Machine summary:
This state of affairs was neither in keeping wich the doctrines of rhe Islamic jurisu nor with ehc views of Ni;:am al-Mulk, Imam Ghadli objected to the Caliph's l(ranting the deed c,f invcsrirurc co the four-year-old son of Sultan Malik Shah [Ibn al-Achlr.
It was now Sultan Sanjar who gave the government of 'Iraq to whomsoever he liked; but, since the government of Baghdad was also involved, the prince concerned had to take an oath of allegiance to the Caliph and to receive a deed of investiture from him in return.
The unity of the Saljuq dynasty broke down on the death of Sultan Muhammad in 511/1117 and the accession of his son Mahmud, whose authority at Baghdad was intermittent, being challenged first by his uncle Sanjar and then by his own brother, Mas'ud, who ruled at .
The joint advance of 'Imad ad-Din Zangl and Dubays on Baghdad compelled the Caliph, who was heading an army with Malik Saljuq Shah and Mas'ud against Sultan Sanjar, to retrace his steps.
Since various governors in Persia held their appointments directly from the Saljuqid Sultans, they either maintained a semblance of allegiance to them or freed themselves from their yoke whenever it became possible forthem to do so," No doubt all these rulers kept on mentioning the Caliph's name in the khutbah and inscribing it on the coinage current in their territories; but this recognition was now an automatic traditional usage-it was not coupled with any formal pro• fession of allegiance and receipt in return of a deed or other insignia of temporal sovereignty.