The Abode of the Jackal: Gurganj (Genghis Khan's Conquest of the Khwarezm Empire)

huh [Music] so [Music] [Music] by 1218 two great empires were set for a showdown one was genghis khan's mongol empire which had conquered much of central asia and northern china the other was the kingdom of the kharazam the most powerful empire in the muslim world corazon was a regional power that became an empire when allah al-din teckish defeated togo the third the last great sultan of the seljuk empire corazon was wealthy and controlled the silk road to the cities of samarkand bukhara gargange cogen mirv and nishapur however it was a kingdom torn by social tension although nearly everyone was muslim most were more loyal to their tribe than the state many newly conquered regions chaffed under the empire's rule allah al-din muhammad ii was the shah of the corazon he was emotionally erratic cruel and notorious for his alcoholism and promiscuity of his personal weaknesses he was a highly regarded warrior and an accomplished commander he spent nearly every year of his reign on campaign from 1200 to 1217 he quadrupled the size of his domains he called himself allah's shadow on earth and styled himself the second coming of alexander the great he dreamed of recreating the persian empire of antiquity and concentrated his efforts on conquering iran and extending his realm to the persian gulf to that end in 1217 he tried to take baghdad but a blizzard prevented him from crossing the zagros mountains genghis khan was a mongol chieftain originally named temujin he distinguished himself by his mastery of step warfare and diplomacy he promoted men based on merit and was able to unify the step tribes of the promise of great riches and by creating a disciplined army jengas was charismatic practical and commanded the loyalty of his men however years of hard living as a youth scraping by on the step made genghis vengeful when his favorite grandson modigan died at the siege of bamiyan jengas executed every person animal in the city jengas believed in terror tactics and annihilating enemy armies and leaders ali al-din and jengas came into contact with the collapse of the kara kitai a central asian kingdom karakitai had lost a series of wars with the kharazam and were ruled by kuchlug a usurper cotchlock was a member of the naamans a mostly christian tribe that had challenged genghis's unification of the mongolian tribes kutchlok had managed to raise an army and then seized the karakatai throne possibly with the aid of allah al-din khatlag however was ruthless untrustworthy and was considered a superb warrior when he challenged allah al-din to personal combat the shah declined however kuchlag did not like muslims who made up most of his subjects and wanted them to convert to buddhism or christianity when he levied heavy taxes many of the muslim cities rebelled kutchlag responded with reprisals jengas having conquered much of northern china sent jebe nguyen with a small army to defeat kuchlug the campaign was a stunning success and ended with kutzlog's decapitated head being paraded around karakitai with the quick conquest of caricatai he brought the mongols in direct contact with khorazam allah al-din though desired the wealthy karakatai lands believing that he alone should rule over his fellow muslims allah al-din might have felt betrayed that his fellow muslims had readily embraced the mongols when they instituted religious toleration the mongols for their part did not want war with the kharazam jengas wanted a healthy trade relationship with corazon in particular to secure clothing and grain while he fought the jin dynasty in china a delegation laden with gifts was sent to al alden's court among the offerings was a hunk of gold the size of a camel's hump jengas's message for the shah was i am the sovereign of the sunrise and though the sovereign of the sun set let there be a between us a fair treaty of friendship amity and peace and let traitors and caravans on both sides come and go ala al-din though was enraged when he found out that jengas addressed him as dear son which was a subordinate position he agreed to trade but relations were tense soon after a trade caravan made up of muslims and genghis's service arrived at the corazon border city of otrar they were arrested as spies by analchuk the city's commander after some deliberation and naochuk massacred the trade caravan although if he acted on his own or under orders remains unknown in addition part of the mogul army had encountered and fought al-alden at the urdish river which was north of kharazam al-al-din won only a pyrrhic victory but is intrusion into an area that jenga saw as part of his sphere of influence could not have been well received genghis khan reacted by sending ibm khafraj bogara and two mongols to meet with allah al-din khafraj was a muslim who had previously served korazam and he seemed the perfect man to avoid war he requested that a nalchuk be turned over for punishment however anal chuck was al alden's uncle and such a move would both upset his family and be a sign of weakness while he could not acquiesce to mongol demands al al-din overreacted he had the mongols heads burnt off a humiliating act in their culture khafraj was executed allah al-din's execution of muslims in the service of jengas was likely a means to assert his dominance over the muslim population allah al-din saw himself as the instrument of allah and this action served notice to any muslim who would fight for jenga's khan this likely worried the great khan as islam was one of the major religions in the mongol horde particularly after the fall of the