Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/846

SELim. 768 SELKIRK. He wns succeeded by his son, Solyman the Mag- nificent. ,, ,^ , J tiELlM II. (1524-74), known as tlic Drunl^ard, wns the son of Solyman the ,Maf,Miiliceiit. lie suc- ceeded liis father in 15(;«. The Tiiikisli domin- ions were extended by the subjugation of Yemen ( l.')"0) and the conquest of Cyprus from the Vene- tians! 1571 ), but the naval power of the Ottoman Empire sufl'ercd a blow in the defeat at Lepanto ((I.V.). in 1571, from which it never recovered. Selim III. (n<'l-1808) was the only son of Mustapha 111., and asceiidid the throne on the death of his uncle, .bil ul-Haniid I., in 178!). He inaugurated a radical profjrcssive pcdicy to counteract the danjjcrs that threatened his em- pire. He inherited a war with Russia and Aus- tria, which he closed by the Treaty of Sistova with Austria (1791) aiid that of .lassy (17'J2) with Russia, whose frontier.s were advanced to the Dniester. The invasion of Egypt by Xapoleon ( 170.S) led to war with France, which was con- cluded by a treaty signed in 1802. the Sultan re- maining thereafter friendly to the French. In at- tempting to niiigaiii/.e the army on a European model and to introiluce innovations in industry Sclini 111. aroux'd all the bigotry of his subjects. In May, 1807. a f(uiiiiilable rebellion broke out at Constantinoijle, headed by the Janizaries, and the Sultan was compelled to issue a decree abro- gating his reforms, but this failed to sat- isfy the leaders of the insurrection, and Selim saw himself forced to resign the throne to his cousin. Musta|)ha l'. In the 1808 uprising Musta- phaHairaktar. the I'asha of Rustchuk. one of the iSultan's chief advisors, marched upon Constanti- no|)Ie, in order to reinstate Selim on the throne, but the unfortunate monarch was strangled by order of Mustapha IV. SELI'NITS ( Lat, from Gk. ^(XimOs, Selinous) . An ancient (Ireek colony in Southwest Sieil,v, at the mouth of the Selinus river. It was foimded about B.C. (i2n by colonists from Megara Hvbla. Its constant wars with the neighboring Elymi of Segesta led to the Athenian expedition. B.C. 415, and later to Carthaginian intervention, which re- sulted in the destruction of the city. B.C. 409. Though reestahlishe<l, the city never regained its former prosperity, and during the First I'unic War (about B.C. 250) the Carthaginians re- moved the inhal)itants to Lilvba-um. The ruins include the walls of the ancJent Acropolis on a hill above the .sea, the Necropolis, and especially the temples, seven in number in two groups. foir on the Acropolis and three on a hill to the east, one of which is among the largest (ireek temples known. It has an extreme length of about ,371 feet and breadth of 177 feet. While the cella alone is 228X59 feet. Consult Benndorf, Die Mclojx-H von Heliniint (Berlin. 1873). SELJTJKS, sfd'joriks. A Turkish dynasty which ruled over a great part of Western Asia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. . few years after the ileath of Mahnuid of (Jhazni (q.v.) in I0:50. the Ghuz Tiirks, under the leader- .ship of two brothers, Tchakyr Beg and Tughrul (Togrul) Beg, grandsons of a chieftain named Seljvds, overran Persia and made themselves mas- ters of it. Tughrul Beg established his authority in the dominions of the Caliph of Bagdad, by whom he was proclaimed 'King of the East and of the West.' In 1003 Tughrul died and was succeeded by Alp Arslan (q.v.), whose dominions extended northeastward far into Turkestan, and who carried his arms into Armenia and Georgia and against the Greeks. In 1071 he took the B.yzantine Emperor Komanus Diogenes prisoner in a battle fouglit in Armenia. Alp Arslan was succeeded by Malek Shah (1072-92). in whose reign the Seljukian Turks established their do- minion in Syria and Asia Minor, where indepen- dent Seljuk sovereignties were founde<r. In Asia Minor arose the Sultanate of Iconium (Konieh) or of Rum (that is. the land of the Greeks, or Byzantines, whose country was known to the Mohammedans under the name of Rum, Rome). Toward the end of ^lalek Shah's reign arose the sect of the Assassins (q.v.), under the notorious Hassan ibn as-Sab- bah. Malek Shah was followed by his sons, Nasir ad-Bin (1092-94) and Barki.varok ( 1094-1104], both rulers of little initiative. Another son, Mohammed (1104-18). who had ab.sorbed much of the kingdom before his accession, proved more energetic. He made an active campaign against the xVssassins. and was on the point of reducing them by famine when he died. He was followed by his last surviving brother. Sanjar (1118-57). This monarch paid little attention to the prov- inces west of Khorasan, which were Ijrokcn up into little principalities, but retained firm con- trol of the eastern districts as far as Transoxa- nia. Within less than half a century after his death the remnants of Seljuk dominion in Iran were swept away by the Kliwaresmians. In lOOti the Seljuks came into collision with Western Christendom, whose armies in the First Crusade took Jerusalem in 1096. The armies of the Sec- ond Crusade (1147-48) fought unsuccessfuU.y against Nureddin, who made himself master of Syria, and whose dominions after his death (1174) became the prey of Saladin. Sultan of Egj'pt. The Sultanate of Rum outlived the other Seljuk realms, surviving till the close of the thirteenth century, when it was broken up into fragments on whose ruins the Ottoman Turks laid the foundations of their empire. The Seljuk period is noteworthy in the history of Persian literature as being its second golden age. At the Court such poets as Omar Khay- yam, I'arid ud-Din Attar, Jalal ud-Din Rui'ni Sadi, and Anvari were honored, wiiile art and science flourished as they have never since flour- ished in Persia. Consult : Houtsma. Rectieil de tcxtes relntifs a I'histoire des Seldjoucides (Leyden. 1880-91); Horn. '"Gesehichte Irans in islamitiseher Zeit," in Geiger and Kuhn. (rnitidriss drr ininischen Phi- loloitiv. ii. (Strassburg. 1900). SELKIRK, or SELCRAIG, Alexander (1076-1723). An English mariner, supposed prototype of Robinson Crusoe. He was born at Largo, Fifeshire, and early joined privateering expeditions to the South Seas. In 1704. when sailing-master of the Cinque Ports, he quarreled with the captain, and was at his own request put ashore upon the island of .luan Fernandes. Af- ter a residence there of four years and four months, he was rescued by Capt. Woodes Rogers, who subsequentl.v gave liim conmiand of the In- crease prize-ship. He again went to sea. and rose to be lieutenant of H. M. S. Wrj/mouth. on board of which he died. In 1712 there appeared Capt. Rogers's Cruisinfr Voyage Round the World and Capt. Edward -Cooke's Voiiagc to the ,^outh