Khwarazmiyya

The Khwarazmian army, also called the ''Khwarazmiyya'', maintained itself as a force of freebooters and mercenaries between 1231 and 1246, following the Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire (1221) and the death of the last ''Khwarazmshah'', Jalal al-Din (1231). It was active in Upper Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Syria and Palestine and shifted its allegiance several times, often acting autonomously before it was defeated and destroyed by the Ayyubids.

In 1231, the Khwarazmians were briefly in the service of the Ayyubid governors around Lake Van. Between 1231 and 1237, they were in the service of the Seljukid sultanate of Rum and fought against an Ayyubid invasion in 1232–1233. The Khwarazmians were forced back into Upper Mesopotamia in 1237, during a Seljukid succession crisis. They were then hired by the Ayyubid emir of Damascus. Taking part in the Ayyubid civil wars in Syria, they launched invasions against the emir of Aleppo in 1240 and 1241. Defeated in their second invasion, they retreated to central Mesopotamia and took service with the Abbasid caliphate. Later in 1241, the Khwarazmians hired themselves out to the Zengid emir of Mosul before returning to Syrian Ayyubid politics. They were defeated by Aleppo in 1242.

The Khwarazmians made an alliance with the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt in 1243. In 1244, they invaded Palestine, sacked Jerusalem and defeated the anti-Egyptian alliance at the Battle of La Forbie. Thus they permanently ended Crusader rule in Jerusalem. In 1245, they helped the Egyptians conquer Damascus. Dissatisfied with their rewards, they rebelled in 1246 and besieged Damascus. They suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of an alliance led by Aleppo, and disintegrated as a unified force.

Background

The Khwarazmian army was routed by the Mongols at the battle of the Indus in 1221. Gathering together the remnants of the army, Jalal al-Din established an empire in Punjab and Sind. He remained there for about three years, after which, leaving behind governors and troops, he set out to re-establish the Khwarazmian Empire in its original territories and further west in late 1223. According to al-Nasawi, he arrived back in Kerman with 4,000 troops. In Iran, he augmented his army with soldiers who had been loyal to his father.

Jalal al-Din spent the next several years terrorizing his Christian and Muslim neighbours rather than fighting the Mongols. He was routed by a Seljukid–Ayyubid alliance at the battle of Yasi-chimen in 1230 or 1231. Before more forces could be raised, the Mongols renewed their invasion. Jalal al-Din fled with his rump army first to the Mughan Steppe and afterwards towards Diyar Bakr. He was defeated by the Mongols and suffered huge losses near Amida. In 1231, he was murdered by a Kurd while seeking refuge with Shahib al-Din Ghazi, emir of Mayyafariqin.

Composition of the Khwarazmian army

About 12,000–15,000 soldiers of Jalal al-Din's army in Diyar Bakr hired themselves out as mercenaries. Bar Hebraeus puts the figure that entered Seljukid service at 10,000 and scholarly estimates have ranged from 4,000 to 25,000. If the numbers given by the sources refer to fighting strength, then the total complement of Khwarazmians must have been more than 50,000 around a core of 12,000 soldiers.

Known by the collective term ''Khwarazmiyya'' in the Arabic sources, the Khwarazmians were among the first ''wafidiyya'' (or ''musta'minun''), groups of refugee soldiers from the east who took up service in Syria and Egypt. In Latin sources, they appear as the ''chorosmini'', ''choermini'', ''cohersmini'', ''corasmini'', etc. Their collective name refers to their service to the last Khwarazmshah. It ignores distinct tribal origins. They were predominantly Kipchak Turkish and other pastoralist cavalrymen who, in light of the Mongols' destruction of their homeland, had no reason to return home. Besides Kipchaks, there were probably Kangly