ANUSHTEGINID FOREIGN POLICY AND THE IDEOLOGICAL WAR WITH THE ABBASID CALIPHATE (A CASE STUDY OF THE ERA OF KHWARAZMSHAH ALAUDDIN MUHAMMAD)

Abstract

This article examines a critical juncture in the foreign policy of the Anushteginid (Khwarazmian) dynasty: the escalating conflict between Sultan Ala al-Din Muhammad (r. 1200–1220) and the Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir li-Din Allah (r. 1180–1225). Employing a qualitative, historical-critical methodology, this study investigates how a geopolitical rivalry for regional hegemony transformed into an unprecedented ideological war. The Results section delineates the key stages of this policy, including the discovery of the Caliph's anti-Khwarazmian intrigues, the Sultan's subsequent use of "fatwa diplomacy" to delegitimize the Abbasid caliphate, and the ambitious but failed project to install a rival "anti-caliph." The Discussion analyzes the strategic implications of this radical foreign policy, arguing that while it represented the apex of Anushteginid imperial ambition, it ultimately proved catastrophic. By instigating a schism within the leadership of the Dar al-Islam, Sultan Muhammad undermined his own spiritual legitimacy and precipitated the profound diplomatic isolation of his empire. The article concludes that this internal fracture was a decisive factor that crippled the potential for a united Islamic response, thereby creating a vacuum of authority that facilitated the devastating success of the subsequent Mongol invasions.