Tirmidh, the great fortress town on the north bank of the Oxus at the main crossing to Balkh, is in the winter of 1199-1200 the gurkhan's frontier post facing the Ghurids, who took Balkh in 1198.
Biran shows a Qara Khitai garrison here until the Ghurid governor of Balkh stormed the town by July 1205 and gave it to his son. In 1206 Muhammad of Khwarazm will retake it with Qara Khitai help and hand it over to the gurkhan's side (the accounts differ on whether to the Qara Khitai themselves or to Uthman of Samarkand). Its citadel stands on the river bank; the family of sayyids of Tirmidh are its leading notables.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not recorded
- Title
- Commander of the Qara Khitai garrison
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
The gurkhan, through a Qara Khitai garrison (attested when the Ghurids destroyed it in 1205); the town's own notables include the sayyids of Tirmidh.
How things stand that morning
Qara Khitai garrison town on the Ghurid frontier; no raid is recorded this winter.
Council
The sayyids of Tirmidh and the qadi; the garrison commander.
Communities
Persian-speaking Muslims; the sayyid family; Khitan and Turkish soldiers.
Fairs and markets
Not recorded for 1200.
Militia
Not recorded for 1200.
Walls and castle
Walled town with a citadel on the river bank.
Trade and crafts
The Oxus crossing and ferries between Balkh and Transoxiana; the road to Kesh, Samarkand and Chaghaniyan.
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.
- by July 1205Stormed by the Ghurid governor of Balkh, its Qara Khitai garrison destroyed.Depends on: Ghurid strength at Balkh. Stopped by: A peace on the Oxus or a stronger garrison.
- 1206Retaken by Muhammad of Khwarazm with Qara Khitai help and handed to the gurkhan's side (to the Qara Khitai or to Uthman of Samarkand: accounts differ).Depends on: Mu'izz al-Din's death and the Ghurid collapse. Stopped by: Far beyond 1200.
Where the sources disagree
- GM's dossier gives Tirmidh to the Bamiyan Ghurids; the evidence for a Qara Khitai garrison until 1205 (Biran, p. 69) makes the gurkhan the holder on 1 January 1200 (medium confidence).
Evidence: Inferred backward from the Ghurid capture of 1205; no source read describes the town in 1199-1200.
Primary sources for Qara Khitai
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 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
- Compendium of Chronicles: the Turkic and Mongol tribes and the life of Chinggis Khan, Rashid al-Din Hamadani (about 1300 to 1311, in the Ilkhanate). The fullest description of who held what on the steppe around 1200, written a century later from Mongol court records (the Altan Debter) and from informants such as Bolad Chingsang. Read online
- History of the Liao, chapter 30, on the Western Liao, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1344). The only Chinese official notice of the Qara Khitai, a few pages at the end of juan 30. Read online
- History of the World Conqueror: the Qara Khitai (Gur Khans) and the Uyghurs of Beshbaliq, Ala al-Din Ata-Malik Juvayni (begun about 1252 to 1253, ends with 1260). Juvayni's chapters on the Uyghur kingdom (its origin legend, Beshbaliq and Qocho, and the idiqut Barchuq's murder of the Qara Khitai resident before his submission to Chinggis Khan in 1209) and on the Gur Khans of the Qara Khitai are the fullest Muslim account of the Tarim and Zhetysu around 1200: the gurkhan Zhilugu's court at Balasagun, his tax collectors in the oasis towns and in Samarkand, his relations with the Khwarazmshah Tekish and then Muhammad, and the arrival of the Naiman prince Kuchlug in 1208. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, 'Muhammad of Ghor' (citing Biran 2005, p. 69)
- Wikipedia, 'Yelu Zhilugu'
- TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Karahitaylar'
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.