The Rise of the Seljuks: From the Eurasian Steppe to the Gates of Cairo, c. 965-1092 -- 2. Crisis, and Collapse: The Great Seljuk Empire and the Sultanate of Iraq, 1092-1194 -- 3. Legitimacy and the Contest with the Caliphate -- 4. The Darg¯ah: Courts and Court Life -- 5. The Kutt¯ab: Bureaucrats and -- 6. The 'Askar: The Seljuk Military -- 7.Religion and the Seljuk Empire -- 8. The Economic and Social Organisation of the Seljuk Lands -- Conclusion: The Seljuk Legacy. The Great Seljuk Empire was the Turkish state the Middle East and Central Asia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This book surveys that period, which was one of exceptional importance, profound demographic, religious, political and social changes in the Middle East. The Turkish invasions layed a role in provoking the Crusades, led to the collapse of power in and brought about the beginnings of Turkish settlement in what is now Turkey and Iran, permanently ethnic and linguistic composition.