Descended from a wild tribe of Turkish nomads, and recently converted to Islam, the Seljuks had created an Empire which stretched from India to Egypt. Like the Arabs before them, they farmed out the tax-collecting to local landowners whose methods aroused considerable antipathy, leading to mass discontent. To restore full control, the Sultan commissioned Nizam al-Mulk to investigate the causes of the trouble. Coldly and clearly, he pointed out where the faults lay, how they could be avoided in the future, and what a monarch must do to keep his subjects contented.
This is a translation of a classic 11th-century text on behaviour and conduct in government. Nizam al-Mulk, who for over thirty years was Chief Minister of two successive rulers of the Seljuk tribes, wrote this work between 1086 and 1091. Many of Nizam al-Mulk’s findings are as pertinent to government (and people) today as they were 900 years ago.
–Book Jacket.