Rethinking the Seljuk law in the context of the feudal mode of production

This study focuses on the analysis of the Seljuk state organization and law, by utilizing the understanding that law and the state as original forms of social relations. The transformations that occurred during the establishment of the Seljuk States stemmed from the interaction between the Oghuzs who had a nomadic mode of production and the settled Iranian and Islamic societies and caused major changes in the social and economic structure. Within this period, the institution of iqta, which formed the basis of the Seljuk States' military, administrative and economic organization, interacted with social structures. The iqta system was the backbone of the formation of the Seljuk state organization in the context of feudal relations of production. Therefore, this study discussed the social relations which form the basis of the Seljuk state and legal system by means of examining the iqta system. Thus, the effects of socio-economic relations on the state structure and legal order were analyzed. In other words, this study aims to examine the articulation of the modes of production under the domination of the feudal mode of production and discussed the establishment process of the Turkish feudal system, which subsequently the Ottoman State inherited. The first chapter explained the concept of the mode of production, Eurocentric approaches, the concept of Asiatic mode of production, and the feudal mode of production. The second chapter examined the social formation of Oghuzs prior to the Great Seljuk State's foundation. Moreover, the historical grounds of the territorial organization of the Great Seljuk State, the miri land regime, and the iqta system are discussed in detail. The third chapter addresses the territorial organization and the legal system of the Anatolian Seljuk State, and as a conclusion, reveals the interaction between law and feudal relations of production through analyzing iqta system.