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Seljuk (Turkish: Selçuk) was the eponymous hero of the Seljuks. He was the son of a certain Dukak surnamed Timuryaligh -of the iron bow- and either the chief or an eminent member from the Kınık tribe of the Oghuz Turks.
In about 985 the Seljuk clan split off from the bulk of the
Tokuz-Oghuz, a confederacy of nine clans long settled between the Aral
and Caspian Seas, and set up camp on the right bank of the lower Syr
Darya(Jaxartes), in the direction of Jend, near Kzyl Orda in present
day south-western Kazakhstan where they were converted to Islam.
The biblical names of his four sons -Mîkâîl, Isrâîl (Arslan), Mûsâ, and
Yûnus (Jonah)- suggest previous acquaintance with either Khazar Judaism
or Nestorian Christianity. Seljuk died approximately in 1038 and was
sacrified in a tomb.
Under Mikail's sons Toghrul and Chaghri the Seljuks migrated into
Khurasan. Ghaznavid attempts to stop Seljuks raiding the local Muslim
populace led to the Battle of Dandanaqan on 23 May 1040. Victorious
Seljuks became masters of Khurasan, expanding their power into
Transoxiana and across Iran. By 1055 Toghrul had expanded his control
all the way to Baghdad, setting himself up as the champion of the
Abbasid caliph, who honored him with the title sultan. Earlier rulers
may have used this title but the Seljuks seem to have been the first to
inscribe it on their coins.
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