Terken Khatun ( fa, ترکان خاتون), also spelled Turkan Hatun (
Turkic version), was the
Empress of the
Khwarazmian Empire
The Khwarazmian or Khwarezmian Empire) or the Khwarazmshahs ( fa, خوارزمشاهیان, Khwārazmshāhiyān) () was a Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire that ruled large parts of present-day Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran in the app ...
by marriage to Shah
Ala ad-Din Tekish
Ala ad-Din Tekish ( Persian: علاء الدين تكش; full name: ''Ala ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Abul Muzaffar Tekish ibn Il-Arslan'') or Tekesh or Takesh was the Shah of Khwarazmian Empire from 1172 to 1200. He was the son of Il-Arslan. His rule wa ...
, and the mother and ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' co-ruler of
Muhammad II of the
Khwarazmian Empire
The Khwarazmian or Khwarezmian Empire) or the Khwarazmshahs ( fa, خوارزمشاهیان, Khwārazmshāhiyān) () was a Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire that ruled large parts of present-day Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran in the app ...
.
Background
Terken Khatun was the
Qipchaq
The Kipchaks or Qipchaks, also known as Kipchak Turks or Polovtsians, were a Turkic nomadic people and confederation that existed in the Middle Ages, inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the 8th century as part of the Sec ...
khan's daughter. She was from either the
Qangli or the
Bayandur
The Bayandur (, tr, Bayındır, tk, Baýyndyr) or Bayundur, was one of the 24 Oghuz Turkic tribes. Originally one of the 7 original tribes that made up the Kimek–Kipchak confederation, they later joined the Oghuz Turks. The Bayandur origina ...
tribe of the
Kimek
The Yemek were a Turkic tribe constituting the Kimek-Kipchak confederation, whose other six constituent tribes, according to Abu Said Gardizi (d. 1061), were the Imur (or Imi), Tatars, Bayandur, Kipchaks, Lanikaz, and Ajlad.
Ethnonym
Min ...
. According to
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
Jalal al-Din Mangburni ( fa, جلال الدین مِنکُبِرنی), also known as Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah (), Minkubirni or Mengu-Berdi (c.1199 – August 1231), was the last Khwarazmshah of the Anushteginid dynasty. The eldest son and succ ...
's biographer
Shihab al-Din Muhammad al-Nasawi
Shihab al-Din Muhammad al-Nasawi ( fa, شهاب الدین محمد النساوی; died c. 1250) was a Persian secretary and biographer of the Khwarazmshah Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu (). Born in Nasa in Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Kh ...
, the majority of her son Ala ad-Din Muhammad's top commanders were from Terken Khatun's tribe, and the need to attach them to his side was one reason why the Shah lent so heavily on his mother for advice.
De facto co-ruler and Reign as Potential ruler
After the death of her husband, 'Ala' al-Din Tekish (1172-1200), she so dominated the court of their son, 'Ala' al-Din Muhammad II (1200–20), and quarreled so bitterly with his heir by another wife,
Jalal al-Din, that she may have contributed to the impotence of the Khwarazmian Empire in the face of the
Mongol onslaught. She had a separate Diwan and separate palace and the orders of the Sultan were not considered to be effective without her signature. The Shah ruled the heterogeneous peoples without mercy. In face of Mongol attacks, Khwarazmian empire, with a combined army of 400,000, simply collapsed. Khwarazmshah Muhammed had retreated to Samarkand towards the end of his domination and he had to leave the capital city of
Gurgenç (Köneürgenç, present-day Turkmenistan) to her.
Mongol invasion
In 1219,
Genghis Khan invaded Khwarazm. Many large and prosperous cities:
Otrar
Otrar or Utrar ( kk, Отырар, ''Otyrar'', otəˈɾɑɾ otk, 𐰚𐰭𐱃𐰺𐰢𐰣, Keŋü Tarman), also called Farab, is a Central Asian ghost town that was a city located along the Silk Road in Kazakhstan. Otrar was an important town ...
,
Khujand
Khujand ( tg, Хуҷанд, Khujand; Uzbek: Хўжанд, romanized: Хo'jand; fa, خجند, Khojand), sometimes spelled Khodjent and known as Leninabad (russian: Ленинабад, Leninabad; tg, Ленинобод, Leninobod; fa, لنی ...
,
Bukhara,
Samarkand,
Merv
Merv ( tk, Merw, ', مرو; fa, مرو, ''Marv''), also known as the Merve Oasis, formerly known as Alexandria ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρεια), Antiochia in Margiana ( grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐν τῇ Μαργιανῇ) and ...
,
Nishapur and others were razed and their inhabitants killed. Muhammad died after fleeing in 1220 or a year after on a deserted island in the
Caspian sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
. She fled with the
harem
Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...
and the children of Khwarazmshah, took the royal treasury, and drowned 26 hostages, sons of different conquered rulers. She passed through the
Karakum Karakum may refer to:
*Karakum Desert, a desert in Central Asia
* ''Karakum'' (film), a 1994 Turkmen film
*Karakum Canal, Turkmenistan
* Karakum District, Turkmenistan
See also
* Karakoram, a large mountain range spanning the borders of India, Pak ...
and took refuge in the Ilal fortress, but the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
captured the fortress soon afterwards. She and all the people were captured. The sons of the Shah were killed, his women and daughters were distributed to the sons and associates of Genghis Khan.
Relations with Jalal-ad-Din
Relationship between Turkan Hatun and her grandson, the son of Muhammad, Jalal ad-Din, apparently was not good. When she was told to escape from the invading Mongols, she said:
Death
She died in poverty somewhere on the territory of present-day
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, in 1233.
References
{{Reflist
External links
* https://iranicaonline.org/articles/terken-katun
12th-century women
13th-century women rulers
12th-century Iranian people
13th-century Iranian people
Anushtegin dynasty