The Khwarazmian State (1077–1231)

In 1077 the Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah appointed Anush Tegin, a man of Turkic origin, governor of Khwarazm. His dynasty first served the Seljuks and became independent as the Great Seljuk state weakened. The capital was Gurganj (Kunya-Urgench, in today's Turkmenistan) on the Amu Darya.

Under Ala ad-Din Tekish and his son Muhammad, the Khwarazmshahs united much of Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan. In 1219 the killing of Genghis Khan's envoys and merchants at Otrar provoked the Mongol invasion; Bukhara, Samarkand and Gurganj were destroyed.

The last Khwarazmshah, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, fought the Mongols for ten years — his escape by leaping on horseback into the Indus became legend. His death in 1231 ended the state. The Khwarazmian-era monuments of Kunya-Urgench are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.