The Kwarazam-Shahs ruled Khwarazam, south of the Aral Sea, as provincial governors from the 4th century AD into the Islamic period. In the early 10th century they came under the control of the Samanid rulers of Transoxania, and at times different branches of the dynasty had control of the main cities of Khwarazam: Gurganj, Kath and Hazarasp. In the early 11th century the Kwarazam-Shahs’ court at Gurganj was an important centre of learning, attracting mathematicians, philosophers and renowned men of medicine.

In 1017 the Kwarazam-Shahs were overpowered by the Ghaznavid dynasty, whose leaders wished to expand westwards from their territories in Afghanistan and India. The short-lived period of Ghaznavid domination came to an end when the Great Seljuks incorporated Kwarazam into their empire in 1042. After a hiatus of 50 years, the title ‘Kwarazam-Shah’ was revived and assigned to Seljuk governors in Kwarazam.

The most brilliant period of the dynasty was 1097-1231 when Kwarazamian sovereignty extended to the eastern Caspian region and eventually over the former Seljuk territories of Iran. Despite the extent of this empire the Kwarazam-Shahs miscalculated the power of the Mongols, who pursued the last Kwarazam-Shah across central Asia and Iran until he was finally murdered in 1231 near Amida in Anatolia.