Genghis Khan in Central Asia. x

Upon fulfillment of the task of uniting into one State the Mongolian peoples inhabiting the plateau Central Asia, the eyes of Genghis Khan turned to the East, to the rich, cultured, inhabited by a non-warlike people, China, which always represented good prey in the eyes of nomads. The lands of China proper were divided into two states - Northern Jin and Southern Song. The first object of Genghis Khan's actions, of course, was the closest neighbor - the Jin state, with which he, as the heir to the Mongol khans of the 11th and 12th centuries, had his own long-standing accounts.

The main object of secondary operations is the Tangut state, which occupied vast lands in the upper and part of the middle reaches of the Yellow River, which managed to join Chinese culture, and therefore became rich and fairly well organized. In 1207, the first raid was made on it; when it turns out that this is not enough to completely neutralize it, a campaign is undertaken against it on a larger scale.

This campaign, completed in 1209, gives Genghis Khan a complete victory and huge booty. It also serves as a good school for the Mongolian troops before the upcoming campaign against China and Russia, since the Tangut troops were partly trained in the Chinese system. By obliging the Tangut ruler to pay an annual tribute and weakening it so that during the next few years it was possible not to fear any serious hostile actions, Genghis Khan can finally begin to realize his cherished dream in the east, since by the same time security has been achieved and on the western and northern borders of the Empire. It happened as follows: the main threat from the west and from the north was Kuchluk, the son of Tayan Khan of the Naiman, after the death of his father, he fled to the neighboring tribes.

This typical nomadic adventurer gathered around him diverse tribes, the main core of which was the sworn enemies of the Mongols - the Merkits, a harsh and warlike tribe that roamed on a large scale, often coming into conflict with neighboring tribes, into whose lands it invaded, as well as hiring for service to one or another of the nomadic leaders, under whose leadership one could expect to profit from robbery.

The old adherents of the Naiman who had gathered near Kuchluk and the gangs that had rejoined him could pose a threat to peace in the western regions newly annexed to the Mongol state, so Genghis Khan in 1208 sent an army under the command of his best governors Dzhebe and Subutai with the task of destroying Kuchluk.

In this campaign, the Mongols were greatly assisted by the Oirats tribe, through whose lands the path of the Mongol army ran. As early as 1207, the leader of the Oirats, Khotuga-begi, expressed his obedience to Genghis Khan and, as a sign of honor and submission, sent him a white gyrfalcon as a gift. In this campaign, the Oirats served as guides for the troops of Jebe and Subutai, which they led unnoticed by the enemy to his location.

In the battle that took place, which ended in a complete victory for the Mongols, the leader of the Merkits, Tokhta-begi, was killed, but the main enemy, Kuchluk, again managed to avoid death in battle or captivity; he found refuge with the elderly Gur-Khan of the Kara-Chinese, who owned the land now called Eastern, or Chinese, Turkestan.

In the spring of 1211, the Mongol army sets out on a campaign from its assembly point near the Kerulen River; to the Great Wall of China, she had to go through a path about 750 miles long, for a significant part of its length running through eastern part the Gobi desert, which, however, at this time of the year is not devoid of water and pasture. Numerous herds chased the army for food.

In addition to obsolete war chariots, the Jin army possessed a team of 20 horses, serious, according to the then concepts, military weapons: stone throwers; large crossbows, each of which required a force of 10 people to pull the bowstrings; catapults, which each required the work of 200 people to operate; in addition to all this, the Jin people also used gunpowder for military purposes, for example, for making landmines ignited by means of a drive, for equipping cast-iron grenades, which were thrown at the enemy with catapults for throwing rockets, etc.

Genghis Khan had to act far from the sources of his replenishment, in a resource-rich enemy country, against superior forces that could quickly replenish their losses and were masters of their craft, since the military art of the Jin people stood, as in Rome in the era of the Punic Wars, at a high altitude.

The following year, in 1212, he again approaches the Middle Capital with his main forces, rightly looking at it as a bait to attract the enemy field armies to it in order to rescue them, which he expected to beat in parts. This calculation was justified, and the Jin armies suffered new defeats from Genghis Khan in the field. A few months later, almost all the lands lying north of the lower reaches of the Yellow River were in his hands. But Zhongdu and a dozen of the strongest cities continued to hold on, since the Mongols were still not prepared for the actions of a siege war.

Not so strongly fortified cities were taken by them either by open force or by various tricks, for example, by feigned flight from under the fortress, leaving part of the convoy with property in place, in order to lure the garrison into the field with the prospect of booty and influence the weakening of security measures; if this trick succeeded, the city or the garrison deprived of the protection of the fortress walls were subjected to a surprise attack. In this way, Chebe captured the city of Liaoyang in the rear of the Jin army, which was operating against the Liaodong prince. Other cities were forced to surrender by threats and terror.

