The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought

Nizam al-Mulk (1018–92)

Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan b. ‘Ali b. Ishaq al-Tusi, generally known by his honorific title Nizam al-Mulk, was a scholar, statesman, and celebrated Persian vizier of two Seljuq dynasts, Alp Arslan (r. 1063–72) and his son, Malikshah (r. 1072–92). A manual of advice, the Siyar al-Muluk (The ways of kings), addressed to Malikshah, is generally attributed to him. There are early references to the work, for example in Ghazali’s (d. 1111) Nasihat al-Muluk (Book of Counsel for Kings). The text was popular enough by the late 12th century for Nizami (d. ca. 1209) to signal his familiarity with the wording of the text by directly incorporating some phrases from it in his Haft Paykar (Seven Portraits).

Nizam al-Mulk was born in a village near Tus in Khurasan in the waning years of Ghaznavid rule (997–1186) and was assassinated near Isfahan in 1092, most probably on the orders of Malikshah. In spite of the perennial threat of Turkic invasions, as well as Isma‘ili-instigated occasional unrest in Baghdad and northern Iranian provinces, Nizam al-Mulk not only managed to hold onto the reins of power for three decades but also brought the Islamic empire, stretching from central Asia (Afghanistan) in the east almost to Egypt in the west, under uniform governance and put into place a vast network of able administrators and loyal acolytes in influential positions. Five of his sons, two of his grandsons, and one great-grandson held the office of vizier to one or another of the rulers after him, though none could reach his eminence. He is also credited with the establishment of privately endowed educational institutions, known as the Nizamiyya madrasas in several cities, including Nishapur, Baghdad, Isfahan, Mosul, Balkh, Herat, and Basra.

Although lionized in medieval sources for his justice, pragmatism, visionary rule, and political acuity, the details of his life and his policies remain sparse. A series of anecdotal reminiscences by foes or allies praise the vizier for his nonpartisanship, strong rule, and benevolence to religious luminaries. He was a follower of the Shafi‘i school of law and Ash‘ari theology, and his Nizamiyya were dedicated to the propagation of Shafi‘i doctrine but without state policy being skewed in favor of the Shafi‘i faction. According to a 12th-century Shi‘i source, Nizam al-Mulk did not prohibit Shi‘i notables from founding several madrasas for their own community in Rayy or Qazvin. And an early 13th-century Hanbali historian applauds Nizam al-Mulk’s evenhandedness, recalling the vizier’s severe rebuke of the head teacher of the Nizamiyya in Baghdad. In his classes, the instructor had lambasted the Hanbali creed, provoking riots in the city. Nizam al-Mulk reminded the scholar that the Nizamiyya had been established to disseminate learning and knowledge and not to foment sectarian discord. Should the schools fail in their primary function, he would have no choice but to close them down.

Nizam al-Mulk’s book of advice, written according to the preface of the book around 1086 but referred to and cited only after his death, is among the later examples of the amalgam of pre-Islamic Iranian lore and literary and cultural tropes prevalent in the late antique world, including pseudo-Aristotelian lore and exempla and dicta culled from the Islamic tradition that dominated political thought in the medieval Islamic world. The introduction firmly sets the king in full command of his kingdom and the fate of his rule when it argues that, although divine selection places the king in office, the longevity and stability of his rule is contingent on his justice and openness to good counsel.

One of the most striking features of the Siyar al-Muluk is its long exposition of the dangers posed by heresiarchs. To that end, the vizier advises the king to keep abreast of intellectual currents in his realm and to familiarize himself with different traditions of thought so as to be cognizant of the political ramifications implicit in every religious dispute. Nizam al-Mulk chose, as an antidote to the rise of heresiarchs, the increasing sectarianism of the various Sunni schools and the spiritual appeal of the less legalistic and more philosophical tenets of the Isma‘ili faith, to befriend Sufis throughout the empire and to publicize not only his association with spiritual leaders but also his preference for the Sufis among them. The medieval sources are replete with instances of the vizier’s largesse toward the Sufi community.

It is both noteworthy and ironic that the virtues extolled in the Siyar al-Muluk were gathered not in the sultan but in the vizier himself. One of his contemporaries, the influential theologian Juwayni (d. 1085), hypothesized that the Abbasid caliphate and the Seljuq sultanate could both be abolished and the realm left solely to the care of the perfect vizier, Nizam al-Mulk.