الوقعة التي أفنت الخطا

Ibn al-Athir, in al-Kamil, reports that in 604 AH the remnant of the Qara Khitai gathered under their king, when a large group of Tatars under their king Kushlu Khan heard what the Khwarazm Shah had done to the Khitai, and marched against them. ¹

The king of the Khitai sent to the Khwarazm Shah asking for his help, and Kushlu Khan also sent asking for his aid against the Khitai. The Khwarazm Shah answered each of them that he was with them, and he marched until he camped near the place of battle, so that each group thought he was with it. ¹

The Khitai and the Tatars engaged, and the Khitai suffered a great defeat. The Khwarazm Shah turned upon them, killing, taking captives and plundering. Only a small group survived, who took refuge with their king in a place surrounded by mountains, and some of them joined his army. ¹

Kushlu Khan asked to divide the lands of the Khitai, and the Khwarazm Shah replied that he had nothing for him except the sword. Kushlu Khan wrote to him that this was the act of thieves, not of kings. The Khwarazm Shah ordered the people of Shash, Farghana, Isfijab and Kasan to evacuate to the lands of Islam, and he laid waste to them, fearing that the Tatars would take them. Then other Tatars, under their king Genghis Khan, rose against Kushlu Khan, and he was occupied with them instead of the Khwarazm Shah, so he crossed the river into Khurasan. ¹