When Il-Arslan died, his elder son, Alaeddin Tekis was in
the city of Cend. Il-Arslan's wife, Terken Hatun who benefited from this situation
enthroned his son, Sultan-shah. Alaeddin Tekis did not accept this actual situation and
took shelter in Karahitay State and asked their help. As a result, Alaeddin who provided
the proper support advanced towards Harezm. Sultan-shah and his mother comprehended that
they could not withstand the army of Karahitay State. They left Harezm and went to the
side of Mueyyed Ay-Aba who was the ruler of Khorasan. They thought that they would ascend
the throne of Harezmshah State through his support and assistance again. Tekis penetrated
into Gurgenc without fighting and ascended the throne (10th January 1173). Afterwards, he
defeated Mueyyed Ay-Aba and took him prisoner and then, killed (1174).
Sultan-shah had firstly taken shelter in Mueyyed Ay-Aba's son. When he
was let down by him, he took shelter in Gurlu people. Tekis caught Terken Hatun and had
her to be killed. As a result, Sultan-shah benefited from the strained terms between Tekis
and Karahitay people and applied to them. Then, he advanced towards Harezm with a strong
army of Karahitay State. On the other hand, Tekis had provided the best preparations for
the defence in Gurgenc and he opened reservoirs and let the lands be flooded with water
like usual. When Karahitay people saw that Tegis was dominant in the situation, they
understood that they would lose great casualties among the soldiers. Therefore, they
retreated. However, Sultan-shah was able to establish a little emirate in the cities of
Merv, Serahs and Tus and within their environs through the support of Karahitay troops.
Afterwards, he tried to establish good relationship with Tekis although he tried to find a
way to establish dominion in Harezm when he found opportunities. As a matter of fact,
Tekis felt relieved pursuant to his death in the year of 1193. When Tekis established firm dominion in Khorasan, he was
oriented towards the western Iran. He wanted to benefit from the weak situation of Iraq
Seljuk State and their struggles with Abbasi Caliphs. As a matter of fact, the conflict
between Kutlug Inanc who was one of the Tutors of Azerbaijan and Tugrul III gave him a
great opportunity. Tekis advanced towards the environs of Rey in the year of 1192;
however, he heard of the situation that his brother, Sultan-shah had besieged Gurgenc.
Upon this news, he had to return. The death of Sultan-shah provided him with the
opportunity to act freely within this region. As a result, he defeated Tugrul III that was
the sultan of Iraq Seljuk State in the war that took place within the environs of Rey and
Tugrul was killed in the battlefield (1194). Therefore, the Iraq Seljuk State had come to
an end.
Pursuant to this event, Tekis was entitled with the title of
"sultan". Meanwhile, the Abbasi Caliph el-Nasir who supposed that some of the
regions would be left to his domination was not contented with the intervention of Tekis
in the affairs of Iran and he was involved in a struggle against him. This time, Kutlug
Inanç collaborated with the Caliph and arranged an army. This army of Baghdad forced the
Harezm forces that were under the command of Tekis' son, Yunus and the Tutor Mayaci to
retreat from most of the regions of Iran. Then, Tekis' forces and the army of the caliph
encountered in front of Hamedan and Tekis won this war (1196). After a while, Tekis
suppressed the movement of Mayacik that was initiated in order to attain independence in
Iraq. Then, he punished his supporters and him (1198). The last years of Sultan Tekis were
spent in the course of the struggles with Batini supporters and he died in the year of
1200. He probably must have been the most important character of the Harezmshah dynasty
and he had played an important role in the development of this state.
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