The Seljuq Great Sultan Sanjar (r, as subordinate regional ruler in Khuräsän 1097-111 7, and as Great Sultan fro m 1117-8 till his dearh in 1(57) was one of the rowering figures in rhe pre-Mon gol hisrory of Iran. 'I he me re d uration of his reign very much impressed h is co nre mporaries, as weil as larer hisrorians. In terrns of rerrirory, his cmpire was impressive, too: he himself c1a imed ro ru le over the entire eastern and m uch of the cenrral Islamic lands, from Kashghar to Anarolia and

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... rhe bordcrs of Egypt, and from the Aral Sea to the lndus, and also Iraq (including Baghdad), and th e holy cit ies of th c H ijäz, This claim was at least for ma lly acce p ted: thc Friday prayer was held in his na me (not always, but mos t of the time) in most of rhese regions. ' In hindsighr, for those who knew whar was to come (and therefore for ma ny of the aur hors of our sourees) , his reig n appeared as rhe last orderly and cornpararively peaceful pe riod of rhe Seljuq era , eirhe r in Khu räsän or in all of thc Iran ian or rather Turko-Iraniart world, depending on wh en the source was written . (People who srill had ho pes that rhe Seljuq sulrana re wou ld recover and evcn tua lly endure -it d efin itely fell in 1194had a less d rasti c view.) The final d isastrous events tha r pur an end to effective Seljuq rule in Khuräsän -San jar's defeat ar th e hands of rhe G huzz in 1153 and his capt iviry, and the long years of plu nder, destrucrion and d isruption that followed -wc re a stark cen tras t to the decad es of wellb eing rha t Khuräsän had en joyed u nder Sanjar. N o Seljuqid sulta n rul ed in Khuräsän afrer him; indeed, no imperial power at all was in p lace in rhar province for decades. For th e later au th o rs, rhe Mo ngoi invasion (begi nning in 1217) was o nly rwo steps away; for the rn, the Khwärazrnian years (Khw ärazrn ian iurperial ru le may be said ro have begu n wi rh the coronation of Tekesh on the sum mer pasrures of Radkän-iTüs in Jul y, 1189) were only a shorr inr erlude, and Khw ärazmi an rulc was in any case no t nearly as solid ly established as Sanjar's. Even in the twen ty years or so of Khwä razm ian cmpire, rhe Khwärazrnsh ähs d id not have undi spu red control even of such core provinces as Khu räsän. Th e aur ho rs of our sou rces, both Sanjar's co nte rn po raries and larer writers, sought to cxplain why Seljuq id rule in the easr ended rhc way it did, And fo r mo d ern researche rs, roo , rhe qu estion is far fro m be ing resolved, O ne frequently quoted facro r is rhe craving for " indcpe ndence", and rhe b reaking away of the most irnportant vassals. One of th ose was rhe Khwärazmsh äh. AtSlZ the Khw ärazrnshäh 01 28-1156) also was a d ominant figure. He has been cred ited with laying rhe fo undations of the Khwärazm ian ernpire, wh ich, as ju st menrioned , was ar David Durand-Guedy, 5refan Heidemann and Deborah Tor read earlier versions of rhis conr rib urion and I wou ld like 10 rha nk rhcm for valuable cornmcnrs. All remaining inaccuracics and rnistakes are lll)' own . 'l he collecrion itself is anonymous , bur it is probable rha r it was made on rhe basis of Juwaini family arch ives (and "pub lished" ma rerials suc h as rhe collections made by Rashi d a1-Din Wa\wä\) some rime in rhe !arer rhirreenrh or early fourree nrh cenrury.