Though the battle could have been propagated as a technical victory by the Khwarezmian Empire, the Shah spread the word that he was not involved in the battle, and that he did not authorise the battle. The Shah was deeply shaken by the ferocity and fighting spirit of the Mongol army. As Juvayni reports, modern historians consider this battle the reason the Shah decided against an open field battle against the Mongols when the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia started. The Khwarezmian propaganda about the Shah not being present at the battle allowed Genghis Khan not to construe the Khwarezmian offensive as a personal insult and considered the battle inconsequential. However, Genghis Khan was forced to wage war against the Khwarezmian empire as the word of the way the Shah treated the Mongol ambassadors before the battle arrived and spread in the Mongol Empire.