereign, to be proclaimed in the name of a woman.
Eventually, however, the Caliph agreed to let her govern if the ''khutba'' was said in the name of her son, and if she did so assisted by a vizier he appointed for her, a condition to which she saw herself forced to accept. She was thus not formally a regent, but she secured the reigns of power de facto with al-Shirazi as vizier and Unar as army commander.
She was openly acknowledged to be the ruler and manager of the institutions and political and military business of the state otherwise the privilege of a male ruler, and the phrase "khatun dispatched the armies to fight" was often named, illustrating her authority to command the military issues of the state.
[El-Azhari, Taef. Queens, Eunuchs and Concubines in Islamic History, 661–1257. Edinburgh University Press, 2019]
On arrival in Isfahan, Taj al-Mulk seized and imprisoned Barkiyaruq on Terken Khatun's orders, but the
Nizamiyya mamluks
The Nezamiyeh ( fa, نظامیه) or Nizamiyyah ( ar, النظامیة) are a group of institutions of higher education established by Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century in Iran. The name ''nizamiyyah'' derives from his name. Founded a ...
, who hated Terken Khatun because of her enmity to their late master, set Barkiyaruq free and took him to
Ray, where the rais of the city, Nizam al-Mulk's son-in-law crowned him.
Taj al-Mulk and Terken Khatun set out after Barkiyaruq, but were defeated at
Borujerd
Borujerd ( fa, بروجرد ''Borūjerd'') is a city and the capital of Borujerd County, Lorestan Province in western Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 234,997 persons. Among the existing modern cities in Iran, Borujerd is one of the ...
in 1092–93. Terken Khatun retired with her forces to Isfahan, where she was besieged. Taj al-Mulk who had fled at the battle of Borujerd, meanwhile came to Barkiyaruq and offered him 200,000
dinar
The dinar () is the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, and its historical use is even more widespread.
The modern dinar's historical antecedents are the gold dinar and the silver dirham, the main coin of ...
s to make him vizier.
Death
From Isfahan Terken Khatun tried to make contact with Tulush, but she died suddenly in 1094, to be followed a month later by her son Mahmud.
References
Bibliography
*
*{{cite book, first=Ann K. S. , last=Lambton, title=Continuity and Change in Medieval Persia, publisher=SUNY Press, date=January 1, 1988, isbn=978-0-887-06133-2
Seljuk dynasty
11th-century women rulers
1094 deaths
11th-century births
Princesses
11th-century Turkic women
Turkic female royalty