Iran / Persia: Head of male Seljuq royal figure with a beaded headdress. Limestone sculpture, 12th-13th century. The Great Seljuq Empire, founded in 1037, was a medieval Persianate, Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, originating from the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks. The Seljuq Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf. From their homelands near the Aral sea, the Seljuqs advanced first into Khorasan and then into mainland Persia before eventually conquering eastern Anatolia.