Ala al-Din Tekish

{{Short description|Shah of the Khwarazmian empire (r. 1172–1200 CE)}}

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Ala al-Din Tekish

| title =

| image = KonyeUrgenchMausoleum.jpg

| caption = Tekish's mausoleum, Kone-Urgench, Turkmenistan

| birth_date = Konye-Urgench

| birth_place =

| death_date = 3 July 1200{{Cite journal|author=Muhammad Abdul Ghafur|url=https://www.google.com.tw/books/edition/Journal_of_the_Asiatic_Society_of_Pakist/xOM5AQAAIAAJ?hl=zh-TW&gbpv=1&bsq=Shah++3++August+1200&dq=Shah++3++August+1200&printsec=frontcover|title=〈The Relation of the Ghurids with the Caliph〉|journal=《Journal of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan》|location=Islamic Republic of Pakistan|publisher=Asiatic Society of Pakistan|year=1964|volume=9|issue=2|pages=115|language=en|quote=However , the political purpose of the Caliph was well served by the Ghurid . Khwarizm Shah could not undertake the risk of advancing to Baghdad leaving at the rear a powerful enemy like the Ghurid . Takash died on 12 Ramadan 596 , July 3 , 1200 and his son Muhammad was proclaimed Khwarizm Shah on August 3 , 1200 A. D.}}

| death_place =

| place of burial =

| full name = Laqab: Ala al-Din (shortly)
Kunya: Abul-Muzaffar
Given name: Tekish

| father = Il-Arslan

| mother = Terken Khatun

| spouse = Terken Khatun
Inanj Khatun
Fulana Khatun

| issue = Ala ad-Din Muhammad
Taj ad-Din Ali-Shah
Yunus-Khan
Toghan-Toghdi
Malik-Shah
Princess Shah-Khatun

| reign = 11 December 1172 – 3 July 1200

| coronation = 11 December 1172{{Cite book|author1=Michal Biran|editor=|title=《Empire Qara Khitai Eurasian History: Between China and the Islamic World》|location=United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=21 August 2008|pages=56|ISBN=978-0521066020|accessdate=|url=https://www.google.com.tw/books/edition/The_Empire_of_the_Qara_Khitai_in_Eurasia/B934LaVBaz8C?hl=zh-TW&gbpv=1&dq=11+December+1172+Tekish&pg=PA56&printsec=frontcover|language=en|quote=Tekish entered Khwārazm and was enthroned as Khwārazm Shāh on December 11 , 1172. }}{{Cite book |author=Mohammad Habib|author-link=Mohammad Habib|chapter=THE KHWARAZMIAN EMPIRE|editor1=Mohammad Habib |editor2=Khaliq Ahmad Nizami |title=A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526) |volume=5 |edition=Second |year=1992 |publisher=The Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_9cmAQAAMAAJ|page=41|oclc=31870180}}

| succession = Shah of the Khwarazmian Empire

| othertitles =

| predecessor = Il-Arslan

| successor = Muhammad II

| regent = Terken Khatun

| house = House of Anushtegin

| religion = Sunni Islam

}}

Ala al-Din Tekish (Persian: علاء الدين تكش; full name: Ala ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Abul Muzaffar Tekish ibn Il-Arslan) or Tekesh or Takesh was the Shah of Khwarazmian Empire from 1172 to 1200. He was the son of Il-Arslan. His rule was contested by his brother, Sultan Shah, who held a principality in Khorasan. Tekish inherited Sultan Shah's state after he died in 1193. In Turkic, the name Tekish means he who strikes in battle.[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tekis-b-il-arslan "TEKIŠ B. IL ARSLĀN"] Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 30 August 2014

In 1194, Tekish defeated the Seljuk sultan of Hamadan, Toghrul III, in an alliance with Caliph Al-Nasir, and conquered his territories. After the war, he broke with the Caliphate and was on the brink of a war with it until the Caliph accepted him as Sultan of Iran, Khorasan, and Turkestan in 1198.

He died of a peritonsillar abscess in 1200Juvaini, Ala-ad-Din Ata-Malik, History of the World Conqueror, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1997. p. 314. and was succeeded by his son, Ala ad-Din Muhammad.