DESTRUCTION OF THE KWARESMIAN EMPIRE
That immense Kara Kitai, or Black Cathay, or Black China was added to the Mongol dominions which now were conterminous with the Kwaresmian Empire. This Empire, begun on Seljuk ruins, was increased soon by other lands, and in 1219 it extended from the Syr Darya or Yaxartes to the Indus, and from Kurdistan to the great roof of the world, those immense Pamir highlands. The sovereign at the opening of the thirteenth century was Alai ud din Mohammed, great-great-grandson of a Turk slave named Nush Tegin. The master of this slave was a freedman of Melik Shah the Seljuk Sultan, and this freedman transferred Nush Tegin to his sovereign. The slave became cupbearer to Melik Shah, and prefect of Khwaresm at the same time by virtue of his office. In Mohammedan history cases of Turkish slaves seizing sovereignty are frequent. Turkish captives in Persia were highly esteemed and appeared there in multitudes. Throughout the vast regions north and east of the Caspian various Turk tribes fought unceasingly; each seized the children of an enemy whenever the chance came, and sold them in the slave marts. These children, reared in the faith of Mohammed, were trained to arms for the greater part, and became trusted body-guards of princes. They served also as household officials, or managers. Those of them who earned favor gained freedom most frequently, and next the highest places at courts, and in armies. A lucky man might be made governor, and when fortune helped well enough he made himself sovereign.
Turkish slaves grew all-powerful in Moslem lands, till those lands were invaded at last by Turk warriors. Persia, lowered much by Arab conquest, recovered under Bagdad rule in some slight degree, till the eleventh century saw it conquered again by Turk nomads from those immense steppes north and east of the [[94]]Caspian. Under the descendants of Seljuk these fierce sons of wild herdsmen pushed their way on to the Propontis and to Palestine; camped in Persia, and in lands lying west of it. These self-seeking, merciless adventurers brought torture, oppression, and brigandage to all people equally, till at last intestine wars and social chaos put an end to Seljuk rule toward the close of the twelfth century.
Kutb ud din Mohammed, son of the manumitted slave, Nush Tejin, and also his successor, won the title of Kwaresmian Shah, a title used before the Arab conquest. Atsiz, son of Kutb ud din, raised arms repeatedly against Sindjar, the son of Melik Shah, and was forced to render tribute to the Gurkhan. When Sindjar died (1157) Il Arslan, son of Atsiz, seized West Khorassan; his son, Tukush, took Persian Irak from Togrul, who fell in battle. By the death of Togrul and Sindjar, both Persian Seljuk lines became extinct.
Tukush obtained investiture at Bagdad from the Kalif, and Persia passed from one line of Turkish tyrants to another. Mohammed, who succeeded his father Tukush, in 1200, seized the provinces of Balkh and Herat and made himself lord of Khorassan. Soon after this Mazanderan and Kerman passed under his power and direction. Mohammed now planned to shake off the authority of the Gurkhan of Kara Kitai, to whom he, and three of his predecessors, had paid yearly tribute. Besides he was urged to this step by Osman, Khan of Samarkand and Transoxiana, who, being also a vassal of the Gurkhan, endured with vexation the insolence of agents who took the tribute in his provinces. Osman promised to recognize Mohammed as his suzerain, and pay the same tribute that he had paid to the Gurkhan. The Shah accepted this offer with gladness; he merely waited for a pretext, which appeared very quickly: An official came to receive the yearly tribute, and seated himself at the Shah’s side, the usual place in such cases, though it seemed now that he did so somewhat boldly. Mohammed’s pride, increased much by recent victory over Kipchaks living north of the Caspian, would endure this no longer, so in rage he commanded to cut down the agent and hack him to pieces.
After this act Mohammed invaded the lands of the Gurkhan immediately (1208), but was defeated in the ensuing battle, and captured with one of his officers. The officer had the wit to declare [[95]]that the Shah, whose person was unknown in those regions, was a slave of his. In a short time the amount of ransom for the officer was settled; he offered to send his slave to get the sum needed. This offer was taken and an escort sent with the slave to protect him. Thus did Mohammed return in servile guise to his dominions, where reports of his death had preceded him. In Taberistan his brother, Ali Shir, had proclaimed his own rule, and his uncle, the governor of Herat, was taking sovereign power in that region.
The following year Mohammed and Osman, the Samarkand ruler, made a second attack on the Gurkhan. Crossing the Syr Darya at Tenakit, they met their opponents, commanded by Tanigu, and won a victory.
They conquered a part of the country as far as Uzkend, and instated a governor. The news of this sudden success caused immense joy in the Kwaresmian Empire. Embassies were sent by neighboring princes to congratulate the victor. After his name on the shield was added “Shadow of God upon earth.” People wished to add also “Second Alexander,” but he preferred the name Sindjar, since the Seljuk prince Sindjar had reigned forty-one years successfully. After his return the Shah gave his daughter in marriage to Osman, and the Gurkhan’s lieutenant in Samarkand was replaced by a Kwaresmian agent. Soon, however, Osman was so dissatisfied with this agent that he gave back his allegiance to the Gurkhan, and killed the Kwaresmians in his capital.
Mohammed, enraged at this slaughter, marched to Samarkand, stormed the city, and for three days and nights his troops did naught else but slay people and plunder; then he laid siege to the fortress and captured it. Osman came out dressed in a grave shroud; a naked sword hung from his neck down in front of him. He fell before Mohammed and begged for life abjectly. The Shah would have spared him, but Osman’s wife, the Shah’s daughter, rushed in and demanded the death of her husband. He had preferred an earlier wife, the daughter of the Gurkhan, and had forced her, the Shah’s daughter, to serve at a feast that detested and inferior woman. Osman had to die, and with him died his whole family, including the daughter of the Gurkhan.
Mohammed joined all Osman’s lands to the Empire, and made Samarkand a new capital. He further increased his Empire [[96]]by a part of the kingdom of Gur, which extended from Herat to the sacred river of India, the Ganges.