The queen is the link between the Khwarazmian house and the Turkish tribes of the steppe: through her marriage the Qipchaq, Kangli and Uran clans came into Tekish's service, and most of the great commanders of her son's reign are her kin.
Under her son, from 1200, she keeps her own court and chancery (diwan) and her own troops, uses a seal reading 'Ismat al-Dunya wa'l-Din, Ulugh Terken, Queen of the Women of the Worlds', and her decrees rival the sultan's; how much of this she already has in her husband's lifetime is not pinned.
Who he is
- Name
- Terken Khatun
- Title
- khatun, chief wife of the Khwarazmshah
- Since
- married to Tekish before Muhammad's birth (about 1169 by one account); not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- daughter of a Qipchaq khan (Juvaini), of the Bayawut clan of the Yemek by Nasawi's account (Wikipedia: 'Qangli or Bayandur of the Kimek'); mother of the heir Muhammad; her nephew Inalchuq (Ghayir Khan) and her kinsman Khumar Tegin hold great commands in the next generation
- Confidence
- medium
Juvaini (Boyle) vol. II, footnote on her father; Wikipedia after Nasawi and Biran; TDV.
Overlord
Her husband Tekish.
What it holds
- Her household and estates in Khwarazm (not itemised in the sources checked)
- The loyalty of her kin among the Qipchaq and Kangli
How it was acquired
By marriage.
Allies and rivals
Her son Muhammad; her Turkish kinsmen; the vizierial families of Khwarazm.
How things stand that morning
On 1 January 1200 the queen consort, at Gurganj or with the court; her dominance of the state begins after Tekish's death in July 1200.
Wealth
Her own estates and household revenues (not itemised).
Military
The Turkish commanders of her clan; her own guard under her son.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- from August 1200As queen mother she becomes the strongest voice at her son's court, with her own diwan and troops.Depends on: Muhammad's succession Stopped by: another son succeeding
Where the sources disagree
- Her clan: Bayawut of the Yemek (Nasawi, as usually read) or 'Qangli or Bayandur of the Kimek' (Wikipedia).
Evidence: Her powers are described by Nasawi and Juvaini for her son's reign; for 1200 they are inferred.
On the map: No land drawn: her estates are not located in the sources checked.
Primary sources for Khwarazm
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Chronography of Bar Hebraeus, Gregory Bar Hebraeus (Abu'l-Faraj) (about 1275 to 1286). A later compilation that for 1200 relies on Michael the Syrian and Ibn al-Athir, but adds the Jacobite church's own memory of the Jazira, Mosul, Melitene and the Artuqid and Zangid courts, and carries Michael's story past 1195: the Seljuk brothers' war in Rum, the Khwarazmian and Ghurid wars in the east, Mosul under Nur al-Din Arslan Shah, and the caliph al-Nasir. Read online
- The Complete History, Izz al-Din Ibn al-Athir (about 1200 to 1231, at Mosul). The widest Muslim narrative for the years 596 to 597 AH (1199 to 1201): al-Adil's entry into Cairo and his taking of the sultanate from his nephew al-Mansur Muhammad early in 1200, the quarrels of the Ayyubid princes at Damascus, Aleppo and Hama, the Nile failure and the great famine of Egypt, Mosul under Nur al-Din Arslan Shah and the Jazira under Gokbori and the Artuqids, Baghdad under the caliph al-Nasir, the Khwarazmshah Tekish's death in 1200 and Muhammad's accession, the Ghurid wars in Khurasan, the Eldiguzids and Georgia, the Almohads in the west, and the Seljuks of Rum in passing. Read online
- Comfort of Hearts and Sign of Joy: a History of the Seljuks, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Rawandi (Ravandi) (1203 to 1204, dedicated to Kaykhusraw I of Rum). A history of the Great Seljuks from their origins to the death of the last sultan Toghril III in 1194, begun at Hamadan and finished for Kaykhusraw of Rum when the author moved to Anatolia. Read online
- History of Tabaristan, Ibn Isfandiyar (Baha al-Din Muhammad ibn Hasan) (begun 1206, extended about 1216; continued anonymously to 1349). The local history of the Caspian province and the only account of the Bavandid kings of Tabaristan: Husam al-Dawla Ardashir (reigned 1173 to 1206) at Sari and Amul, his dealings with the Khwarazmshahs Tekish and Ala al-Din Muhammad, the Nizaris of Alamut, the Eldiguzids and the caliph, and the marriages, feuds and raids of the Daylamite and Gilaki lords. Read online
- The History of the World Conqueror, Ata-Malik Juvayni (1252 to 1260). Written for the Mongols but with a long retrospective on the powers they destroyed. Read online
- The Life of Sultan Jalal al-Din Mankubirti, Shihab al-Din Muhammad al-Nasawi (about 1241, at Aleppo). A Khwarazmian secretary's life of the last Khwarazmshah. Read online
- The Nasirid Generations: a General History of the Muslim Dynasties, Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani (1259 to 1260, at Delhi). The Ghurid court's own history, by a man born in 1193 whose family served the sultans of Ghur and Ghazna. Read online
- Compendium of Chronicles, Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah Hamadani (1300 to 1311, at Tabriz). The official Ilkhanid history, compiled from Mongol oral tradition and the lost Altan Debter. Read online
3 more in the sources library for Persia and the Eastern Islamic World.
Sources and studies
- Juvaini, The History of the World-Conqueror, tr. J. A. Boyle, vol. II (archive.org historyoftheworl011648mbp)
- Wikipedia: Terken Khatun (wife of Ala ad-Din Tekish)
- TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi: Tekis, Alaeddin
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.