Expansion of the Mongol Empire
By 1206, Genghis Khan had succeeded in uniting all the Mongol tribes under his authority. But just as the Rashidun had experienced in the 7th Century (see Chapter 6), peace among the tribes resulted in a loss of income due to the prohibition regarding looting within the tribal federation. For both the Rashidun and the Mongols, the answer was to invade territory further afield.
As early as 1205, Temujin was conducting raids into the Tangut territory of the Chinese Western Xia, a region that straddles today’s Northwest China, Northeast Tibet and Southern Mongolia. Then, in 1209, he prepared for a full-scale invasion. Having no siege engines, his tactic was to cut the water supplies to the capital city of Yinchuan. Despite the fact that his own camp was flooded in the process, in January 1210, the Western Xia surrendered and became a vassal of the Mongols. As a mark of loyalty, the Tangut Emperor Li Anquan, gave his daughter in marriage to the Great Khan.
For decades the Jin dynasty of China had terrorized the Mongol tribes of the steppe by demanding exorbitant tribute and often capturing and enslaving the people. On one occasion, Emperor Xizong of the Jin ordered the crucifixion of Ambaghai, Khan of the Kamag Mongol. In 1210, when the new Jin Emperor, Wanyan Yongji, demanded the submission of the Mongols, Genghis Khan reportedly spat on the ground in disdain. Such an act was tantamount to a declaration of war.
In August 1211, the first of what became known as the Mongol-Jin Wars took place at the Battle of Yehuling in the Hebei Province of today’s China. The result was a resounding victory for the Mongols and the loss of thousands of Jin troops. Five years later, with the help of defecting Han troops and the Ongut tribes, Genghis seized the city of Zhongdu (today’s Beijing). The Onguts were Nestorian Christians and under the vassalage of the Jin, their task had been to guard the Great Wall. On this occasion, the Onguts sided with the Mongols and showed them a safe passage into Jin territory. Faced with the onslaught of the Mongols, the Jin abandoned the city of Zhongdu and consequently they were forced to move their capital to Kaifeng in the South.
Having defeated the Jin, the Mongols gained immense wealth. Apart from territory and tribute, the Great Khan now had access to engineers experienced in siege warfare, Chinese explosives, skilled artisans, scholars, doctors, musicians and merchants.
The next state to fall to the Mongols, in 1218, was the khanate of the Qara Khitai, a dynasty that had ruled a large part of Central Asia for almost a hundred years. By gaining the submission of the Qara Khitai, the Mongol Empire now stretched as far west as Lake Balkhash, which bordered the Khwarezmian Empire.
Conquest of the Khwarezmian Empire
At that time, the Khwarezmians ruled an area that roughly equated to today’s Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. The population was largely a mix of Persian peasants and merchants, while Turks represented the warrior and ruling class. The Empire was ruled by Shah Muhammad II of Khwarazm, who was unpopular with many of his subjects, particularly those who had only recently been subjugated and incorporated into his Empire.
Most importantly, Khwarezmia included a large stretch of the Silk Road, including the wealthy cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Urgench, which were all in today’s Uzbekistan and Merv, in modern Turkmenistan. Genghis Khan believed that trade with the Khwarezmians could provide income to help pay for his growing army. Hoping to secure a trade deal with the ruler, Genghis sent a delegation to meet the Shah in Samarkand. But the caravan carrying the delegates was intercepted by Inalchuq, governor of the city of Otrar, who suspected the presence of spies. Inachuq executed most of the Mongols and seized their goods. A second, smaller, delegation succeeded in gaining an audience with the Shah. But once more the Mongols were humiliated. One member of the delegation was beheaded by the Shah and he sent the head of the dead man back to the Great Khan.
It is generally accepted that Genghis Khan had never intended to conquer the Kharezmian Empire. He was simply motivated by a desire for trade. But after such humiliation, followed by several days praying to Tengri, the Great God of the Sky, for guidance, he decided to take his revenge.
In 1219, Genghis ordered his son Jochi, together with his general Jebe, to advance with an army of around 20,000 men, into the fertile Ferghana Valley and destroy all in their path. At the same time, another force of some 60,000, led by two of Genghis’s other sons, Chagatai and Ogedei, besieged the city of Otrar. The defenders held out for five months. The siege was finally broken when a traitor opened the gate for the Mongols. Streets were flattened to make way for the Mongol cavalry and remaining houses were burnt to the ground. Some reports claim that the governor, Inalchuq, was then executed by having molten silver poured into his eyes and ears.
Because the city had refused to submit, the majority of the population was massacred. An exception was made for artisans, who were sent back to Mongolia, where their skills would be put to good use. Young women and boys were also spared and either sold into slavery or given away to his troops as slaves. Some young men were forced into the Mongol army and often used as cannon fodder. They would be forced to march in front of the advancing army, clearing roads or digging ditches or simply being the first to face enemy fire as human shields. This was a pattern that the Mongols would use repeatedly in their marches of conquest.
