Seljuk Empire
Control over the Abassids in Iraq (1055–1135)

The region of Iraq was under the control of the Seljuk Empire from 1055 to 1135, since the Oghuz Turk Tughril Beg had expelled the Shiite Buyid dynasty. Tughril Beg entered Baghdad in 1055 and was the first Seljuk ruler to style himself Sultan and Protector of the Abbasid Caliphate. From that time, the Abassids were only "puppets" in the hands of the Seljuks. In 1058, the Abassid Caliph granted to Tughril the title of "King of East and West", officially becoming the temporal protector of Abassid Caliph Qa'im. Iraq remained under the control of the Great Seljuks during the reign of Muhammad I Tapar (1082–1118 CE), but from 1119, his 14 years old son Mahmud II (1118–1131) was restricted to the only rule of Iraq, while Sanjar took control of the rest of the Empire.

In order to counter the ambitions of Abbasid Caliph al-Mustarshid (1118–1135), who wanted to acquire world dominance, in 1124 Mahmūd granted the city of Wasit to Imad al-Din Zengi as an ıqta, and conferred him the Military Governorship of Basra together with Baghdad and the whole of Iraq in 1126. In 1127, Imad al-Din Zengi was named Governor of Mosul, where the Atabegdom of Mosul was formed. The Seljuk control of the Abassids ended in 1135, with direct military confrontation between the Abassids and the Seljuks: after rebuilding the walls of Baghdad and recreating a Caliphal after many centuries, Al-Mustarshid confronted the subordinate Seljuk Sultan of Iraq Mas'ud in battle. The caliph lost and was taken prisoner, and died in captivity in 1135, but conflicts continued with Al-Mustarshid's successors. Mas'ud briefly recaptured Baghdad in the Siege of Baghdad (1136), forcing Caliph Al-Rashid Billah to abdicate, but the next Caliph Al-Muqtafi (1136–1160) managed to restore a high degree of independence and successfully resisted the Seljuk Siege of Baghdad (1157).
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