The Turkmen are the Muslim Oghuz who stayed in the deserts and steppes between the Caspian and the Amu Darya when their kinsmen the Seljuks went west.
Their clans graze the Mangyshlak peninsula and the Ustyurt plateau, the Balkhan mountains and the plain of Dihistan, and the wells of the Kara Kum between Khwarazm and the Khurasan oases, and winter on the desert edge by Nasa, Abivard, Merv and Sarakhs. In 1153 the Ghuzz of Khurasan captured the Seljuk sultan Sanjar and sacked Nishapur, Tus and Merv; some bands later went to Kerman under Malik Dinar (died 1195). By 1200 the Khurasan Ghuzz are no longer an independent power, but the clans of the deep desert and of Mangyshlak answer to their own chiefs and pay the Khwarazmshah tribute or service when he is strong.
Who rules
- Name
- the chiefs of the separate clans; none named for 1200
- Title
- no single ruler
- Since
- not applicable
- Born
- not applicable
- Family
- Oghuz (Ghuzz) Turkmen clans
- Confidence
- low
General histories; Iranica 'Abivard' on the Turkmen of the Khurasan desert edge.
Overlord
The Khwarazmshah claims Mangyshlak (conquered by Atsiz in the 1130s) and takes service from the Turkmen of the Khurasan desert edge and Dihistan; no one governs the desert itself.
What the realm holds
- Mangyshlak and the southern Ustyurt
- The Balkhan mountains, the Uzboy channel and the steppe of Dihistan north of the Atrek
- The Kara Kum between Khwarazm, the Amu Darya and the Khurasan oases
How it was acquired
Ancestral pastures since the tenth and eleventh centuries.
Allies and rivals
Serve the Khwarazmshah as auxiliaries; raid the oasis edges when he is weak; at odds with the Kangli and Qipchaq to the north.
The realm that morning
No Turkmen chief is named for 1 January 1200 and no Turkmen rising is recorded that winter. The desert-edge clans of Khurasan and Dihistan are under Khwarazmian control; Mangyshlak is Khwarazmian in claim; the deep desert is theirs.
Wealth
Herds; camels for the caravans crossing the Kara Kum and the Ustyurt; salt and fish on the Caspian shore of Mangyshlak.
Military
Mounted archers; no numbers.
Threats
- Khwarazmian punitive raids
- Drought at the wells
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: No Turkmen chief or dated Turkmen event is known for 1199-1200 in this area; the ranges are reconstructions.
On the map: Drawn as provinces (khw-p-*); the edges against the oases are approximate.
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 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
Sources and studies
- Encyclopaedia Iranica: Abivard
- Encyclopaedia Iranica: Khwarazmshahs i. Descendants of the line of Anushtigin (C. E. Bosworth)
- G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate (1905): towns, districts and roads, used from the researcher's knowledge of the text, not re-read for this file
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.