In 1220, Genghis made for the city of Bukhara, which at that time was an important trading city and the cultural centre of the Eastern Islamic world. After a fifteen-day siege the city surrendered. It is said that Genghis made straight for the Grand Mosque, thinking that it was a palace. When the citizens gathered, he ordered them to bring fodder for his horses and he then proceeded to feed them in the mosque which was an act of sacrilege in the eyes of the Muslim faithful.
The next city to be conquered was Samarkand, the capital of the empire and seat of Shah Muhammad who had already fled with his family. After negotiations with the elders, Genghis agreed to spare the lives of 50,000 citizens in exchange for agreeing to open the gates.
From Samarkand, the Mongol troops advanced to Urgench, which was another wealthy trading city. Genghis had promised Urgench to his eldest son Jochi once it had been taken. However, the battle for Urgench proved to be the most difficult of all the Central Asian cities to conquer. Being built along the river Amu Darya, the land was marshy, which made siege warfare difficult. Furthermore, the citizens put up a good fight and the Mongols were forced into hand-to-hand street fighting. Being more used to fighting on the move from their swift horses, they found themselves at a disadvantage. Their problems were further exacerbated by disagreements among the brothers. While Jochi wanted to keep as much of the city intact, since it was to be his inheritance, Chagatai favoured the usual Mongol tactic of laying it waste. Genghis settled the matter by putting his other son, Ogedei, in charge. According to the Persian historian Juvayni, over a million citizens of Urgench were executed, making it one of the bloodiest massacres in history.
It was around this time that Genghis Khan nominated his son Ogedei to succeed him as Great Khan. Then, having conquered the Khwarazmian Empire, Genghis sent his generals Jebe and Subutai further West into the Caucasus. They invaded Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Crimea, Kievan Rus and Volga Bulgaria. In 1225, the generals returned to Mongolia. They had acquired valuable information about the political and cultural life of the Eurasian steppe. Above all, the region north of the Danube contained rich pastures that the Mongols envisaged as ripe for future conquest.
As the Mongol conquest moved further West, the people of Europe were beginning to hear about these warlike invaders from the East. It was even speculated that Genghis Khan might have been the fabled Prester John, thought by some to be the ruler of the Eastern Nestorian Church, or King David of India. It was reported that in 1221, the Latin Bishop of Acre had received news that an army from the East was sweeping across Central Asia, conquering Islamic lands in the process. The army was heading towards Baghdad and Christians in the Levant hoped that Prester John would eventually liberate Jerusalem following its reconquest by Saladin in 1187. Since Genghis had always taken a very tolerant attitude towards Christians, and had Christian wives, the theory is not entirely without foundation.
Genghis Khan’s last years
While his generals were invading the Caucasus, Genghis led the main army through Afghanistan towards Mongolia. Once he had gathered all his forces together, Genghis planned to deal with some unfinished business in China. When he had earlier turned his attention to the Khwarezmia Empire in the west, he had asked the Tanguts, who were his vassals, to join him in the conquest. Not only did the Tanguts refuse, but they allied with the Chinese Jin and Song dynasties against the Mongols. Now, Genghis’s response to this act of disloyalty was brutal. He ordered the systematic destruction of all Tangut cities and farmland, as well as the massacre of civilians.
In 1225, with an army of 180,000 the Mongols swept into the Tangut territory of Western Xia destroying all garrisons, cities and towns in his wake. It is estimated that by the time the capital city of Yinchuan finally fell in 1227, some six million Tangut had died. The result was the annihilation of the Tangut people. According to John Man (Genghis Khan: life, death and resurrection, 2005), this was possibly the first case of systematic genocide in history.
Genghis Khan had reaped his revenge but he had died in the process. The exact cause of his death is clouded in mystery, other than it happened during the battle for Yinchuan in August 1227. He was 64 years old and it is possible that he died from war injuries or fell from his horse. His body was taken for burial at his birth place in the Kentii Mountains. The exact location was kept a secret.
Just before Genghis died in, 1227, he divided the Mongol Empire between his four sons. Jochi, the eldest, received territory in the northeast of what was Russia. But since Jochi died a few months before Genghis, his territory was further divided into khanates that eventually became known as the Golden Horde. Chagatai, the second son, was given the region of Central Asia and Northern Iran, which became known as the Chagatai Khanate. Ogedei, the third son, succeeded Genghis as the Great Khan and inherited the eastern part of the Empire including China, which would later become the Yuan Dynasty ruled by Kublai Khan. The fourth son, Tolui, inherited the smallest region of the Mongol homeland.
Hulagu and the Siege of Baghdad, 1258
In 1255, Hulagu was commissioned by his brother Mongke, the Great Khan, to gain the submission of, or conquer, all Islamic lands in southwest Asia. These included the Nizari Ismailis and especially their Assassin hideout of Alamut (see Chapter Seven), the Abbasids in Baghdad, the Ayyubids in Syria and the Mamluks in Egypt. Controversy remains over whether or not Mongke ordered Hulagu to overthrow the Abbasid Caliphate, or simply gain its submission, together with a troop levy.
