Ala’ al-Din Tekiš (1173-1200) was Sultan of the Ḵwārazmshah (1077-1231) who developed the once local dynasty of Ḵwārazm into a leading power in the medieval world by defeating the Saljuqs in northern Ḵorāsān and Jebal.
Tekiš was the eldest son of Il-Arsalan Jazeb (1156-1169), the Ḵwārazmshah Sultan, who was projected to come to power. However, after the death of Il-Arsalan his youngest son, Sultānšāh with the help of his mother Turkan ascended the throne and sent a message to Tekiš confirming his Sultanate. Tekiš, who ruled in Jand, rejected the order and fled to the Turko-Mongol dynasty of the Qarā Ḵitai Khanate stationed in Balasagun (Jowzjānil, 2,p.94), where the daughter of the first GurḴan and her husband Fuma were then reigning (Juvayni, 2, p.17; Khal’atbari, p.25). Tekiš appealed to them for assistance and promised to pay them annual tribute, so the Qarā Ḵitai troops escorted Tekiš to Ḵwārazm. When they learned of the march of Tekiš, Sultānšāh and his mother left Ḵwārazm without any struggle, so Tekiš ascended the throne in 1173 (Jovayni, 2, pp. 17-18; Sharaf al-Din Yazdi, 1, p.96; Barthold, p. 337) Sultānšāh appealed for help to Moa’yed (1168-1174), the successor of Sultan Sanjar (1197-1218) in Neišāpur and persuaded him to attack Ḵwārazm. Tekiš waited for his enemies near the small town of Suberli, about 125 km from Ḵwārazm. In this battle which ended with the conquest of Tekiš, Sultānšāh and Terkan Khatun fled to Dehestan while Mo’ayed was taken prisoner and put to death in July 1174 (Jovayni, 2, pp.22-36; Shabankarei, p.137; Mostowfi, p. 487; Barthold, p. 337-338).
Ḵwārazm under Tekiš’s rule was transformed from a local dynasty to a prominent one in Iran. Tekiš had an ideal map of the Saljuqs in conquering territories. He followed his expansionist policies in northern Ḵorāsān which were ruled by the successors of Mo’ayed and the Saljuqs of Jebal under Toqrol III (1175-1194). In addition, he aimed to dominate Baghdad and bring Al-Naser, the Abbasid Caliph under his rule. He continued to pay annual tribute to the superpower of the Qarā Ḵitais to maintain the safety of the eastern boundaries of Ḵwārazm. To this end, the envoys of the Qarā Ḵitai came to the Ḵwārazmian court to receive the annual tribute (Biran, p.62). Juvayni reports that the disrespect of Qarā Khatay’s envoy towards the Sultan of Ḵwārazm caused Tekiš to put one of them to death (Jovayni, 1, p.19; Barthold, p.339). It nearly led to the Qarā Ḵitai’s invasion of Ḵwārazm inspired by Sultānšāh but Tekiš resolved the problem through diplomatic relations and by paying the annual tribute (ibid). Instead, he took advantage of the military power of the Qarā Ḵitai to subjugate his rivals in Ḵorāsān (Ibn Athir, 12, pp. 135-136; Awfi, p.51; Shabankare’i, p. 2:137) and advised his son, Qotb al’Din Mohammad to maintain this dam against unknown Mongol power (Jovayni, 2, p.89; Jowzjāni, 1, p.302; Abu Ghazi Bahādor Khan, p. 50).
Tekiš cemented his relationship with the Qarā Ḵitai by continuing to pay annual tributes. This guaranteed the safety of the eastern borders of Ḵwārazm, and insured military assistance from the Qarā Ḵitai against the Saljuqs. In 1193, he ultimately defeated the remnants of the Saljuqs in Marv and Neišāpur and dominated the northern areas of Ḵorāsān (Jovayni, 2, pp.19- 20; Shabankare’i, 2, p. 137; ‘Ibn Athir, 11, pp.381-382).
The main rival of the Ḵwārazmians to the west was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad. Al-Naser (1179-1225) who ruled longer than other Abbasid caliph, tried to reestablish the power of the Abbasid and was challenged in turn by the Buyids and the Saljuqs (Ibn Taqtaqa, p. 308; Banaketi, p.205). Al-Naser was completely aware that he could not recapture the same power that the Abbasids experienced under the first caliphs. However, he was fully determined to dominate Baghdad and the surrounding regions in Ḵuzestān and Hamidan and to obtain the loyalty of the Ghurids in India and present Afghanistan (Jowzjāni, 1, pp. 302&361). But Tekiš was the main claimant of the Saljuq power who could be used as leverage by Al-Naser against the Saljūqs (Ibn Athir, 12, p. 107). Even though Tekiš could challenge the Abbasids' power, the great physical distance between Ḵwārazm and Jebal and the military engagements of the Ḵwārazmians with the Ghurids and the Qarā Ḵitai reassured the caliph that the dominance of the Ḵwāramshahi over Jebal would never be absolute (Nasavi, pp.19-20).
