Muhammad II of Khwarazm

Muhammad II inherited Khwarazm, a small Central Asian province his Turkic ancestor Anushtegin Gharchai had governed as viceroy, and turned it into the largest empire of its day. Between 1200 and 1218 he defeated the Qara Khitai, Ghurids, and Eldiguzids in successive campaigns, pushing his borders from Shirvan to the Indus and the edge of Mongolia. By 1218 the Khwarazmian Empire had reached its zenith: 3.6 million square kilometers held by tribal armies that could muster 400,000 men. Then a skirmish with the Mongols triggered full invasion. They swept through Transoxiana and methodically destro…