Ala al-Din Tekish

Ala al-Din Tekish
Ala al-Din Tekish, Sultan of Khwarazm. Yale University Art Gallery.
Shah of the Khwarazmian Empire
Reign11 December 1172 – 3 July 1200
Coronation11 December 1172
PredecessorIl-Arslan
SuccessorMuhammad II
RegentTerken Khatun
BornKonye-Urgench
Died3 July 1200
SpouseTerken Khatun
Inanj Khatun
Fulana Khatun
IssueAla ad-Din Muhammad
Taj ad-Din Ali-Shah
Yunus-Khan
Toghan-Toghdi
Malik-Shah
Princess Shah-Khatun
Names
Laqab: Ala al-Din (shortly)
Kunya: Abul-Muzaffar
Given name: Tekish
HouseHouse of Anushtegin
FatherIl-Arslan
MotherTerken Khatun
ReligionSunni Islam

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.

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.