did the ruling class of the seljuk turks (seluklu hanedan) practice judaism before their conversion to islam? is there a better explanation for why the seljuks already had abrahamic names before they converted to islam in 985?   6/j.ctt1g0b3c6 > the version of the maliknama as transmitted by mirkhwand predictably stresses the role of divine inspiration in guiding seljuk to islam. duqaq and seljuk had perhaps originally followed the jewish faith like much of the khazar ruling elite, although the possibility of a christian connection has also been raised.2 the onomastics of dynasty are suggestive of these changes: whereas seljuks sons and grandsons had borne names redolent of the old testament, such as israil (israel), musa (moses), mikail (michael), yusuf (joseph) and daud (david), these vanish in subsequent generations, replaced by arabic, turkish or, on occasion, persian ones. the eldest son of seljuk was arslan israel. mikail beg was already a father in the year 989. > mikail beg had two sons: chagri (9891060) and tughril (9901063). the seljuk empire was founded by them.[4] chagri is the ancestor of all later seljuk sultans (except those in seljuks of rum). > it is speculated that according to some sources, seljuk began his career as an officer in the khazar army.[13] these sources provide information about the ancestors of the seljuks, records that duqaq is connected to khazar melik. > the fact that these records, which appear ambiguous in melik-nme, was repeated by ibn hassl who wrote his work during the time of tughrul beg, does not leave any doubt about the seljuk's relationship with the khazars. > according to various sources, duqaq was a powerful statesman and possessed great power and influence in the oghuz yabgu state and died around 924.
Gadsden