Editing History of Turkmenistan (section)

== Mongols and Timurids ==
In 1157, the rule of Seljuks dynasty came to an end in the province of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]]. The Turkic rulers of Khiva took control of the area of Turkmenistan, under the title of [[Khwarazmshah]]s in 1221, central Asia suffered a disastrous invasion by [[Mongol]] warriors who swept across the region from their base in eastern Asia.

[[File:Timurid Dynasty 821 - 873 (AH).png|right|thumb|Map of the Timurid Empire]]

Under their commander, [[Genghis Khan]], founder of the [[Mongol Empire]], the [[Mongols]] conquered [[Khwarezm]] and burned the city of Merv to the ground. The Mongol leader ordered the massacre of Merv's inhabitants as well as the destruction of the province's farms and irrigation works which effectively ended the Iranian dominance in urban areas and agricultural communities of khwarezm. These areas were soon repopulated by the Turkmen who survived the invasion and had retreated northward to the plains of Kazakhstan or westward to the shores of the Caspian Sea. After the [[division of the Mongol Empire]], present Turkmenistan was passed to [[Chagatai Khanate]] except southernmost part was belonged to [[Ilkhanate]].

Small, semi-independent states arose under the rule of the region's tribal chiefs later in the 14th century. In the 1370s, Amir [[Timur]] (also known as Tamerlane), one of the greatest conquerors in human history, captured Turkmen states once more and established the short lived [[Timurid Empire]], which collapsed after Timur's death in 1405, when Turkmens became independent once again.