Its Place in the History

Khwarazmian Dynasty / Khwarazmian Empire 1077-1231/1256

• Capital: (Gurganj)1077-1212; (Samarkand)1212- 1220; (Ghazna)1220-1221; (Tabriz)1225-1231

• Languages: Kipchak Turkish, Persian, Arabic

• Religion Islam (Sunni interpretation)

• Government: Khwarazm-Shah or Sultanate, Oligarchy

• Area- 1218 (est.) 3,600,000 km² (1,389,968 sq mi)

• Location: Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan

Khwarazmian Dynasty’s Lands

Euroasia c. 1200 on the eva of Mongol Invasion

Its Place in the History

• Khwarazm Shahs: Turkish Harezmşahlar, and Persian

Khwārazmshāhiyān, "Kings of Khwarezmia" was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkish mamluk origin.

• The dynasty ruled large parts of Greater Iran during the High Middle Ages, in the period of 1077 to 1231, first as vassals of the Seljuqs and Kara-Khitan and later as independent rulers, up until the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia in the 13th century.

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• The dynasty was founded by Anush Tigin Gharchai, a former Turkish mamluk of the Seljuq sultans, who was appointed the governor of Khwarezm. His son, Qutb ad-Din Muhammad I, became the first hereditary of Khwarezmshahs.

Rulers of Kharazminanshahs

• Anush Tigin Gharchai, 1077–1097

• (Qutbuddin) Muhammad ibn Anush Tigin, 1097–

1127/28

• (Alaaddin) Atsiz ibn Muhammad, 1127 – 1156

• Arslan II ibn Atsiz, 1156–1172

• (Alaaddin) Takesh ibn Arslan II, 1172–1200 C.E.

• (Qutbuddin Alaaddin) Muhammad ibn Takesh, 1200–1220 C.E.

• (Calaladdin) Menguberti ibn Muhammad, 1220–

1231

History

• Khwarezmids were a subordinate tribe in the Saljuqid Empire, and their servants. After a long time of reluctant obedience, Khwarezmids could destroy the Saljuqid kingship in 1194, and established a new political power in Khorasan.

• The Kharazmids increased their power during the reign of the Saljuq sultan Malekshah. They reached power because one of them, namely Anush Tigin was a servant in the royal court. Anush Tigin the servant of Belkatkin could enter the political system of Malekshah, and

achieved an important position.

• After some time, he became the governor of Kharazm, and his son, Qutbuddin Mohammad, could remain in this position, and he was called Kharazmshah. When Sultan Sanjar confirmed the political status of Mohammad, he showed a great loyalty to the Saljuqids.

• After Qutbaddin Mohammad, his son Alaaddin Atsız became the governor of Khwarazm.

Atsız

• The period of local government of Atsız is divided into two parts:

– in the first one (1128-1136) he was completely

obedient to the Saljuqids, and followed the way of his father,

– but after a decade, he tried to achieve political

independence to establish an independent state for the Khwarezmids.

Accordingly, he tried to convince the caliph to support him for this purpose. By rebelling against Saljuqids, Atsız established the foundations of Khwarezmids government.

He could not annihilate the Saljuqids completely, but could weaken them to a great extent.

Arslan II

• When Atsız died in 1156, Arslan II became the ruler of

Khwaremids. He faced some enemies including his uncles. Then, he killed his uncles and blinded his brother. Because he was

aware about the caliph’s conspiracies for making disunity among the rivals, he had to tolerate his competitors, and tried to reduce the political tensions.

• Accordingly, when Saljuqid sultan Sanjar died, Arslan II

commanded his people to mourn for him about three days, and also he told congratulation to the new Saljuqid king, Sultan

Mahmud. Even Arslan II tried to remove the tension between the Saljuqids and the caliph.

• The most powerful enemy of Arslan II was the Karakhanids, he fought against them in 1172. He was sick and could not

participate in the war; consequently, his army was defeated in the war. Finally, he died in 1172.

Alaaddin Takesh

• Arslan’s son Sultanshah became the king by his mother Turkan Khatun’s help. But Alaaddin Takesh, the older brother, did not accept Sultanshah and defeated in 1193 and became the ruler.

Takesh defeated Saljuqid Sultan Toghrol. Consequently, he became the supreme ruler in the region.

• By a letter to the caliph asked to recognize his kingship. The caliph did not accept his request; accordingly, a war break out.

The army of Baghdad and the Ghurids fought against Takesh and his assistant army, Karakhanids.

• Finally, Takesh overcame them and the caliph recognized him as a king. The recognition of him by the caliph increased the

legitimacy of Khwarezmids, and let them to spread their

kingdom. Takesh tried to remove the Ismailids, but could not accomplish this job because he died in 1200.

