Nizam al-Mulk: Book of Government; or, Rules for Kings

About the Author

Despite his importance, relatively little is known about Nizam al-Mulk, who served as the wazir, a position similar to prime minister, of the Seljuk Empire for thirty years. He was born in 1018 near Tus, in present-day Iran, and entered the service of the Seljuks in approximately 1044 as an adviser to a commander in Balkh, in modern-day Afghanistan. Around 1054 he became a minister to Alp Arslan, the heir to the Seljuk throne. It was the custom for the Seljuk princes to rule a portion of the empire in order to gain experience for running the entire empire. Nizam al-Mulk quickly demonstrated his genius by advising the Turkic prince. Initially, he served as an underling to Alp Arslan's wazir, but after the underling's death, Alp Arslan promoted him to chief wazir. As such, he administered the province of Khorasan in what is now northeastern Iran and Afghanistan on Alp Arslan's behalf. Thus, when Alp Arslan became sultan in 1063, after his father, Toghrïl Beg, died, Nizam al-Mulk became the wazir of the empire.

Although Nizam al-Mulk certainly carried out his own initiatives and advised the Seljuk sultan, it is questionable just how much he influenced the sultan's actions. His influence in the affairs of the empire grew considerably with the assassination of Alp Arslan in 1072 or 1073 by Ismailis—a group of Shia Muslims who resisted Seljuk domination. The sultan's son Malik-Shah assumed the throne but not the power. Nizam al-Mulk was able to dominate and control Malik-Shah. Although Malik-Shah enjoyed the freedom from having to govern, he eventually chafed under the watchful eye of his self-appointed guardian.

In his conversations and writings, Nizam al-Mulk attempted to stress one primary concept to the Seljuk sultans: Justice was the most important attribute of a ruler. Indeed, Islamic philosophers and political thinkers down to the modern era have agreed on the preeminent importance of justice. Because he was a Persian and not a Turkic general or a member of the Seljuk ruling dynasty, Nizam al-Mulk was not concerned with who ruled but rather how they governed. He believed that the maintenance of the social order was most important, because it produced stability. The key was a sultan who ruled with justice and not tyranny. In many ways Nizam al-Mulk was an idealist. To reinforce the idea that justice was necessary for all, he assured the Seljuks that when kings die, they come before God and must answer for their rulership. The idea that rulers answer to God for their rule was one that Nizam al-Mulk had derived not only from Islamic thought but also from older Persian concepts concerning the divine origins of kings. He believed that kings's power was absolute and thus that they were answerable to no one except God. Any power others, including the caliph, might have could not exceed that of the sultan, who was the “Shadow of God on Earth.” The sultan ruled by the will of God and over a social system devised by God.

Although Nizam al-Mulk served as the wazir of the empire for thirty years and controlled the day-to-day affairs of the empire for most of that time, he also carried out his own private initiatives, accomplished with the aid of the immense power and wealth that came with his position. These initiatives were tied to his vision of the ideal state, his dedication to Sunni Islam, and the suppression of what he viewed as heresies. To this end, he established the Madrasah Nizamiyyah in Baghdad, which promoted the Shafii interpretation of Islamic law (one of four such schools of thought) in order to counter Shiism, of which he was an ardent opponent. Gradually, he funded or assisted in the establishment of additional religious schools throughout the Middle East. His ardor at combating the spread of Shiism in Iran, particularly the Ismaili variety, earned him the hatred of the Ismailis, who assassinated him in 1092.