The
last ruler of Khwarazmshahs (B. ?, - D. 1231, near to Silvan/Diyarbakır). There
is not sufficient information about his birth date and place. His real name is
Mengü Bedri and he is also known as Celaleddin Mengüberdi. He is the elder son
of Khwarazmsh ruler Alaaddin Muhammed and a concubine of Indian origin, Ayçiçek
Hatun.
At an early age he was brought to the
administration of Gur region whose center was Gazne. He joined military
expeditions with his father. In the war with Mongolians in 1216 he defeated
Genghis Khan’s son Cuci. His father Alaaddin Muhammed first showed Uzlag Shah
as the crown prince under the influence of his mother Terken (Türkan) Hatun,
nevertheless he bequeathed that Celaleddin should take his place upon the beginning
of Mongol attacks. Thereon his brothers and some commanders moved against
Celaleddin. Celaleddin went to Khorasan, passed to Gazne from there and built a
large army. He defeated the Mongol powers near to Parvan. But when his
commanders started a fight for the booty, his army was disintegrated and he was
defeated near to the river
of Indus by the Mongol
army which followed him.
Another defeat made him a ruler. Celaleddin
became the ruler when his father was defeated by Genghis Khan and died in December
1220 in
an Island in the Caspian Sea. He passed to the
Mangışlak Peninsula
in the east of the Caspian Sea and went to
Urgenç town which was the capital of Khwarazmshahs. He tried to gather the
disintegrated state again but failed to do so. A large Mongol army under the
command of Chagatay Khan and Ögeday Khan, sons of Ghengis Khan, besieged Urgenç
in 1221 and upon capturing it, they burnt and destroyed it. Celaleddin
Harzemşah took refuge in India
after the Mongol defeat (1221) and stayed there for three years.
Celaleddin Harzemşah made Sad bin Zengi, the
ruler of Salgur in Iran
region, loyal to himself in 1224. He subdued his brother Gıyaseddin Pir Shah
who declared his rule in Irak-ı Acem and Isfahan
and rulers of Lur. He departed for a military expedition with a large army in
1225 towards Georgia which
was a very rich country in the southern Caucasians. He encountered the armies
of the Christian
Georgian Kingdom in Garnisi and he
defeated them here. Thus the way of Tbilisi
which was the capital of Georgia
was opened to the Khwarazmshahs. But after the revolt of Burak Hacib, the
governor of Azerbaijan and Kerman, he could not end his victory with a
conquest of Tbilisi and had
to return. After quelling the revolt, he plundered Baghdad
environment and captured in July 1225 Tabriz.
Later he again headed towards Georgia.
He sent an envoy and started negotiations. Upon the refusal of his proposals he
besieged Tbilisi with his
army and captured this city in April 1227. The next year a large Mongol army of
10.000 soldiers under the command of Cigi-Kutuku Noyan who was an administrator
and commander of Genghis Khan in Pervan region in the north of Kabul and Celaleddin’s army faced each other.
The Khwarazmshah army was victorious in this Pervan War. Pervan War passed into
history as the first major defeat of the Mongol armies. The Khwarazmshah
victory in Pervan ended the legend that Mongols were an invincible power.
Celaleddin Harzemşah, as the ruler of the
new Khwarazmshah, took northern Iraq,
Kerman, Fars, Isfahan and Tabriz
regions under his rule in 1228. He defeated in 1229 the Kipczak and Georgian.
Entering Tbilisi, he
captured the citadels of Şekan, Gag and Kağızman which were under Georgian
control. He besieged Ahlat in August 1229 and captured it in May 1230. His
sultanate was approved by the caliph in Baghdad.
But he was defeated in Yassıçimen war he fought against Anadolu Seljuk and
Memluk armies in 10th of August 1230. When Alaeddin I captured Erzurum and Memluks Ahlat, he had to make peace
with them.
By the end of 1230 when he was in Hoy, he
asked for the support of Anadolu Seljuk and Memluk rulers against Mongol powers
who passed Ceyhun river and entered Iraq-I
Acem. However this support was not granted to him. He was ambushed by the
Mongols along Dicle river in August 123l. His army was discharged and he
escaped to the mountains in Meyyafark in (Silvan) region. He died there upon an
assault. His death made the Khwarazmshah state disappear from the history.
Namık Kemal, one of the authors of Tanzimat period, wrote a theatrical play
about Celaleddin Harzemşah’s life under the same name.