karakitai in addition trade to the west was now effectively blocked by corazon al alden's action threatened mongol unity finances and pride and had to be answered genghis khan was enraged when he heard of khafraj's death he took the bulk of his army west to crush kharazam mukhlai one of jenga's most trusted and intelligent commanders remained in china to continue the war with the jinn mukulai's army had few mongols and relied mostly upon chinese troops over the years he expanded mog control in northern china and was noted for his restraint as he often avoided massacring his enemies more importantly he prevented the jinn from capitalizing on the absence of the main mongol horde as it rode west for a time awa al-din considered fighting the mongol army as he had more troops and many were veterans of previous wars others advised him to withdraw towards iran and strike back after the mongols had exhausted themselves instead he decided the best way to defeat the mongols was to garrison his armies in the cities in transoxanya and kurasan which were his border provinces al alden viewed the mongols as undisciplined murderers he had heard reports of mongolian cruelty in china and tales of women leaping off of buildings to avoid being raped al-alden also knew they were good at winning field battles and terrorizing their foes but he assumed they were not capable of sustained siege warfare [Music] the mongol army of 1219 was a fearsome machine in general jengas and his lieutenants had taken an already capable military machine and improved on its weaknesses step hordes of generations past were undisciplined and had a hard time capturing cities and were weakened by inter-tribal bickering in contrast with step hordes of the past mongol armies were disciplined and well organized jenga's khan improved siege tactics and used chinese engineers to capture cities by 1219 the mongols were adept at taking cities in addition the mongols had a first-rate communication service that allowed for information and orders to be conveyed faster than any other army up to that time lastly mongol armies were expected to pursue their enemies until they were destroyed rather than waste time looting enemy camps the feign retreat was used to destroy armies foolish enough to give chase arrow fire was delivered in massive volumes and was the main weapon as mongols were not particularly great in close combat by 1219 the mongol horde was the most powerful military force in the world the corazon military was experienced and capable but not as proficient as the mongols khara's arm relied on heavy cavalry with infantry as support the kumon kipchaks a nomadic confederation lent many warriors to the shah's army a malicious system was in place to ensure every city had a garrison corazon was one of the last empires outside of india to use war elephants on a large scale the major weakness in the army was its various factions al alden's mother turkin cartoon was known for being strong-willed and independent she often defied her son's orders and was allied with many of the turkish troops who were recognized as the best warriors in the army if kharzom had any chance of survival it'd be due to inspired leadership and the army contained a variety of talented and hard hard-fighting commanders such as temior malik and in-law chuck jalal ad-din ming birnu one of allah al-din's sons was brave charismatic and a good commander jalal adan advised his father to mass his army on the border and fight the mongols head on instead al-alden fled to balk in the south and there seems to have been no overall commander in transoxanya when the mongol horde appeared each city would fight a separate war many cities had only recently been conquered by al alden so their defenses were poor and their people not as willing to fight after a great march across central asia the mongols emerged on the border ochar fell after a five-month siege some of the men resisted from a citadel for another month but that too was captured after a ferocious fight in which the defenders took to the roof and threw bricks at the mongols and alchuk was brought before jengas who watched as molten silver was poured into his eyes and ears the survivors of otra were enslaved and the city was destroyed it has remained uninhabited since 1220. during the siege of ochar genghis khan divided his army he sent his oldest son jochi to clean out the sardaria river the other two sons chagatai and ogiday were to oversee the siege of otrar jengas and his youngest son toliyu would move on bukhara and samarkand crossing the kill's ilkoon desert in february 12 20. in striking fast from so many directions the mongols took the karazhan garrisons by surprise particularly since the kisilkum desert was considered impassable by any large army the standing orders were that cities and towns that resisted would be raised those who surrendered would be spared bukhara home to one of the grandest libraries in the world resisted and was sacked most of its population was enslaved or forced into the army jengas told the city's elite i am the scourge of god if you had not committed great sins god would not have sent a punishment like me genghis reinforced by chagatai and ogiday moved to summer camp the greatest city in karazhan when much of the city's garrison defected to the mongols genghis khan had them massacred believing that men who were not loyal to their empire could never be trusted in reaction al-al-din fled west towards the caspian sea jenga sent an army led by jabay and subidi his two greatest commanders to pursue the shah the pair though did not catch him and allah al-din died of an unknown