Tekiš, encouraged by the caliph, conquered Ray in 1193 and sent the head of Toqrol III to the court of Al-Naser in Baghdad (Ravandi, pp.368-369; Jovayni, 2, p.30-32; Ibn Khaldun, 5, pp.127-128; Jowzjānil, 1, p.301; Mostowfi, p. 448; Bosworth, pp.181-4; Shabankarei, 2, p.138). Regarding himself as the rightful heir of the Saljuq dynasty, Tekiš moved toward Hamedan and beyond becoming the true heir of the Saljuqs. He dominated western Iran and even supervised the caliph in Baghdad. It was while Al-Naser had decided to rule in Baghdad and western Iran including Hamedan. Therefore, Tekiš stood head to head in competing with the caliph and his vizier Mo’ayed al-Din Mohammad ibn Qassāb who had been appointed by the caliph to rule Hamedan (Jovayni, 2, p.33; Ibn Athir, 12, pp.107-108; Jowzjāni, 1, pp.128; 301; Banakiti, p.206; Monshi Kermani, p.34). Ultimately, Tekiš dominated Hamedan and exhumed Mo’ayed al-Din Mohammad ibn Qassāb , hacked off his head, and sent it to Ḵwārazm (Juovauni, 2, 33) to show his complete triumph. The caliph Al-Naser sent a decree of conquered territories in “Iraq, Turkistan and Ḵorāsān” to legitimize Tekiš' dominance over the conquered regions and to restrict his movement toward Baghdad (Jovayni, 2, p. 43; Ibn Athir, 12, p.152-153; Jowzjāni, 1, p.301).
Tekiš never withdrew from wanting to dominate Baghdad, but the steady invasions of Sultānšāh made him return to Ḵwārazm. The presence of Sultānšāh in northern Ḵorāsān who was looking for an ally among the remnants of the Saljuqs in Ḵorāsān, the Qarā Ḵitai in Transoxiana, and the Ghurids (Jowzjāni, 1, pp. 302&361; Juvayni, pp. 2: 22, 25, 26-27, 28; Baha al-Din Baghdadi, pp.145-165) in order to regain power endangered the safety of Ḵwārazm on its southern boundaries. Sultānšāh’s campaigns against Tekiš ultimately ended with his death in 1193 (Ibn Athir, 11, pp. 373-84; Jowzjānil, 1, pp.302-3; Juvayni, 2, pp. 22-30; Mostowfi, p. 488; Bosworth, pp.189-191; Z. M. Buniiatov, pp. 34-45; Biran, p. 62).
Tekiš not only had his sights on the map of the Saljuqs when conquering regions but also followed their semi-feudal political structure in the conquered territories of Jebal. To maintain the territories in the west, and besides reinstating the Atabegs of Fars, Tekiš appointed the governors of Jebal based on the Atabeg’s Saljuq model. He appointed his sons to the reigns of Hamedan, Isfahan, and Ḵorāsān and designated Atabegs to supervise them (Jovayni, 2: pp.33-34). Furthermore he appointed Malekšāh, his designated successor (Jovayni, 2, pp., 25, 30), and then his brother Sultan Mohammad who was next in line after Malekšāh's death (Jovayni, 39-41; Barthold, p.345) to rule Neišāpur which was the gate to Ḵwārazm.
In July 1200 Tekiš on his way to Quhistān to again subjugate the Isma’ili died on the way between Ḵwārazm and Neišāpur in the city of Shahrestana (Juvayni, 2, pp. 46-47; Ibn Athir, 12, pp. 156-157; Mostowfi, pp. 489-490; The mausoleum attributed to Tekiš still exists in Ḵiva (Chuvin, pp. 177). Soon Ḵwārazm welcomed the Sultan Mohammad, Tekiš’s successor who had quickly moved from Neishapur to establish his reign in the capital (Juvayni, 2, p.47; Jowzjāni, 1, p.306; Mostowfi, p.490).
Rather than simply being a Sultan ruling his territories from his capital in Ḵwārazm, Tekiš had been a military ruler who personally launched campaigns to expand his territory. Tekiš created a strong army primarily from the tribe of his wife, Terkan Khatun namely Qipchaq (Jowzjāni, 1, p. 306), Qūnqūli or Bayāvout, (Nasavi, p. 62; Ibn Khaldun, 5, p.130; Barthold, p.349). During his reign the court of Ḵwārazm welcomed eminent poets and ‘Olama (men of knowledge). Tekiš was also interested in music and poetry (Jowzjāni, 1, p.300) Many poets including Rashid al-Din Vatvat and Khaqani praised him in their poems (Jovayni, 2, pp. 18 & 39; Mostowfi, 487; Sha, 1, 96). But his unceasing campaigns ultimately caused him to be known as a military Sultan who ruled his territories from his horse and not from his throne.
Maryam Kamali
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