The Seljuqs (also Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuk, sometimes also Seljuq Turks; in Turkish Selçuklular; in Persian: ???????? ?aljuqiyan; in Arabic ????? Saljuq, or ???????? al-Salajiqa) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries. They set up an empire known as "Great Seljuk Empire" that stretched from Anatolia to Punjab and was the target of the First Crusade. The dynasty had its origins in the Turcoman tribal confederations of Central Asia and marked the beginning of Turkic power in the Middle East. Today they are regarded as the cultural ancestors of the Western Turks, the present-day inhabitants of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan, and they are remembered as great patrons of Persian culture, art, literature