CHAPTER XIX

SULTAN SANJAR AND THE KARA-KHITĀYS

THE Country of Khwārazm1 was one of the first conquests of the Seljuks. On becoming masters of Khorasan, the 'Irāks, Persia, and Syria, they chose men from among their Turkish slaves whom they placed in charge of the various provinces. The governor thus set over Khwārazm was named Balkategin, who was Tasht-dar, or Grand Ewer-bearer,2 to Sultan Melik Shāh, who exercised paramount authority in that country. He had under him a Turkish slave whom he had purchased, named Nushtegin, who by his conduct at his master's court was in such esteem that on the death of Balkategin he succeeded to the government of Khwārazm. He became even more powerful than his lord, but, though he is regarded as the first of the dynasty of Khwārazm-Shāhs, he remained loyal to the Seljuks. He bestowed great care in the education of his son Kutb ed-Din Mohammad, who succeeded him in A.H. 490 (1097) with the additional title of Khwārazm-Shāh, or emperor of Khwārazm. He was a great patron of letters, and made himself generally beloved in his province.

1 The modern Khanate of Khiva.

2 The Khans of Khiva still bear the title of Ewer-bearers to the Sultan

of Constantinople.

3 About A. H. 470 (1077).

It was during his tenure of office that the KaraKhitays began to make their inroads westwards.

3

He

The empire of the Kara-Khitays had been founded by the last prince of the Kitan or Liao dynasty,1 whose name was Ye-liu Ta-shi. On the destruction of that line by the Kin dynasty in A.D. 1123, Ye-liu Ta-shi, with a following of some two hundred men, passed into the country lying to the north-west of Shen-si,* where he was joined by numbers of Turks. now set out in a westerly direction and carried all before him. He conquered Kāshghar, Yarkand, Khotan, and Turkestan, and at the beginning of A.D. 1124 or 1125 he reached Ki-rh-man.5 Here all his officers assembled and proclaimed him emperor, whereupon he assumed the title of Gur-Khān, or “Universal Lord."

Mahmud, the Uighur Khan mentioned above, was driven into Transoxiana, which shortly after became tributary to the Kara-Khitays. Ye-liu Ta-shi, whose dominions reached from the Gobi to the Oxus, and from the mountains of Tibet to Siberia, now fixed his residence at Balāsāghūn.

Towards the end of Kutb ed-Din's rule they advanced so far into Transoxiana that the Grand Ewerbearer sent an army of 100,000 men to oppose

1 He was a descendant in the eighth generation of T'ai-tsu, or Apaoki, the first Liao emperor. Cf. Bretschneider, op. cit. i. 211; Visdelou, p. 28. For the various forms his name has taken, cf. Howorth on the "KaraKhitay," J.R.A.S., New Series VIII. 273, 274.

De Guignes called him Taigir.

3 Called by the Mohammedans Churché, which corresponds to the Niuchi of Chinese historians. Cf. Bretschneider, op. cit. i. 224, note.

4 Cf. d'Ohsson, Histoire des Mongols, i. 163.

5 Some scholars have wished to identify this name with Kirman in Persia, but this seems most improbable. Bretschneider (op. cit. i. 216, note) suggests Kerminé, which is the site of the summer quarters of the present Amir of Bokhārā. Cf. also Howorth, loc. cit.

6 P. 134.

them.' He, however, suffered a crushing defeat, and the prince of the Kara-Khitays, after imposing tribute on his vanquished enemies, returned to Kāshghar, which now became his capital.2

Soon after his deliverance from these barbarians Kutb ed-Din died, and was succeeded by his son Atsiz. For many years the latter remained at the court of Merv, fulfilling the office of Grand Ewer-bearer to Sultan Sanjar; and so great was his influence with the Seljuk prince that he made himself many enemies at court, and on this account he asked permission to proceed to Khwārazm, which was then suffering from anarchy. In spite of the warnings of his ministers, Sanjar allowed Atsiz to depart. As soon as the governor reached his province he rose in open revolt against his master, who was compelled to march against his too powerful vassal.4 But the rebels were no match for the troops of Sanjar, who utterly defeated them.5 The province was restored to obedience, and Sulayman Shāh, Sanjar's nephew, was appointed as its governor. No sooner had Sanjar reached his capital than Atsiz, collecting the scattered remnants of his army, proceeded to attack Sulayman Shāh. This latter, with whom Sultan Sanjar had left but a few troops, deeming resistance useless, fled to his uncle, and thus the whole of Khwārazm again fell into the hands of Atsiz.

In the year A.H. 536 (1141) Ye-liu Ta-shi died with

1 Cf. De Guignes, iii. pt. ii. p. 253.

2 Some confusion exists as to whether Kashghar or Balāsāghun was his residence. It seems improbable that he should have changed in so short

a space.

254.

3

A.H. 521 (1127).

4

A.H. 533 (1138).

Il-Kilij, the son of Atsiz, perished in the battle.

Cf. d'Herbelot, article "Atsiz"; and De Guignes, vol. ii. pt. ii. p.