Khwarazm is a large oasis region in Central Asia, located to the south of the former Aral Sea. The region was originally inhabited by Iranians, and it was conquered by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great before his death in 530 BC. In 328 BC, Khwarazm offered friendship to the Macedonian king Alexander the Great, and it was largely independent during the Seleucid, Bactrian, and Parthian empires. However, the Sassanid emperor Bahram II conquered Khwarazm during the late 3rd century AD, and it fell to the Afrighids in 295 AD and the Ghaznavids during the 10th century. During the 12th century, the Khwarazmian Empire rose to power, and it was conquered by the Mongols under Genghis Khan in 1220, and later became the Khanate of Kiva before being annexed to the Russian Empire in 1873. The area was Turkicized under Muslim rule, and most of it currently belongs to Uzbekistan, while it is also partially owned by Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.