CRUSHING KHWAREZMIA

At the turn of the 13th century the once-mighty Seljuk Empire fractured, leaving the Muslim world in a power vacuum. While the caliph’s Abbasid dynasty, centred in Baghdad, enjoyed a brief resurgence, so too did another, further east in Central Asia. With a realm spanning Persia, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia, the Khwarezmian Empire had grown into a Central Asian superpower. The ruler, or shah, Ala Al Din Muhammad, was an ambitious man who not only refused to capitulate to the caliph’s authority but dreamed of subjecting the caliph to his. First, however, he would have to break free from the yoke of the neighbouring Qara Khitai Empire of eastern Turkestan. In 1210, after defeating the rival power of Samarkand, he moved his capital there and then turned his attention back to the caliph, pushing all the way to Iran’s westernmost reaches.

Muhammad’s fortunes were further bolstered by chaos in the rival Qara Khitai Empire. After being forced from his lands by the Mongols, a noble from another tribe took shelter among the Qara Khitai nobility, only to instigate a coup. His brief, intolerant and oppressive rule so terrified his Muslim populace that they appealed to the Mongols for help. Happy to oblige, Genghis Khan sent in 20,000 soldiers –