illness on a small island in the bay of astrabad spending his last days in despair as he wasted away he told his heir jalal addin endeavor to take me to for from thence was the commencement of our dominion meanwhile jabay and subudai did capture most of the royal family at manzadaran jengas had the men of the family executed and the women distributed to sex slaves and captives turken cartoon was sent to mongolia to spend the rest of her life as a prisoner the great city of gergange was the next target of genghis's fury it was a major trading center supported by a network of canals and irrigation which drew from the amudaria river from 1077 to 1212 gargange was the capital of the karazhan the people were loyal to kharazam and therefore more willing to fight in the other cities the army defending the city was large and among the cream of the empire tamir malik who commanded troops in the area rallied the defenders and re-took john kent winning one of the few karazhan victories of the war if gergange was not taken kharazam might be revitalized jalal aden came to the city buried his father and told the people that he was the new shah however much of the corazon elite preferred the weaker brother uzlog shah jalal adin fearing for his life fled with timmy or malik the two best commanders in corazon were gone which did not bode well for the city uzlog shah also left the city only to be captured and decapitated by the mongols who parade his head around corazon kumar tegan a local commander assumed the title of sultan and made gargange his capital jenga sent his sons ogiday and chagatai to attack the city they would be joined by jochi who would come from the north in total some 50 000 men would be committed to gargange jochi was jenga's oldest son and considered a good commander he was also a renowned hunter and fathered many children however he did not approve of his father's liberal use of terror tactics when he captured the murkett chieftain kolkatan murgan he was impressed by his skill as an archer jochie asked his father if kokotun mergen could join his retinue in response jenga said for an enemy of the state there is no better place than the grave more importantly there were persistent rumors that jochi was not a true born son but a product of rape jengas accepted jochi as his own although jochi's name meant guest jochi's possible market parentage in his attempt to show clemency towards some captured markets likely added to the suspicion that he was not a true mongol chagatai was genghis second son he was stern rigid and was noted for his hatred of muslims he often accused jochi of being a bastard possibly to ensure that he became genghis's heir ogidai was the third son in a study in contradictions although charismatic and charming he could on occasion be blunt and insulting he was a heavy drinker and while mostly affable his anger was legendary he was apparently genghis's favorite son and considered the most intelligent of the brothers he was among the first to favor world conquest it is not clear if jenga's succession had been decided before the siege of gargange if it was and ogde was chosen then both ogiday and chagatai might have chaffed under jochi being in command if it was unsettled then both brothers may have sought to undermine joji to secure the throne either way the mongol command situation was a nightmare and represents a rare mistake by genghis khan who was usually excellent at managing personnel and avoiding these bitter quarrels not joining the three brothers at gargange was the youngest son toliyu like ogiday he too was an alcoholic and the two often drank together he was considered blood thirsty even by the standards of the mongol horde in january 12 21 jenga sent toleur to take merv with a mix of mongols and turks merv was a great cultural center its library was among the most extensive in the world and its cultural and scientific achievements were exemplified uh in the great omar khayyam the city resisted for a few days but the garrison commander mujir al-mulik negotiated surrender terms the city had ballooned with refugees and he wanted to save their lives totally you agreed but once he had merv he executed all but a few thousand children and artisans while numbers are uncertain tolu's men killed anywhere from 500 000 to 1.3 million people making it possibly the single worst massacre in history the city never recovered and by as late as 1789 it no longer existed tolyu then took nisha poor in april 12 21. tolu's brother-in-law tokuchar had been killed in an earlier attempt to take the city so tolio responded by having everything anisha poor killed even the cats and dogs the city was then leveled while toliu took both cities in three months jochie chuggatai and were stuck in front of gargange chuggatai who arrived first staged a fein retreat the korazam soldiers followed only for the mongols to turn and cut them down with a few mongols chasing their enemies right into gargange chagatai also paraded his army before gargange to overall the inhabitants after fruitless negotiation and the arrival of jochi's forces the siege commenced jochi was promised the city as his prize and he tried to capture it without too much bloodshed losses among the mongol forces had piled up from the previous sieges and being far from their home base they could not get regular replacements the mongols were so strapped for manpower that many corazon defectors were being subsumed into the army much of the army were also hashar which were prisoners forced into military service after another round of negotiations failed the hashar began working filling in the ditches that