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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 3443345, member: 81887&quot;]I&#039;ve been pretty quiet the past few months due to some medical issues, which are getting better now, so hopefully I will have more time to spend on this board.&nbsp; Here&#039;s one of several coins I purchased in January but haven&#039;t had a chance to research and post until now:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]914329[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Khwarezmshahs.&nbsp; Kurzuwam mint. Ala ad-Din Muhammad (1200-1220 AD).&nbsp; AE jital (13 mm, 2.69 g).&nbsp; Obverse: Elephant facing right.&nbsp; Reverse: Inscription.&nbsp; Tye 228.2, Album 1735.1.&nbsp; This coin: Purchased from [USER=96898]@Orielensis[/USER] .</p><p><br /></p><p>The Khwarezmshahs or Khwarezm Dynasty were a major power in Persia and Central Asia from the late 11th to early 13th centuries AD. The dynasty was originally of Turkic origin but adapted Persian culture. Their last powerful ruler, Ala ad-Din Muhammad, took power in 1200 AD and defeated two other major states, the Kharakhanids and the Ghorids, greatly increasing his own territory. By around 1220, the Khwarezm domains were quite extensive:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]914332[/ATTACH] </p><p>(map taken from Wikipedia under a Creative Commons license)</p><p><br /></p><p>In 1218 AD, Genghis Khan sent a trade mission to the Khwarezm domains. However, the governor of the town of Otrar branded the ambassadors as spies, confiscated their goods, and executed them. Genghis Khan demanded reparations, which Ala ad-Din Muhammad refused to pay. Genghis Khan reacted in his usual fashion: launching a massive military campaign and killing huge numbers of people. In 1219 he destroyed the major Khwarezm city of Bukhara, and in 1220 the capital of Samarkand. Ala ad-Din Muhammad fled, pursued by a small Mongol force, and died on a small island in the Caspian Sea shortly afterwards. The Mongols proceeded to capture and destroy other cities in the former Khwarezm lands, including the city of Kurzuwan in 1221.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ala ad-Din Muhammad issued a number of different coin types; Steve Album lists this variety as Scarce on his rarity scale.&nbsp; I like this coin as a reminder of an empire at the height of its power, right before its precipitous fall.&nbsp; Please post your related coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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