Conflicts & Resolutions · Battle

Battle of Qatwan

1141 · 12th century

The Battle of Qatwan was fought in 1141 near Samarkand, where the Qara Khitai, a Buddhist Sinicised steppe power, defeated the Seljuk sultan Ahmad Sanjar. The defeat destroyed Seljuk authority in Central Asia. It fatally undermined Sanjar's prestige and contributed to the decline of the Seljuk Empire.

Battle of Qatwan
Image: SY · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 profiles

Seljuk EmpireDeclineKara-Khanid KhanateDecline

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Battle of Qatwan. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/battle-of-qatwan
MLA
“Battle of Qatwan.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/battle-of-qatwan. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Battle of Qatwan.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/battle-of-qatwan.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Battle of Qatwan’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/battle-of-qatwan (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