An oath-letter ( <i>sawgand-nāma</i> ) for the Rum Saljuq sultan and his son. Diplomatics and politics in mid-thirteenth-century Anatolia through the <i>Qiṣṣa-yi Salāṭīn</i>

Abstract This article presents the first study of an oath-letter ( sawgand-nāma ) from medieval Anatolia. It is drawn from the recently rediscovered Qiṣṣa-yi Salāṭīn , an anonymous inshāʾ work from the mid-thirteenth century. This text exemplifies a typical bottom-up oath in which the oath-taker pledges loyalty to Sultan Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kay-Khusraw II (d. 644/1246), while the oath also ensures a clear line of dynastic succession in favour of his son, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Kay-Qubād II (d. 655/1257). A comparison with similar texts from Iran reveals the extent to which Turkish states in Anatolia adhered to the norms established under the Great Saljuqs, although the Rum Saljuq version is noted to be more severe in ideological terms in cases of perjury, yet less demanding in practical aspects. This sawgand-nāma also highlights how the Qiṣṣa-yi Salāṭīn might have functioned as a sort of “para-archive”, potentially supporting the claims of ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn, who was sidelined after his father’s death.