Siyāsatnāmeh ("Book of Government"), also known as Siyar al-mulûk(The Lives of Kings), is the most famous work by Nizam al-Mulk, the founder of Nizamiyyah schools in medievalPersia and vazier to the Seljuq sultans Alp Arslan and Malik Shah.
Al-Mulk possessed "immense power" as the head administration for the Seljuq empire over a period of 30 years and was responsible for establishing distinctly Persian forms of government and administration which would last for centuries.
A great deal of his approach to governing is contained within the Siyasatnameh which is in a tradition ofPersian-Islamic writing known as the "Mirrors for Princes".
Written in Persian and composed in the eleventh century, the Siyasatnameh was created following the request by Malik Shahthat his ministers produce books on government, administration and the troubles facing the nation. However, the treatise compiled by al-Mulk was the only one to receive approval and was consequently accepted as forming "the law of the constitution of the nation".