Sultan Sanjar and the Kara-Khitāys

The country of Khwārazm ¹ was one of the first conquests of the Seljüks. On becoming masters of Khorāsān, the ‛Irāks, Persia, and Syria, they chose men from among their Turkish slaves whom they placed in charge of the various provinces. The governor thus set over Khwārazm was named Balkategin, who was Tasht-dā,r or Grand Ewer-bearer, ² to Sultan Melik Shāh, who exercised paramount authority in that country. He had under him a Turkish slave whom he had purchased, named Nūshtegin, who by his conduct at his master’s court was in such esteem that on the death of Balkategin ³ he succeeded to the government of Khwārazm. He became even more powerful than his lord, but, though he is regarded as the first of the dynasty of Khwārazm-Shāhs, he remained loyal to the Seljüks. He bestowed great care in the education of his son Kutb ed-Dīn Mohammad, who succeeded him in a.h. 490 (1097) with the additional title of Khwārazm-Skāh, or emperor of Khwārazm. He was a great patron of letters, and made himself generally beloved in his province.