Kingdom of Khwarazm

Origins

Khwarazm, or Chorasmia, grew from irrigation farming on the Amu Darya delta south of the Aral Sea. It appears as a province of the Achaemenid Empire under Darius I and seems to have regained independence by the 4th century BCE, when its king Pharasmanes offered alliance to Alexander the Great in 328 BCE.

Rule and society

Its economy rested on a dense canal network feeding wheat, cotton, vines and orchards, protected by walled settlements and fortresses such as Toprak-Kala, Koy-Krylgan-Kala and Ayaz-Kala. Kings issued their own silver coinage, and later Khwarazmian tradition traced their line to the hero Siyavush. Zoroastrian practice included bone burial in ossuaries, and the Khwarazmian language had its own Aramaic-derived script.

Decline and legacy

In the early 4th century CE the ancient royal house gave way to the Afrighid Khwarazm dynasty, which al-Biruni dates to 305. The Kushan Empire and Sasanians may have held loose overlordship at times. Khwarazm's distinct language and calendar survived until the Mongol era.