Nizam al-Mulk
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Abu Ali al-Hasan al-Tusi Nizam al-Mulk (نظام الملك، ابو علي الحسن الطوسي in Persian; 1018 – 14 October 1092) was a celebrated Persian scholar and vizier of the Seljuq Empire.
Born in Tus in Persia (Iran) and initially served the Ghaznavid sultans, Nizam ul Mulk became chief administrator of the entire Khorasan province by 1059CE. From 1063, he served the Seljuks as vizier and remained in that position throughout the reigns of Alp Arslan (1063-1072) and Malik Shah I (1072-1092). He left a great impact on organization of the Seljuk governmental bodies and hence the title Nizam al-Mulk which translates as "the order of state".
Aside from his extraordinary influence as vizier with full authority, he is also well-known for systematically founding a number of schools of higher education in several cities, the famous Nizamiyyah schools, which were named after him. In many aspects, these schools turned out to be the predecessors and models of universities that were established in Europe.
Nizam ul-Mulk is also widely known for his voluminous treatise on kingship titled Siyasatnama (The Book of Government). He also wrote a book titled Dastur al-Wizarah, written for his son Abolfath Fakhr-ol-Malek, which is not dissimilar to the famous book of Qabus nama.
Nizam ul-Mulk was finally assassinated en route from Isfahan to Baghdad on the 10th of Ramadhan of 1092CE. The mainstream literature says he was stabbed by the dagger of a member of the Hashshashin sect near Nahavand, Persia, as he was being carried on his litter. The killer approached him disguised as a dervish.
This account is particularly interesting in light of a possibly apocryphal story recounted by Jorge Luis Borges. In this story a pact is formed between a young Nizam ul-Mulk (at that time known as Abdul Khassem) and his two friends, Omar Khayyam and Hassan-i-Sabah. Their agreement stated that if one should rise to prominence, that they would help the other two to do likewise. Nizam ul-Mulk was the first to do this when he was appointed vizier to the sultan Alp Arslan. To fulfill the pact he offered both friends positions of rank within the court. Omar refused the offer, asking instead to be given the means to continue his studies indefinitely. This Nizam did, as well as building him an observatory. Although Hassan, unlike Omar, decided to accept the appointment offered to him, he was forced to flee after plotting to dispose Nizam as vizier. Subsequently, Hassan came upon and conquered the fortress of Alamut, from where he established the Assassins.
Another report says he was killed in secret by Malik Shah I in an internal power struggle. Consequently, his murder was avenged by the vizier's loyal servants of the Nizamiyyah, by assassinating the Sultan. (p17 of ISBN 964-303-008-3)
The third account is the least known but most interesting of all theories surrounding the death of Nizam ul-Mulk. According to this account, the Sultan ordered a Sunni - Shia debate to take place in his royal court to obtain some answers. The debate ended with the Shia side convincing the Sultan and his Vizier (both of whom were followers of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam) to voluntarily convert to the Shia faith. This aroused the rage of some extremists of the Sunni establishment, resulting in the assassination of both the Vizier and the Sultan. This account appears in a report by Mughatil ibn Bakri, a staff of the Nizamiyyah, who also was the son in law of Nizam ul-Mulk.
