Nizam al-Mulk

(c. 1019 - 1092)

Born Hasan ibn Ali in Tus around 1019, Nizam al-Mulk became adviser to several Seljuq empire rulers; his title, Nizam al-Mulk, Kawam al-Din, means “regulator of the state, upholder of religion.” He wrote a treatise of advice for leaders, the Book of Government, or Rules for Kings, which used detailed anecdotes and examples to discuss the importance of an energetic and vigorous state, and present a detailed code of conduct regarding everything from public speaking to the “treatment of the peasantry.” He was assassinated in 1092; shortly after his death, the Seljuq empire declined. “The stability of that regal cap,” he had previously stated, “is bound up with this vizierial inkstand.”