The Khwarazmshah's realm

Who rules

Name

Ala al-Din Tekish ibn Il-Arslan ibn Atsiz

Title

Khwarazmshah; recognised as sultan by the caliph's diploma and robes sent in 595 (early 1199)

Since

1172 (567 AH), after a war with his brother Sultan Shah

Born

not pinned

Family

the Anushteginid house, descended from Anushtegin, a Turkish slave officer of the Seljuks who governed Khwarazm

Confidence

high

Juvaini (Boyle) vol. I; Ibn al-Athir years 595-596; TDV 'Tekis, Alaeddin'; Wikipedia after Buniyatov.

Overlord

A tributary of the Qara Khitai gurkhan since Atsiz's defeat in 1141; by Biran's reading he paid the yearly tribute in his last years and settled the blood-money the gurkhan demanded after 1198 with Ghurid money. Recognises the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir as spiritual head; the caliph confirmed his lands and his son's in 595.

What the realm holds

• Khwarazm: Gurganj, Kath, Khiva, Hazarasp, Zamakhshar, Darghan and the delta (the shah's own domain)
• Jand and the lower Syr Darya down to Yangikent (frontier command against the steppe)
• Khurasan under the heir Qutb al-Din Muhammad: Nishapur (Shadyakh), Tus with the shrine at Sanabad, Bayhaq, Juvain, Isfarayin, Jajarm, Khabushan, Zawa, the Atak towns Nasa, Abivard and Farava, Merv, Sarakhs, Amul on the Oxus and Zamm
• Gurgan, Dihistan and Qumis (written on the Caspian pages, cas)
• In Tabaristan: Firuzkuh, Ustunavand and Fulul taken from the Bavandid in 595 (cas)
• In the Jibal: Isfahan under his son Ali Shah as governor of Iraq, and whatever else his men still hold after 1199 (written on the Jibal pages, jib)
• Kerman: see the Fars and Kerman pages (far)
• Overlordship claimed over the Turkmen of Mangyshlak and over the Kangli and Qipchaq tribes that serve him

How it was acquired

Khwarazm by inheritance (1172) with Qara Khitai help against his brother Sultan Shah; Nishapur 1187; Merv, Sarakhs and Tus on Sultan Shah's death (Ramadan 589, autumn 1193); the Jibal by the victory over Tughril III (Rabi I 590, March 1194) and the campaigns of 1196 and 1199; Gurgan about 1183 (Iranica, Al-e Bavand).

Allies and rivals

Allies: the Kangli and Qipchaq of his wife's people; the caliph al-Nasir, reconciled in 595 after years of war in the Jibal (the caliph's army was beaten near Hamadan in July 1196, its commander the vizier Ibn al-Qassab having died days before). Peace with the Ghurid sultans Ghiyath al-Din and Mu'izz al-Din since 1198: after the Ghurids routed the Qara Khitai army that Tekish had urged against them, the gurkhan demanded blood-money from Tekish, and Ghiyath al-Din supplied the money on condition that he obey the caliph and give back lands (Biran). Rivals: the Ghurids (frontier on the Murghab south of Merv and on the Hari Rud below Herat); his overlord the Qara Khitai gurkhan, owed tribute; the Nizari Ismailis of Rudbar, Girdkuh and Quhistan, at open war with him since 1199; the Bavandid Ardashir of Tabaristan, cowed in 1199; the mamluk emirs of the Jibal.

The realm that morning

On 1 January 1200 Tekish rules Khwarazm, Jand and northern Khurasan without challenge. His exact whereabouts that morning are not pinned: he left Shadyakh for the west about three months after 2 Dhu l-Hijja 594 (5 October 1198), wintered 1198-99 in Mazandaran, fought Mayajuq (Rabi I 595, January 1199), besieged Arslan-gusha for four months and then Alamut, set his son Ali Shah over Iraq at Isfahan, and entered Khwarazm on 10 Jumada II 596 (28 March 1200) (Juvaini). So on 1 January 1200 he is still in the Jibal or on the long road home through Khurasan, with his army.

