Muhammad II of Khwarezm - Reign

Reign

After his father, Tekish died, Muhammad inherited his lands, and it was from there he began expanding outwards. By 1205 he had conquered all of Persia from the Seljuk Turks.

Muhammad frequently clashed with Ghurids for hegemony at Khorasan region and with Western Karakhanids for Maveraünnehir. He conquered Herat in 1204, Balkh, regions of Cüzcan and Tokharistan. After defeating Muhammad of Ghor at the battle of Andkhvoy in 1205, he took Sistan from Ghurids in 1206. He captured Samarkand (captured by Karakhanids in 1208) in 1207 from the Kara Khitay, Tabaristan in 1210 from Ghurids and Maveraünnehir from Western Karakhanids. He pursued expansionist policy and conquered Tashkent and Fergana from Western Karakhanids and regions of Makran and Balochistan from Ghurids and Atabegs of Azerbaijan become his vassals in 1211. He finally destroyed Western Karakhanids in 1212 and Ghurids in 1215 annexing with their remainder territories. During 1212 the city of Samarkand revolted killing 8,000-10,000 Khwarezmians living there. Muhammad, in retaliation, sacked the city and executed 10,000 citizens of Samarkand.

By 1217 he had conquered all the lands from the river Jaxartes to the Persian Gulf he declared himself shah and demanded formal recognition from the caliph in Baghdad. When the caliph an-Nasir rejected his claim, Ala ad-Din Muhammad gathered an army and marched towards Baghdad to depose an-Nasir. However, when crossing the Zagros Mountains, the shah's army was caught in a blizzard. Thousands of warriors died and with the army decimated the generals had no choice but to return home.