Jalal-ud-Din Sultan-Shah, known as Sultan-Shah (died 1193) was a claimant to the title of

Khwarazmshah Khwarazmshah was an ancient title used regularly by the rulers of the Central Asian region of Khwarazm starting from the Late Antiquity until the advent of the Mongols in the early 13th-century, after which it was used infrequently. There were a t ...

from 1172 until his death. He was the son of Il-Arslan. In 1172 Il-Arslan died and his sons began fighting over who would succeed him. Sultan Shah was the younger son, but he was considered the formal heir and his mother, Terken Khatun, placed him on the throne. The elder son,

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 ...

, fled to the

Qara Khitai The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai (), also known as the Western Liao (), officially the Great Liao (), was a Sinicized dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Khitan Yelü clan. The Qara Khitai is considered by historians to be an ...

and asked for them to enthrone him in place of his brother, promising an annual tribute in exchange. He was given a large army, and he soon set off for Khwarazm. Sultan Shah and his mother, upon hearing of Tekish's approach, decided to flee, and Tekish installed himself in Khwarazm unopposed in December 1172. Sultan Shah and Terken Khatun managed to gain the support of Mu'ayyid al-Din Ai-Aba, a former

Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * Seljuk (warlord) (di ...

amir who had set himself up in Nishapur since the collapse of Seljuk power there. In 1174 he led an army into Khwarazm, but was defeated, captured and executed by Tekish. Following Ai-Aba's death, Sultan Shah eventually found refuge with the

Ghurids The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; fa, دودمان غوریان, translit=Dudmân-e Ğurīyân; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty and a clan of presumably eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from the ...

, but Terken Khatun was hunted down and killed by Tekish's forces. In the late 1170s the Qara Khitai recalled Sultan Shah, who was still living in Ghurid territory. Tekish had become rebellious, refusing to pay tribute and killing Qara Khitai officials. Sultan Shah came out of exile and a Qara Khitai army was sent to reinstate him as Khwarazm Shah. Tekish managed to halt this offensive, however, by opening the dykes of the

Amu Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

, flooding the enemy's path. The bulk of the Qara Khitai army decided to return home, but Sultan Shah convinced its commander to leave a contingent of troops with him. With this force , he set of into Khurasan, still under the control of various Oghuz tribes and Seljuk amirs. He succeeded in overthrowing several local rulers, resulting in the conquest of

Sarakhs Sarakhs ( fa, سرخس, Saraxs, also Romanized as Serakhs) is a city in Sarakhs County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Sarakhs was once a stopping point along the Silk Road, and in its 11th century heyday had many libraries. Much of the origina ...

Tus Tus or TUS may refer to: * Tus (biology), a protein that binds to terminator sequences * Thales Underwater Systems, an international defence contractor * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language, ISO 639-3 code Education * Technological Univ ...

and

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 ...

by 1181. He also harassed the Ghurid territories around

Badghis Bādghīs ( Dari: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northwest of the country, on the border with Turkmenistan. It is considered to be one of the country's most underdeveloped provinces, with the highest povert ...

. Over the next several years Sultan Shah remained a threat to Tekish, who was forced to conduct expeditions into Khurasan several times as a result. Despite this, Sultan Shah was unable to make any significant gains against his brother. He also had occasional problems with the Ghurids; in an 1189/1190 campaign, they invaded his territory, defeated him and took some of his possessions. In 1192 Sultan Shah decided to launch an expedition against Khwarazm, taking advantage of Tekish's absence there; the latter was at the time in western

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

dealing with the Seljuks of

Hamadan Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...

. While the campaign was underway, however, he died (1193) and Tekish seized some of his possessions, reuniting the Khwarazmid lands.

References

*Biran, Michael. ''The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History: Between China and the Islamic World.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005. *Boyle, J. A. . ''The Cambridge History of Iran Volume 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1968. {{Anushtiginid Dynasty 1193 deaths Khwarezmid rulers Year of birth unknown Anushtegin dynasty