Terken Khatun (wife of Alaaddin Tekish)

• Terken Khatun also known as Turkan Khatun ("the Queen of the Turks") was the Empress of the Khwarazmian Empire and the mother of

Muhammad II. She was from the Qanghli or the Bayad tribe, the daughter of the Kipchak Khan. Majority of her son Alaaddin

Muhammad’s top commanders were from Terken Khatun's tribe, and the need to attach them to his side was one reason why the Shah lent so

heavily on his mother for advice.

• De-facto co-ruler

• After the death of 'Alaaddin Tekish, she so dominated the court of their son, 'Alaaddin Muhammad and quarreled so bitterly with his heir by another wife, Jalaladdin, that she may have contributed to the

impotence of the Khwarazmshahi kingdom in the face of the Mongol onslaught.

• She had a separate Divan and separate palace and the orders of the sultan were not considered to be effective without her signature. The Shah ruled the heterogeneous peoples without mercy.

Qutbaddin Alaaddin Muhammad

• After Takesh, his son Qutbaddin Alaaddin Muhammad or Sultan Muhammad Shah got power.

• Ghurid tribe was the rival of Alaaddin Muhammad for achieving the political power. They confronted each other in a war, which resulted in the death of

Ghiyasaddin Muhammad, the Ghori governor.

• This event increased the power of Khwarezmids.

Alaaddin Muhammad completely defeated them in 1210.

• By conquering Samarqand, he abolished Karakhanids completely in 1212. But he could not force Baghdad to recognize him as a legitimate ruler.

Conflict with Bagdad

• One of the problems Alaaddin Muhammad had to deal with the political greed of the Abbasid caliph Nasır li-Dinillah that aimed at rule Iran.

• Due to unreliability of Abbasid Caliph, Alaaddin Muhammad held a meeting by great Ulama and asked for their fatwa

against the Caliph with the excuse that

– the caliph has kept silent against the unbelievers, – did not call for jihad against the crusades,

– made conspiracy against those who worked hard for propagating religion of Islam such as Sultan Muhammad and incited different sultans and rulers such as Kuryan and Kara-Hitans against him,

– the assassination of the ruler of Mecca by command of the Caliph and by the hands of the Assassins that broke the respect of God’s house – the murder of Oqmalesh, the substitute of Sultan in central and

western Iran.

New Kharazmshahi caliph

The Ulama issued the fatwa that the Abbasid are not qualified to be caliph and it was only the Imam Hossein’s descendents that shall rule as caliph Amir al-mumenin. Sayyed Ata Malik Tirmizi, one of the descendants of Hossein announced as the caliph. Additionally he announced that even in his own troops there were at least one hundred men who were more

qualified to become caliph than the Abbasid caliph.

• He then became ready to fight with the Abbasid Caliph and headed to Baghdad.

Alaaddin Muhammad moved to Baghdad with his troops in 1217. In Hamadan, he sent one of his generals with a group of troops and sent supplementary forces after them. When the troops reached Asadabad

strait, a great storm and snowfall stopped them. Many horses and a number of soldiers of Kharazmshah were wasted and the Kurds and the Turks killed the rest. The remaining troops withdrew back with many losses.

Conflict with Mongols

• The Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia from 1219 to 1221 marked the beginning of the Mongol conquest of the Islamic states. The Mongol expansion would ultimately culminate in the conquest of virtually all of Eurasia, save for

Western Europe, Fennoscandia, the Byzantine Empire, Arabia, most of the Indian subcontinent, Japan and parts of Southeast Asia.

• According to the historian Juzjani, Genghis Khan had originally sent the ruler of the Khwarezmid Empire, Alaaddin Muhammad, a message seeking trade and greeted him as his neighbor: "I am master of the lands of the rising sun while you rule those of the setting sun. Let us conclude a firm treaty of

friendship and peace."

• Alaaddin Muhammad reluctantly agreed to this peace treaty, but it was not to last. The war started less than a year later, when a Mongol caravan and its

envoys 449 were massacred except one in the city of Otrar. In the ensuing war, lasting less than two years, the Khwarezmid Empire was utterly destroyed.

Mongol strategy of invasion

• Surrender: Mongols preferred to offer their enemies the chance to surrender without resistance in order to avoid war, to become vassals by sending tribute, accepting Mongol residents, and/or contributing troops. The Khans guaranteed protection only if the populace submitted to Mongol rule and was obedient to it.

