Niẓām al-Mulk

Niẓām al-Mulk (born c. 1018/19, Ṭūs, Khorāsān, Iran—died Oct. 14, 1092, near Nehāvand) was a Persian vizier of the Turkish Seljuq sultans (1063–92), best remembered for his large treatise on kingship, Seyāsat-nāmeh (The Book of Government; or, Rules for Kings). Niẓām al-Mulk was the son of a revenue official for the Ghaznavid dynasty. Through his father’s position, he was born into the literate, cultured milieu of the Persian administrative class. His early years included a...