Tye 228.1 var. (pellet), Album 1735.1

Khwarezm Shahs: Ala al Din Muhammad ibn Tekesh (567-596 A.H. = 1200-1220 A.D.).

AE jital, Kurzuwan mint, average silver content ca. 8%, average weight 2.7 g., 14.5 mm.

Obv., Kurzuwan, elephant standing facing left, pellet beneath.

Rev: as sultan / al-a’zam / Muhammad / bin as-sultan

The Khwarezm Shahs were a Persianate Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin. They ruled Greater Iran from approximately 1077 to 1231 A.D., first as vassals of the Seljuqs and Kara-Khitan, and later as independent rulers, up until the Mongol invasions of the 13th century.

By 1217 Ala ad-Din Mohammed had conquered all the lands from the river Jaxartes to the Persian Gulf. He declared himself shah and demanded formal recognition from Caliph an-Nasir in Baghdad. When the caliph rejected his claim, Ala ad-Din Muhammad marched towards Baghdad. However, when crossing the Zagros Mountains, his army was caught in a blizzard and was decimated. In 1218, Genghis Khan attempted to initiate trade relations, but Ala ad-Din Mohammed believed this gesture was only a ploy to invade his land and arrested or executed the Mongol’s envoys. In 1219 Genghis retaliated and completely annihilated numerous Khwarezm cities. Ala ad-Din Mohammed fled and died several weeks later.