MILITARY AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF JALAL AD-DIN MANKBURNI ACCORDING TO ARAB-PERSIAN SOURCES
The article discusses the history of life and work of one of the most outstanding rulers of Khorezm, Jalal ad-Din Mankburni. In domestic and foreign historiography this Khorezmshah is known mostly due to his opposition to the Mongol threat during Ghenghiz Khan’s invasion in the limits of the Khorezmian Empire. This article seeks not only to offer an overview of Jalal ad-Din’s military activities, but to characterize him as a political figure. The Khorezmshah was able, twice after the defeat of his army by the Mongols on the Indus river in 1221, to create a separate state, first in North India and then in the lands of Western Iran and the South Caucasus. Undoubtedly, this part of the biography of Jalal al-Din Mankburni needs a more thorough study against the background of the well-studied Ghenghiz Khan. The article also assesses the military and political activities of the last Shah and his contribution to the history of Iran, Central Asia, India and the South Caucasus, all based on the information drawn from Arab-Persian sources.