In a scenario where Temujin’s empire is strangled in the cradle, say through a devastating civil war during his lifetime, how might Khwarezm develop? I am aware that its hold over Iran was very tenuous, and that more likely than not some other steppe empire would eventually overrun it altogether. However, how long might it last as the pre-eminent Persian nation sans Mongols, and how well developed might its core Khorasani territories become before its eventual fall? How much better off would the region be in the long run, even in general terms?