The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c6.18

c6.18

Of supreme importance for the history of Central Asia at this period was the rise of Khwarizm and Ghor and their eventual struggle for the mastery of Khurasan. Atsiz, the real founder of Khwarizm's greatness, was originally a loyal vassal of Sanjar untill jealousy of the latter's courtiers drove him to open revolt in 533/1138. Sanjar, however, easily defeated him and to his office appointed his nephew Sulaiman². As soon as Sanjar's back was turned, Atsiz advanced and drove Sulaiman out of Khwarizm. Reference has already been made to his assertion of sovereignty in 1141 when Sanjar's defeat by the Qara-Khitais foreshadowed the end of Saljuq power³. Their predominance, however, affected Atsiz's position also; for his own territories were also overrun on this occasion and he was forced to pay an annual tribute of thirty thousand gold dinars, —an obligation which he is said to have scrupulously fulfilled for the rest of his life⁴. His second defeat by Sanjar in 538/1143, following his capture of Merv referred to above, failed to rid him of ambition; for although he was pardoned and reinstated⁵, he revolted almost immediately after, and slew Sanjar's agent. He even planned to assasinate his overlord. For the third time Sanjar marched to Khwarizm in 542/1147 and once again pardoned the vanquished rebel¹. During Sanjar's captivity at the Ghuzz camp, Atsiz invaded Khurasan on the pretext of freeing his sovereign but had to retire without effecting his real object. During the last few years of his life he desisted from open revolt but continued surreptitiously to extend his dominions. Before his death in 551/1156 he had thus annexed Jand and Mankislagh and had imposed something like suzerainty over the Khan of Samarqand². In Khurasan, however, Ghuzz predominance impeded his progress and favoured the rise of Muayyid who, pretending to champion the Seljuq cause, succeeded in establishing his hold on Neshapur, Tus and the adjacent districts. The Ghuzz held Merv, Sarakhs and Balkh³, while Herat was under the possession of Aetigin, a former vassal of the Seljuqs and now a Ghuzz protegeé.