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HOME :
Islamic Art :
Islamic Jewelry and Amulets : Seljuk Incised Silver Ring with Gold Inlay
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Seljuk Incised Silver Ring with Gold Inlay - OS.201
Origin: Mediterranean
Circa: 1100
AD
to 1400
AD
Collection: Jewelry
Style: Seljuk
Medium: Silver, Gold
£5,000.00
Location: Great Britain
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| Description |
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In the 9th century, hordes of nomadic Turkic
horseman living on the outskirts of the Muslim
world began to migrate westward into the heart
of Central Asia. By the 10 century, a branch
known as the House of Seljuk had broken off
from the Oghuz confederation of Turkomen
tribesmen, arrived into mainland Persia, and
settled in the province of Khurasan. Overtime,
the Seljuks converted to Islam and began to
adopt the Persian language and culture. In the
11th century, the Seljuks set up an independent
state under their leader Tugrul Bey with its
capital in Isfahan, initially under the auspices of
the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad. The arts thrived
during the Seljuk period as the Turkic rulers
patronized Persian culture, arts, and literature.
However, as the Arab caliph began to
disintegrate, the Seljuks seized the opportunity
to expand their empire westward to the Levant
and Anatolia where they frequently came into
direct conflict with the Byzantines. In the famous
Battle of Manzikert, the Seljuks dealt the
Byzantines a decisive defeat, capturing Emperor
Diogenes himself, paving the way for Turkic
expansion into Anatolia and the signaling the
decline of the mighty Byzantines. This golden era
did not last long though, as increasing waves of
clans migrating from the east, pushed westward
by the Mongol onslaught, coupled with Crusader
armies arriving from the European west, started
to destabilize the empire.
The Great Seljuk Empire was reduced to a series
of smaller principalities based in Anatolia, the
most prominent and powerful of which was the
Sultanate of Rum. The arrival of the Mongols
themselves on the Anatolian plateau in the 13th
century marked the end of Seljuk independence
as they were forced to become vassals to the
Mongols. Despite efforts to maintain the
authority of the Sultan in the face of Mongol
retreat, the Seljuks completely disintegrated as a
political force in the first decade of the 14th
century, leaving behind numerous small mini-
states most of which remain obscure, except that
one led by Osman I known as the Ottomans.
- (OS.201)
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