The Qipchaq khan Qadir Buqu and his chiefs, taken near Jand in 1198, are his prisoners in Khwarazm as far as the sources go. The heir, Qutb al-Din Muhammad, has governed Khurasan from Shadyakh since 1197. The vizier is Nizam al-Mulk Sadr al-Din Mas'ud ibn Ali of Herat. The Ghurid frontier is quiet under the peace of 1198. Tekish is still the gurkhan's tributary: by Biran's reading of the Muslim sources he paid the yearly tribute dutifully in his last years and told his son to do the same; the blood-money demanded after the Qara Khitai defeat of 1198, collected by the gurkhan's envoy Xiao Duolubu, was paid with money from the Ghurids; Muhammad begins his reign as a tributary (confidence medium; other modern summaries say Tekish refused).

War with the Nizaris is open. The caliph al-Nasir's name is read in the khutba and struck on the coins above Tekish's, as on his coinage generally (no coin of 1199-1200 checked); the pagan gurkhan is not named.

Wealth

The Khwarazm oasis: canal-irrigated grain, cotton, melons and fruit; the caravan trade from Gurganj across the Ustyurt to Saqsin and the Volga (furs, wax, slaves, hides), and to the steppe, Bukhara and Khurasan; horses and slaves from the Kangli and Qipchaq; Khurasan's towns with the turquoise of Nishapur, the cloth of Merv and Nishapur, the shrine trade of Tus, and the toll on the roads from Iraq to Transoxiana and India.

Military

The core is a Turkish slave guard and the iqta' holders, with tribal horsemen from the Kangli and Qipchaq (the Uran among them, who deserted him in the first war against Qadir Buqu Khan of Sighnaq) and Turkmen; Khurasani and Khwarazmian infantry for sieges. Record: victor over Tughril III (1194), over the caliph's army near Hamadan (July 1196); in the 1170s he turned back a Qara Khitai army backing his brother by breaking the dykes and flooding the approaches to Gurganj; four-month siege of Arslan-gusha (1199). No figures for this winter are given here; a later Arabic compilation's round figure of a hundred thousand men is not to be trusted.

Threats

• The Nizari Ismailis, who murder his vizier in Jumada II 596 (March-April 1200)
• The Ghurid sultans, who invade Khurasan within months of his death
• The Qara Khitai gurkhan, owed tribute and repaid for 1198 only with Ghurid money
• The emirs of the Jibal, where his hold dissolves after 1199
• His own grandsons, the sons of Malikshah, sent to Khwarazm in 1197 because they were plotting
• His illness: a quinsy (throat abscess) that kills him in July 1200

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.

1. Jumada II 596 (19 March to 17 April 1200)Nizari fida'is murder the vizier Nizam al-Mulk Mas'ud ibn Ali in Khwarazm (Ibn al-Athir).Depends on: the Nizari war continuing and the vizier being exposed in Khwarazm Stopped by: a truce with Alamut before the spring, or a guard on the vizier
2. 28 March 1200 (10 Jumada II 596)Tekish enters Khwarazm from the west, having left Ali Shah to govern Iraq from Isfahan (Juvaini).Depends on: nothing in play delaying the march Stopped by: a new crisis in the Jibal or Tabaristan
3. spring 1200, about four months before JulyTekish sends Qutb al-Din Muhammad to besiege the Nizari stronghold of Turshiz in Quhistan.Depends on: the vizier's murder and the Nizari war Stopped by: peace with Alamut
4. June 1200Ill with a quinsy, Tekish leaves Khwarazm for Khurasan against his doctors' advice; the sources differ on the aim: the Nizaris (TDV) or a march on Baghdad (later Arabic compilations).Depends on: his health and his quarrel with the Nizaris or the caliph Stopped by: his doctors prevailing
5. 3 July 1200 (19 Ramadan 596)Tekish dies at Chah-i Arab near Shahristana, between Khwarazm and Nishapur (Juvaini; Ibn al-Athir names Shahristana; TDV gives 20 Ramadan, 4 July, 'near Nasa'). He is buried in the tomb of his madrasa at Gurganj.Depends on: natural death from his illness Stopped by: only a change in his health
6. July 1200Muhammad hides the news, takes tribute and submission from Turshiz, mourns at the gates of Shahristana and rides to Khwarazm.Depends on: Tekish's death while Muhammad is before Turshiz Stopped by: Muhammad being elsewhere
7. 3 August 1200 (20 Shawwal 596)Muhammad is enthroned at Gurganj as Khwarazmshah with his father's title Ala al-Din (TDV).Depends on: the emirs and Terken Khatun accepting him Stopped by: a rival claim by Hindu Khan or Ali Shah backed by the emirs
8. late 1200Hindu Khan, son of Malikshah, stays away from the enthronement, gathers men at Merv, is driven out by the amir Jaqir (Chaqir) and flees to Ghiyath al-Din at Firuzkuh, who takes up his cause.Depends on: Muhammad's succession and Hindu Khan's ambition Stopped by: Muhammad buying Hindu Khan off with an appanage
9. late 1200 to spring 1201The Ghurid brothers invade Khurasan: Merv (Jaqir surrenders), Sarakhs, Nasa and Abivard (given to Taj al-Din Zangi ibn Mas'ud), Tus after a three-day siege, Nishapur (besieged from 7 April 1201; Ali Shah surrenders). Muhammad recovers most of it from autumn 1201.Depends on: Tekish's death and the Ghurids seeing Khurasan leaderless Stopped by: a fast, unopposed succession and a strong garrison in Merv and Nishapur, or the Ghurids being held in India

