Scarce bronze jital of Ala ud-din Mohamed Khwarezmshah (1200-1220 AD), Khwarezm

Description

Inscriptions on both sides: Kurzuwan within a circle, As-sultan al-azam Muhammed bin as-sultan around / Allah la ilah illa Allah Muhammad Rasul al-Nasir in a number of lines. Mint of Kurzuwan. 18mm, 2.24 grams. Tye 246.6.
Rare.
Mohamed Khwarezmshah was the most famous and powerful of the rulers of Khwarezm, though he is most known for his downfall and the story of the great expansion of Genghis Khan's Empire. In 1218, Genghis Khan sent some emissaries to the Shah, but when he executed the Mongol diplomats in defiance of the emerging great power, Genghis retaliated with a force of 200,000 men. In February 1220 the Mongolian army crossed the Syr Darya and launched the Mongol invasion of Central Asia. The Mongols stormed Bukhara, Samarkand, and the Khwarezmid capital Urgench. The Shah fled and died some weeks later on an island in the Caspian Sea.