Jalaluddin Khwarazm Shah

Jalaluddin was not a king; he was only the prince of Khwarazm. He separated from his father because of a disagreement over strategy in resisting Genghis Khan. He used his own abilities and resources to build a military force to confront Genghis Khan and challenged him without state support. The important thing is that he defeated Genghis Khan in several battles. He asked the Caliph of Baghdad for help with military reinforcements. The Caliph promised to provide 100,000 soldiers, but Genghis Khan’s ambassador frightened the Caliph by telling him about Genghis’s power. Genghis’s ambassador said that Jalaluddin was, in today’s terms, a terrorist. He had no fixed place or base. He wanted to make Baghdad fight Genghis so that he could take control of the Baghdad Caliphate himself. Therefore, despite his promise, the Caliph of Baghdad refused to help Jalaluddin. But Jalaluddin was the last barrier between Baghdad and Genghis Khan’s invasion. Once this barrier was removed, the Tatars quickly invaded Baghdad and completely destroyed it.