Iraq and Azerbaijan after the Collapse of the Seljukids

Abstract

After the destruction ofIraq Seljukid state by Harezmşah Tekiş in 1194, its former territories (Irak-ı Acem) were first occupied by the Harezmşahs and then by the Abbasid armies. Apart from these two powers, the Azerbaijan Atabegs, who had maintained control over the Iraqi Seljuks for about five decades, intervened and attempted to prevent their occupation. Irak-ı Acem thus became a battleground among these powers and its cities were plundered, destroyed during the power struggles. As the historians of the period clearly attest, the inhabitants of the ruined Irak-ı Acem longed for die secure Seljukid rule.