Nizam al-Mulk | |
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Vizier of the Seljuk Empire | |
In office 29 November 1064 – 14 October 1092 | |
Monarch | Alp Arslan, Malik Shah I |
Preceded by | Al-Kunduri |
Succeeded by | Taj al-Mulk Abu'l Ghana'im |
Personal details | |
Born | April 10, 1018 Tus, Ghaznavid Empire |
Died | October 14, 1092 (aged 74) Nahavand, Seljuk Empire |
Spouse | Unnamed Bagrationi princess[1][2] |
Children | Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk Shams al-Mulk Uthman Abulfath Fakhr al-Malik Mu'ayyid al-Mulk Jamal al-Mulk Fakhr al-Mulk Izz al-Mulk Imad al-Mulk Abu'l-Kasim Safiyya |
Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi (April 10, 1018 – October 14, 1092), better known by his honorific title of Nizam ul-Mulk (Persian: نظامالملک, lit. 'Orderer of the Realm'[3]), was a Persian[4][5] scholar, jurist, political philosopher and vizier of the Seljuk Empire. Rising from a low position within the empire,[6] he became the de facto ruler of the empire for 20 years after the assassination of Sultan Alp Arslan in 1072,[7] serving as the archetypal "good vizier".[6] Viewed by many historians as "the most important statesman in Islamic history", the policies implemented by Nizam ul-Mulk remained the basic foundation for administrative state structures in the Muslim world up until the 20th century.[8]
One of his most important legacies was the founding of a system of madrasas in cities across the Seljuk Empire which were called the Nizamiyyas after him.[9] He also wrote the Siyasatnama (Book of Government), a political treatise that uses historical examples to discuss justice, effective rule, and the role of government in Islamic society.[10]
In Iran, the Seljuks established their capital at Esfahan, where they built important monuments such as the congregational mosque which remains functional today. Their prime minister, Hasan of Tus (known as Nezam ol-Molk, or Orderer of the Realm), set up a system of seminaries, called nezamiyyas, and also reformed the army and the tax system