David Durand-Guédy . Iranian Elites and Turkish Rulers: A History of Isfahān in the Saljūq Period . (Routledge Studies in the History of Iran and Turkey.) New York : Routledge . 2010 . Pp. xvii, 435. $140.00.

Abstract

Isfahan is most likely familiar to readers for its role as a capital of Safavid Iran (from around 1587 to 1722). Throughout this period Isfahan was visited by many European merchants, diplomats, and travelers and was adorned by stunningly beautiful architectural monuments. However, Isfahan was for many more centuries than that the most populous and prosperous city of western Iran. Although it was often overshadowed by neighboring cities, and generally of less political importance than Shiraz or of less strategic importance than Hamadan, there was another period in the eleventh century when it served as the de facto capital of the Saljuq Turk Empire on the Iranian plateau. It is this other significant moment in the history of the city that is explored with great erudition and insight in this book. David Durand-Guédy begins his study with a description of the geography, economy, society, and culture of Isfahan (a “second Baghdad,” as he aptly puts it) on the eve of the Turkish conquest. As Buyid rule of western Iran and Iraq dissipated, the city came under the control of a petty dynasty known as the Kakuyids. Durand-Guédy discusses in some detail the Kakuyids' tenacious and crafty efforts to fend off the Turkish Ghaznavids and then the Saljuqs in the period after 1029. Those efforts came to an end in 1050–1051, when the Saljuq Amir Toghril laid siege to the city and captured it.