The Seljuks were a clan of nomadic Turks who conquered Iran and the eastern Islamic lands in the mid-11th century. They adopted Persian language and culture, and under their rule, art and architecture flourished. Seljuq artists developed new techniques in metalwork, especially inlaid brass. In ceramics, they developed a style called Minai-ware, which allowed artists to paint with minute detail. Seljuk rule was brief but its culture made a lasting impact.
The Seljuk of Rum (Sultanate of Rum) seceded from the Greater Seljuq Empire at the end of the 11th century.
Source: Aga Khan Museum
Additional Reading:
Canby, Sheila R., Deniz Beyazit, Martina Rugiadi, and A. C. S. Peacock. Court and Cosmos : the Great Age of the Seljuqs. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016.
Heidemann, Stefan, Jean-François de Lapérouse, and Vicki Parry. 2014. “The Large Audience: Life-Sized Stucco Figures of Royal Princes from the Seljuq Period.” Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World 31 (1): 35–71. 10.1163/22118993-00311p03.
Lange, Christian Robert, and Songül Mecit. The Seljuqs : Politics, Society and Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011.
