ZEYNADDIN BAYDAROV
Institute of History and Ethnology of
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Department of the History of Azerbaijan (7th-14th centuries)
PhD student (2nd year)
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1881-7762
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM AND GOVERNANCE OF AZERBAIJAN
DURING THE SELJUK PERIOD IN TURKISH HISTORIOGRAPHY
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36719/2708-065X/114/291-295
This article analyzes how the political system and governance model of Azerbaijan during the Seljuk period were conceptualized in Turkish historiography. With the establishment of the Great Seljuk development in the South Caucasus in the 11th–12th centuries, the political-strategic economic and governance structures of Azerbaijan were reshaped as a new empire. The main objective of the study is to determine how the Seljuk state mechanism of Azerbaijan was presented as a material part in the works of Turkish historians, in what theoretical framework the center-administration relations were explained, and on what institutional foundations the practice of regional governance was based. The article examines the approaches of the leadership of Turkish historiography to the iqta system, military-feudal organization, provincial administration, tax mechanisms, and the functioning of judicial-legal structures. At the same time, such theoretically important dimensions as the synthesis of nomadic Turkic political traditions and Islamic state institutions, the basis of the legitimacy of the sultan's power, and the role of the bureaucratic apparatus are examined. The study includes both an interpretation of classical research and modern methodological approaches - both institutional and historical historical perspectives. In Turkish historiography, Azerbaijan is presented not only as a geographical periphery of the Seljuk Empire, but also as a place of strategic disadvantage in political and economic terms. In this context, the article shows that the governance model of Azerbaijan is formed under the influence of local socio-political realities, along with the regional manifestation of the general system. As a result, the study allows us to understand the essence of state-building in the South Caucasus during the Seljuk period in a more systematic and conceptual way.
Keywords: Seljuk Empire, Azerbaijan, political system, governance, turkish historiography, iqta system, turko-islamic state tradition, medieval state formation.