Mahmud II of Great Seljuq

Mahmud II of Great Seljuq

Mahmud II (c. 1105 - 1131) was the Seljuq sultan of Baghdad in 1118 following the death of his father Mehmed I. At the time Mahmud was fourteen, and ruled over Iraq and Persia.

Mahmud fought against the rival Seljuq Sultan of Khorasan, his uncle Ahmed Sanjar, whom Mehmed I had revolted against in 1105. His reign mas marked by an increasing anarchy, as numerous of the local emirs suppressed by his father strove to regain their independence. His young brother Mas'ud revoled against him in 1120, but the civil war ended the following year thanks to the intervention of the atabeg of Mosul, Aq Sonqor Bursuqi, and Mas'ud was pardoned. In 1129 Mahmud officially recognized the authority of Zengi, who had supported him against a revolt led by al-Mustarshid, caliph of Baghdad, in Syria and northern Iraq.

Mahmud, then aged 26, died in 1131. His death was followed by a civil war between his son Dawud, his nephew Mas'ud and the atabeg Toghrul II.


Preceded by
Mehmed I
Sultan of Great Seljuq
1118-1131
Succeeded by
Civil war