Ala ad-Din Tekish

Ala ad-Din Tekish (Persian: علاء الدين تكش; full name: Ala ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Abul Muzaffar Tekish ibn Il-Arslan) or Tekesh or Takesh was the Shah of Khwarezmian Empire from 1172 to 1200. He was the son of Il-Arslan. His rule was contested by his brother, Sultan Shah, who held a principality in Khorasan. Tekish inherited Sultan Shah's state after he died in 1193. In Turkic the name Tekish means he who strikes in battle.[1]

Tekish
Tekish's mausoleum, Kone-Urgench, Turkmenistan
Shah of the Khwarazmian Empire
Reign	1172 – 1200
Coronation	1172
Predecessor	Il-Arslan
Successor	Muhammad II
Regent	Terken Khatun
Born	?
Died	1200
Spouse	Terken Khatun Inanj Khatun Fulana Khatun
Issue	Ala ad-Din Muhammad Taj ad-Din Ali-Shah Yunus-Khan Toghan-Toghdi Malik-Shah Princess Shah-Khatun
Full name Laqab: Ala ad-Din (shortly) Kunya: Abul-Muzaffar Given name: Tekish
House	House of Anushtegin
Father	Il-Arslan
Mother	Terken Khatun
Religion	Sunni Islam

In 1194 Tekish defeated the Seljuq sultan of Hamadan, Toghrul III, in an alliance with Caliph Al-Nasir, and conquered his territories. After the war, he broke with the Caliphate and was on the brink of a war with it until the Caliph accepted him as Sultan of Iran, Khorasan, and Turkestan in 1198.

He died of a peritonsillar abscess in 1200[2] and was succeeded by his son, Ala ad-Din Muhammad.

References

1. "TEKIŠ B. IL ARSLĀN" Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 30 August 2014
2. Juvaini, Ala-ad-Din Ata-Malik, History of the World Conqueror, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1997. p. 314.

Sources

• Bosworth, C. E. (1968). "The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000–1217)". In Frye, R. N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Saljuq and Mongol periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–202. ISBN 0-521-06936-X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)