CHAPTER VI

Addition of Kara Kitai to Mongol domains.—End of Seljuk rule.—Kutb ud din Mohammed made Kwaresmian Shah.—Mohammed seizes Balk and Herat.—Invasion of the lands of the Gurkhan by Mohammed, 1208.—Defeat and capture of Shah Mohammed.—Mohammed and Osman make an attack on the Gurkhan.—Success of the Kwaresmian Shah.—Mohammed gives his daughter in marriage to Osman, ruler of Samarkand.—Kwaresmians killed by Osman.—Storming of Samarkand by Mohammed.—Death of Osman.—Seizure of a part of the Gur Kingdom.—Assassination of Ali Shir by command of Mohammed, his brother, 1213.—Winning of Ghazni by Mohammed, 1216.—Discovery of letters from the Kalif warning the Gurs against Mohammed.—Efforts of Nassir the Kalif to stop Kwaresmian growth.—Limited power of the Kalif.—Envoy sent by Mohammed to the Kalif.—Ali ul Muluk is recognized as Kalif.—Murder of Ogulmush by command of the Kalif.—Annexation of Irak by Mohammed.—Mohammed advances on Bagdad.—Retreat of Mohammed.—Mohammed alarmed by Mongol movements.—Mohammed receives envoys from Jinghis Khan, 1216–17.—Sunnites and Shiites.—Determination of the Kalif to ask Jinghis to defend the Sunnites.—Invitation to Jinghis branded on the head of the envoy.—Message of Jinghis to Shah Mohammed.—Arrest of Mongolian merchants.—Second message from Jinghis to Mohammed.—Murder of Bajra, Jinghis Khan’s envoy.—Turkan Khatun, the mother of Shah Mohammed.—Trouble caused by Turkan Khatun.—A Mongol tempest.—Conspiracy of Bedr ud din.—Arrangement of the Mongol army.—Investment of Otrar, November, 1218.—Capture of Otrar, April, 1219.—Slaughter of the Turk garrison at Benakit.—Escape of Melik Timur.—Investment of Bokhara, June, 1219.—Surrender of Bokhara.—Feeding of Mongol horses in the Grand Mosque.—Storming of the fortress.—March of Jinghis on Samarkand.—Surrender of Samarkand.—Pursuit of the Kwaresmian ruler 93

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