surrounded the city and undermining the walls while the hashar fought and died the chinese set up catapults the area lacked rocks and the mongols resorted to cutting down mulberry trees and hurtling them at the defenders at some point kumar tegan deserted gargange the city though refused to surrender pots filled with petroleum were hurdled at gargange to light it on fire the fire attack stopped likely because joji did not want his prize to be spoiled the mongols tried to damn the amy daria river by seizing the bridge that connected both sides the attempt failed with some 3 000 mongols lost in the attack the brothers quarreled openly and it is unclear what happened in the mongol high command some sources say jochi remained in charge while others state that ogiday or even tolu took over while jochi went hunting either way the city did fall after being stormed the fighting was street to street and extremely bloody when the people did surrender they begged for clemency it was a fool's errand genghis khan made it clear that resistance we met with fire and sword the children were enslaved the artisans were drafted into the army and the rest were slaughtered the women were raped and enslaved the rest were deemed undesirable and forced to beat each other to death the survivors were then massacred at the close of the day gargange was devastated its dams burst to flood the city writing years later atar malik giuviani lamented that the region once renowned for its warriors and banquets was now the abode of the jackal and the haunt of the owl and kite jochi turned north after the fall of gargange hunting and battling the kumanj kipchak he drifted away from his father's orbit likely upset that he was not genghis's heir that honor going to ogiday he was also possibly appalled at the violence of the conquest of the corazon one account has him falling in love with the lands of the kuman kipchak and even plotting to rebel against his father most accounts have him dying of illness in 1225 although it is possible that he was poisoned to end his claim on the throne his son batu converted to islam and founded the golden horde which was a major asian power for centuries jochi's remains were supposedly placed in a mausoleum which still stands today to the south jalal addin managed to defeat a mongol force at parwan and jengas called in forces from gargange to deal with him jalala dim was smashed along the indus river jalala din escaped hurtling himself into the river as his archers fired on jalala din jengus ordered them to stop declaring this is the kind of sun every father dreams of jalala din made it to the other side his sword still in his hand he would spend the next 10 years trying to re-establish his father's empire despite some victories his army was destroyed by the mongols in 1231 he fled to the maya farrakhan mountains and was murdered by a kurd likely hired by the seljuks who were old foes of the corazon with him the dynasty ended and not long after the last remnants of his father's empire were brought to heal with the quick destruction of karazhan genghis khan was seen as a demigod before 1218 he was merely a successful step commander there had been many before him however his armies had spread far earning him the title world conqueror the mongols began to see themselves as destined to rule a unified empire stretching across eurasia ogiday would oversee an empire vaster than his father's realm in time mongol armies would roam as far west as hungary and as far east as japan they would ravage much of the muslim world culminating in the destruction of baghdad and the house of wisdom the greatest library in the world the mongols renamed the city of gergange they changed it to ergench the city returned to its commercial prominence and by the 1300s it was bigger than it was before the mongol siege in 1330 ibn batuta described it as the largest greatest most beautiful and most important city of the turks it has fine bazaars and broad streets a great number of buildings and abundance of commodities it shakes under the weight of its population by reason of their multitude and is agitated by them in a manner resembling the waves of the sea in addition to its wealth the city was a noted center of islamic learning and worship the time of renewal did not last long tamerlan who strove to be the next con took the city in 1379. public buildings were destroyed treasures were looted and many were exiled in 1388 tamerlan had to recapture the city so he had it completely destroyed although in 1391 tamerlan allowed part of it to be rebuilt he had destroyed all the dams on the amudaria river leading to an ecological collapse warfare in the region raged over the decades leaving one of the wealthiest areas in the muslim world a plane of devastation in 1753 the russian merchant rukhovkind called it the empty city of urgonce today the area is a destination for archaeologists and tourists of the old city of the karazhan empire a few buildings remain including the great mausoleum of allah al-din tekish it likely contains the remains of the shah allah al-din muhammad ii and possibly allah al-din himself allah al-din once called allah's shadow on earth had seized land in transoxanya afghanistan and persia he won nearly every battle he fought secured the great city of samarkand and made it his capital when the emissaries of genghis khan arrived in 1218 shah al-alden muhammad ii ruled an empire that stretched from the sierra daria river to the zagros and the caucasus mountains and from the hindu kush to the indus river to the caspian sea and the persian gulf by 1221 that empire was no more [Music] you