and Iraq (ruled by the Buyids) and in , restored Baghdad to Sunni rule. The caliph, al-Qaim, conferred on Tughril Beg the title of Sultan in a move that marked the separation of religious and political authority. The two Saljuq brothers ruled together in accordance with the tribal notion of rule by the family as a whole. Tughril (d.
) was succeeded by his nephew, Alp Arsalan. During Alp Arsalan’s reign, the Saljuq empire expanded to Anatolia (modern Turkey). From the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, there was a series of conflicts between European Christians and the Arab states. This is discussed below.
Then, at the start of the thirteenth century, the Muslim world found itself on the verge of a great disaster. This was the threat from the Mongols, the last but most decisive of all nomadic assaults on settled civilisations (see Theme ).