In preparation for the campaign, one tenth of all fighting men throughout the Mongol Empire were conscripted to Hulagu’s army, which was then complemented by troops from the Christian kingdoms of Armenia, Georgia and the Frankish crusader kingdom of Antioch, all of which viewed the Islamic world as enemy territory. With the addition of a further 1,000 Chinese artillery experts and sappers, the total number made it perhaps the largest Mongol army ever assembled.
Hulagu’s first target was the Assassin fortress of Alamut. As early as 1253, Kitbuqa Noyan, who was a Nestorian Christian of the Naiman tribe, and a general in Hulagu’s army, had attempted to eradicate the Assassins in response to their repeated attacks on the Mongols. However, in 1256, the Assassins finally surrendered to Hulagu’s vast army. The Grand Master was executed, the fortress destroyed and the majority of the surviving Assassins sought refuge in Syria.
Hulagu’s next move was to send a message to Al-Musta’sim, the Caliph of the Abbasids, setting out the terms of submission demanded by Mongke. When these were rejected by the Caliph, Hulagu began his march towards Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasids and the symbolic centre of the Islamic world.
By the middle of January, 1258, Hulagu’s army was camped on both sides of the Tigris on the outskirts of Baghdad. Neither the Ayyubids of Syria nor the Mamluks of Egypt were in a position to come to the aid of Baghdad because both powers were preparing their own defense against the advancing Mongols. The Abbasids were totally unprepared for the onslaught. Compared to the Mongols, their army was ill-equipped and undisciplined. The only option left to the Caliph was to mount a cavalry force of 20,000 but this was quickly wiped out.
On the 29th January, with the aid of siege engines and catapults, the Mongols laid siege to the city. By the 5th February, the walls had been breached. Attempts by the Caliph and his senior advisers to negotiate with Hulagu failed and on the 10th February, the city finally surrendered.
What followed was a disaster, not only for Baghdad and the Abbasid Caliphate, but for the whole Islamic world. After being forced to watch his citizens being massacred, Al-Musta’sim was executed by being rolled in a blanket and trampled on by horses. The number of men, women and children killed by Hulagu’s forces were said to be anywhere from 90,000 to two million. But the greatest non-human catastrophe was the destruction of so much Islamic cultural heritage for which Baghdad was famous.
Mosques, libraries and academic institutions were completely destroyed. The famous House of Wisdom, also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad, was burnt to the ground and its most precious collection of books, dating back to the 8thCentury, was thrown into the Tigris. Not only had the Grand Library provided a place of study for some of the greatest Islamic scholars, but the institution had been the primary centre for the translation of works on philosophy, medicine, mathematics, science and astronomy, from the Greek language into Arabic.
Not only was the city of Baghdad virtually depopulated by Hulagu’s troops, but the canals, which for centuries had provided vital irrigation, were also destroyed. This was to have a disastrous effect on agriculture in the area for many years to come.
Hulagu’s Christian wife successfully pleaded for the lives of the Christians of Baghdad to be spared. Consequently, the Caliph’s palace was given to the Nestorian Catholicos, who then went on to build a cathedral.
The sacking of Baghdad has been seen by historians as marking the end of the ‘golden age’ of Islam. It was certainly a watershed in Islamic history and it marked a shift in the symbolic importance of the Caliphate from Baghdad to Cairo.
Decline of the Mongols
Having defeated the Abbasids, Hulagu turned his attention to Syria where the Ayyubids held power. His allied force, that now included Christians from Cilicia, first captured Aleppo. By March 1260, they had also taken Damascus, where a Christian mass was held in the historic Umayyad mosque.
Hulagu’s next target was to be the Mamluk dynasty in Cairo. However, because the Levant produced insufficient fodder for his horses, he moved the bulk of his army back into Azerbaijan for the summer months, leaving behind a small force of 20,000 under the leadership of his general Kitquba. Hulagu then had to return to Mongolia in order to attend the kurultai, the traditional succession council following the death of his brother Mongke Khan.
When the Mamluk Sultan Qutuz realized how few Mongols remained in the Levant, he seized the opportunity to attack them with his own well-equipped and well-disciplined force. He was also joined by another Mamluk leader named Baibars, who had been in Damascus when the city fell to the Mongols. Faced with the threat from the Mamluks, Kitquba attempted an alliance with the Christian Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem, which at that time was based in Acre. But he was thwarted by the fact that such a Franco-Mongol alliance had been forbidden by the Pope.
Although the Mamluks were traditional enemies of the Crusader kingdoms, they permitted the Sultan’s troops to march unmolested northwards through their territory towards Acre. At the same time, the Mongols were marching southwards from Damascus. The two armies met in the September of 1260 and engaged at the Battle of Ain Jalut, in southeast Galilee near Nazareth. After many hours of hard combat, the Mamluks, largely under the leadership of Baibars, won the day. It was to be the first serious defeat that the Mongols had suffered and marked the end of middle of the 20th Century.
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The above is an extract from A History of Central Asia
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