Ala al-Din Tekish
Ala al-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 Khwarazmian 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.
| Ala al-Din Tekish | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tekish's mausoleum, Kone-Urgench, Turkmenistan | |||||
| Shah of the Khwarazmian Empire | |||||
| Reign | 1172 – 1200 | ||||
| Coronation | December 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 | ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Anushtegin | ||||
| Father | Il-Arslan | ||||
| Mother | Terken Khatun | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
In 1194, Tekish defeated the Seljuk 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 and was succeeded by his son, Ala ad-Din Muhammad.