In Diyarbakır, the studies of academics who came to new information that Celaleddin Harzemşah’s grave was in the Silvan district in October 2021 were reflected in the press.
Previously, it was determined that the tomb of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Kılıçarslan I was in Silvan, and concrete data were obtained as a result of the excavations. It is noted that the burial of Kılıçarslan I and Celaleddin Harzemşah has a different meaning in Silvan, which is fixed by historical sources, where many rulers are buried.
Kılıçarslan I defended Anatolia against the crusaders and wrote his name in history with great heroism. Celaleddin Harzemşah is the first person that comes to mind when it comes to the fight against the Mongols.
Celaleddin Harzemşah, who resisted the Mongols who destroyed the Islamic world, spoiled the invincibility image of the Mongols and therefore became the enemies that the Mongols most wanted to eliminate.
Celaleddin Harzemşah, when his father Alaaddin Muhammed could not stand against the Mongol invasion and retreated, gathered soldiers among the wreckage of the Harzemşah State and after his victory against the Mongols, he was defeated in the war with Genghis Khan and took refuge in India. Despite all the negativities, he re-established dominance in the lands of Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia and kept the Kharzemshah State alive until 1231.
When he lost his army after the war with the Anatolian Seljuks and Ayyubids, the Mongols took advantage of this opportunity and sent an army to eliminate him. Celaleddin, who was trying to get rid of the Mongol pursuit, planned to form an alliance with the Ayyubids or to reach Isfahan and defeat the Mongols with the soldiers he would collect. However, he was attacked by the Mongols near Diyarbakir and killed in the mountain range near the Hazro district of Diyarbakir.
While it is obvious in the sources that Celaleddin Harzemşah was buried in Silvan, as a result of the researches, records showing the burial place of Celaleddin Harzemşah were found in a very important history book that was overlooked. Reaching this information, academics focused on the subject. In the researches, many aspects were investigated, especially the reliability of the information, the reliability of the author who conveyed the information, and the compatibility of the information with other sources, and an article was published on this subject.
“WE WILL MEET WITH TURKEY”
Finding the burial place of Celaleddin Harzemşah aroused great excitement in Uzbekistan. Uzbek authorities, who closely followed the researches carried out to find the burial place of Celaleddin Harzemşah, whom the Uzbek people consider to be their ancestor, attended the Silvan and Sultan Kılıçarslan I Symposium and expressed their excitement. Academicians who carried out this study in May 2022, Assoc. Dr. Oktay Bozan and Dr. Arafat Yaz was invited to Uzbekistan. Studies of academics participating in field research in Uzbekistan were announced to the public of Uzbekistan through conferences and television programs. After this stage, reports were prepared for excavations at the burial site in both Uzbekistan and Turkey and submitted to the relevant authorities.
The news that would please the academics and Uzbek authorities who wanted an excavation to be carried out in the designated place of Silvan, which is a historical city and where historical buildings are damaged more than other cities, and a tomb to be built if no remains are found, was personally expressed by the President of Uzbekistan. President Şevket Mirziyoyev, speaking at the opening of the statue of Celaleddin Harzemşah in Uzbekistan, said that the burial place of Celaleddin Harzemşah, a very important figure in the history of the people of Uzbekistan, was determined in Silvan and that they wanted to build a tomb here in agreement with the authorities in Turkey.
While the ties between Turkey and Uzbekistan are expected to be strengthened with the tomb, which is intended to be built to embody the memory of Celaleddin Harzemşah, it is also stated that the historical identity of Silvan will come to the fore with the tombs of these two distinguished rulers.