Places of note

• Tekish's madrasa and tomb at Gurganj (built in his lifetime; his burial place from 1200): The domed tomb (the Tekesh mausoleum) stands at Konye-Urgench.

Where the sources disagree

• GM dossier: 'Nishapur: Hindu Khan as governor (wali)'. Juvaini says that on Malikshah's death (eve of Thursday 9 Rabi II 593, 1 March 1197) Tekish sent Malikshah's sons, Hindu Shah the eldest, to Khwarazm because they were plotting, sent the vizier to restore order at Shadyakh, and gave Khurasan to his second son Qutb al-Din Muhammad, who took charge by 2 Dhu l-Hijja 593 (16 October 1197). So on 1 January 1200 Nishapur is Muhammad's. Hindu Khan reappears only after Tekish's death, at Merv.
• GM dossier: Tekish dies 3 July 1200. Agreed (Juvaini: 19 Ramadan 596 = 3 July 1200). TDV gives 20 Ramadan (4 July). Place: Chah-i Arab near Shahristana (Juvaini), 'Shahristana between Nishapur and Khwarazm' (Ibn al-Athir), 'near Nasa' (TDV); some later Arabic compilations put it in Dihistan.
• The vizier Nizam al-Mulk Mas'ud ibn Ali: Ibn al-Athir dates his murder to Jumada II 596 (March-April 1200); TDV puts it in 593 (1197), which cannot be right since Juvaini has him back at court on 2 Dhu l-Hijja 593 (16 October 1197).
• Tekish's return to Khwarazm: Juvaini gives 10 Jumada II 596 (28 March 1200); Wikipedia after Buniyatov gives 29 March 1200. Both put him away from Khwarazm on 1 January 1200.
• Mayajuq's fate after his capture in 1199: imprisoned at his brother Aqja's plea (Ibn al-Athir); pardoned and sent to the Jand region (TDV); executed (Wikipedia after Buniyatov).
• The tribute to the Qara Khitai: Biran (as summarised on Wikipedia's Qara Khitai page) says Tekish paid dutifully, settled the 1198 blood-money with Ghurid funds, and Muhammad began as a tributary, returning to payment in 1209-1210 after a lapse; Wikipedia's Tekish page says he refused, declared full sovereignty and repelled a Qara Khitai army before Gurganj. Biran is followed here. The siege of Bukhara with the tale of the one-eyed dog is usually dated to the early 1180s, not to 1198 (not re-checked here).

Evidence: Juvaini, Ibn al-Athir and Nasawi give a dated narrative for the dynasty; the Khurasan governors other than the heir, the Jand command and the steppe relations are thin.

On the map: The realm is drawn as its oases and river strips; the deserts between them are Turkmen and Kangli pasture (oghuz and kangli). Gurgan, Dihistan, Qumis, the Tabaristan castles and the Jibal towns are drawn on the neighbouring pages.

Primary sources for this realm

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
• 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
• Dictionary of Countries, Yaqut al-Hamawi (1224 to 1228, at Aleppo). An alphabetical gazetteer of every place Yaqut had read of or seen: he travelled as a bookseller's agent through Syria, Iraq, Persia, Khurasan and Khwarazm (about 1213 to 1220) and settled in Aleppo. Read online