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

Glossary

• Adud ad Daula known as the “Arm of the Empire,” a Shia Muslim and the most important person of the Buyid Dynasty that controlled the Abbasid dynasty (r. 977–982)
• farsang a unit of measurement equaling approximately three miles; Baghdad to Samarqand is roughly 500 farsangs
• lustre in this context, evidence of great competence
• Martyr Sultan Alp Arslan Seljuk sultan who was killed by a prisoner taken while he and his troops were fighting north of the Amu Darya River; considered a martyr for his service to Islam