• Terror: The success of Mongol tactics hinged on fear: to induce capitulation amongst enemy populations. Terrorism produced a fear that immobilized and incapacitated the forces. As Mongol conquest spread, this form of

psychological warfare proved effective at suppressing resistance to Mongol rule. The aim was to spread terror and warning to others.

• Demographic changes in war-torn areas: The majority of kingdoms resisting Mongol conquest were taken by force; only skilled engineers and artisans were spared in order to expand their manpower; this also allowed the Mongols to absorb new technology, knowledge and skills for use in military campaigns against other opponents. The Mongols killed more than 700,000 people in Merv and more than a million in Nishapur. The total population of Persia may have dropped from 2,500,000 to 250,000 as a result of mass extermination and famine.

Mongol strategy of invasion

• Destruction of culture and property

• Mongol campaigns caused extensive destruction, though there are no exact figures available at this time. The cities of Herat, Kiev, Baghdad, Nishapur, Vladimir and Samarkand suffered serious devastation by the Mongol armies. For example in the Battle of Baghdad (1258) libraries, books, literature, and hospitals were burned:

some of the books were thrown into the river, in quantities sufficient to "turn the Euphrates black with ink for several days".

• The Mongols' natural, popular and martial purpose destruction of the irrigation

systems of Iran and Iraq turned back centuries of effort to improving agriculture and water supply in these regions.

• Foods and disease

• Mongols were known to burn farmland to starve the populace. Other tactics included diverting rivers into and from cities and towns, and catapulting diseased corpses over city walls to infect the population. The use of such infected bodies during the siege of Caffa is alleged to have brought the Black Death to Europe by some sources.

• Religious Torelarance

• Genghis Khan was by and large tolerant of multiple religions and there are no cases of him or other Mongols engaging in religious war.

Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia

Jalaladdin Menguberti: the Last ruler

• The son of Alaaddin Muhammad, Jalaladdin Menguberti (1220- 1231) became the new Sultan. He attempted to flee to India, was defeated at the Indus the Battle by Mongols. He escaped and

sought asylum from İltutmish of Delhi Sultanate but refused.

• Returning to Persia, he gathered an army and re-established a kingdom. He lost his power over Persia in a battle against the Mongols in the Alborz Mountains.

• Escaping to the Caucasus, he captured Azerbaijan in 1225; setting up his capital at Tabriz in 1226 attacked Georgia and sacked Tbilisi.

Following on through the Armenian highlands he clashed with the Ayyubids, capturing the town Ahlat along the western shores of the Lake Van.

• Alaaddin Kayqubad I Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm defeated him at Yassıçemen Battle in 1230. He escaped to Diyarbakir was murdered in 1231 by Kurdish highwaymen.

Khwarezmian against Crusaders

Many Khwarezmians survived as mercenaries in northern Iraq. Sultan Jalaladdin's followers remained loyal to him even after his death in 1231, and raided the Seljuk lands of Jazira and Syria for the next several years, calling themselves the

Khwarezmiyya. Ayyubid Sultan as-Salih Ayyub, in Egypt, later hired their services against his uncle as-Salih Ismail.

• The Khwarezmiyya recaptured from the Crusaders Christian-held Jerusalem on July 11, 1244. the Crusader Christian population of the city was expelled. This triggered a call from Europe for the 7th Crusade, but the Crusaders would never again be successful in retaking Jerusalem. After being conquered by the

Khwarezmian forces, the city stayed under Muslim control until 1917, when it was taken from the Ottomans by the British.

After taking Jerusalem, the Khwarezmian forces continued south, and on October 17 fought on the side of the Ayyubids at the Battle of Harbiyah, northeast of Gaza, killing the remains of the Crusader Christian army there, some 1200 knights. It was the

largest battle involving the crusaders since the Battle of the Horns of Hattin in 1187.

• The remains of the Muslim Khwarezmians served in Egypt as Mamluk

mercenaries until they were finally beaten by al-Mansur Ibrahim some years later.

Khwarizmi war captives assimilated into the Mongols, forming the modern Mongolian clan Sartuul.

Goverment

• They followed the Saljuq model. its bureaucracy, was Persian officials.

The author Rashiduddin Vaṭvāṭ (d.1182-83), with his two collections of rasāil, and Bahāuddin Baḡdādi, compiler of the important Kitab al-tawaṣṣul alā al-tarassul - were

heads of the Khwarazmian chancery.

• The Khwarazmshahs had viziers as their chief

executives, on the traditional pattern, in 1218 the office was divided amongst six commissioners (wakildārs).

Not much known of court life in Gorgānj, but they had, like other rulers of their age, their court eulogists, and as well as being a noted stylist.

Kharazmian Palace in Urgenc

Death of Alaaddin Muhammad II

Khwarezmian coins