J. J. Saunders. A History of Medieval Islam. Routledge, London, chpt. 9. IX The Turkish Irruption The entry of the Seljuk Turks into Western Asia in the second half of the eleventh century forms one of the great epochs of world history. It added a third nation, after the Arabs and Persians, to the dominant races of Islam; it prolonged the life of the moribund Cali phate for another two hundred ...