Circa 1019-1092
Wazir

Prime Minister. Nizam al-Mulk was the Persian prime minister (wazir) of the well-known Saljuk rulers Alp Arslan (ruled 1063-1072) and Malikdhah (ruled 1072-1092). Throughout this period, Nizam al-Milk witnessed a series of wars, as the Saljuk realm expanded. The Saljuks captured their first significant city, Nishapur, in 1037, and only eighteen years later, in 1055, took Baghdad, the capital of the khilafah in 1055, only eighteen years later. When Nizam al-Mulk became prime minister, the Saljuk sultanate was already the single most powerful Muslim kingdom of its day. During his term in office, it attained even greater size, especially after the defeat of the Byzantines at Malazgirt (Manzikert) in 1071 and the capture of Syria in 1072. Probably his role in these conquests was minimal, his position being administrative rather than military; yet, the extend of Saljuk territory put at his command large financial resources to spend on...