In the spring of 1214, three Mongol armies again invade the Jin borders. This time they operate according to a new system developed on the basis of the experience of previous campaigns. When approaching the fortified cities, the Mongols drive the people from the surroundings and then go on the assault, driving the dense masses of the population in front of them onto the ramparts. In most of these cases, the Jin did not accept the assault and surrendered the city. Terrorized in such a cruel way of waging war and seeing, in addition to the fact that they are dealing not with discordant nomadic hordes, but with a regular army, definitely going to the complete subjugation of the country in order to enthrone its leader, many Jin military leaders, and not only from the Khitan , but also from the Jurchens, began to surrender to the Mongols along with their troops. Genghis Khan, as a far-sighted politician, accepted their submission and services, using them for the time being to maintain garrisons in the taken cities.

During the campaign of 1214, the army of Genghis Khan had to face a new terrible enemy - a pestilence that began to mow down its ranks. Exhausted also from incredible labors and horse composition. But the Mongols had already succeeded in instilling such respect in the enemy command that there was no leader among them who would dare to attack the weakened Mongol army encamped near Chungdu.

The emperor offered Genghis Khan a truce on the condition of paying him a rich ransom and giving him a princess as his wife. imperial house. This was agreed to, and upon fulfillment of the terms of the truce, the Mongol army, loaded with untold riches, reached out to their native lands.

One of the reasons shown in this case The peacefulness of Genghis Khan was the information he received that his irreconcilable enemy, Kuchlukhan, took possession of the Kara-Chinese empire, in which he found shelter after his flight in 1208. In this circumstance, Genghis Khan rightly saw a threat to the security of his empire from its southwestern border.

In the Chinese campaign, the military and political genius of Genghis Khan and the outstanding talents of most of the orkhons again showed themselves in full splendor; talents, expressed especially in their ability to always profitably use the emerging infinitely diverse environment. Individual operations in this war were not simple raids without a plan and a system, but were deeply thought-out enterprises, the success of which was based on rational strategic and tactical methods, in connection, of course, with combat experience. commanders and the warlike spirit of the mass of the Mongol army.

“So,” says General M.I. Ivanin, “neither crowds, nor Chinese walls, nor desperate defense of fortresses, nor steep mountains - nothing saved the Jin Empire from the sword of the Mongols. The Jin have not yet lost their militancy and stubbornly defended their independence for more than 20 But Genghis Khan ... having driven away the imperial herds and then robbed all the cattle and horses on the northern side of the Yellow River (Yellow), deprived the Jin people of the opportunity to have numerous cavalry and, constantly using the system of raids, attacked them whenever he wanted, even with small units the cavalry ravaged their land and deprived them of the means to restore the balance of power. The Jin had to confine themselves to the defense of cities and fortresses, but the Mongols, continuing to hamper, devastate, disturb this empire, finally took almost all the fortresses, partly by the hands of the Chinese, partly by hunger. This shows what an advantage the steppe cavalry, well organized, had at that time in front of the infantry, and what benefit could be derived by skillful use of it.

But it must be added to this that Genghis Khan knew how to prepare a war, divide the enemy, attract allies and make them a powerful aid to facilitate the success of his weapons, for example, by preparing an alliance with the Onguts, he facilitated the first military operations against the Jin, then, giving aid to the Khitan (the Liaodong prince) divided the enemy’s forces and cut him off from the north, recruited troops from the Khitan and natural Chinese, diverted their own subjects from the Jin people, then received allowance (with troops) from Tangut, and finally gave advice to his successors to take advantage of the alliance with the empire of the Sung house - in a word, he knew how to act as skillfully with politics as with weapons.

Returning from China, Genghis Khan had to pay attention to the west closest to him, where he still had a strong enemy - Kuchlukhan, who managed to take possession of the Kara-Kitai power by treachery. Some peoples to the west from the Altai to the Ural River were not yet conquered. No matter how further relations developed with the powerful sovereign of Muslim Central Asia, Sultan Mohammed, also called "Khorezmshah", who owned Turkestan, Afghanistan and Persia, in any case, the nearest enemies who could be dangerous for peaceful relations with the Muslim power, and in case of war - to strengthen the enemies of the Mongolian monarchy.

He entrusts this task to his best commanders Subutai and Jebe, who easily cope with it. The first in 1216 quickly conquers the lands between the Altai and the Urals, and the Merkit tribe, the irreconcilable enemies of Genghis Khan, is exterminated before last man; the second destroys the empire of the usurper Kuchluk, skillfully using the displeasure against him of his Muslim subjects, who are persecuted by him for their religious beliefs. Declaring full religious tolerance, Jebe-noyon attracts the sympathy of the Mongols, as well as part of the ranks of the army, thus ensuring military success for himself. Completely defeated and pursued on the heels of the Mongols, Kuchluk is deprived of his kingdom and ingloriously perishes in the wilds of the Hindu Kush. The Kara-Chinese state, covering East Turkestan with the capital Kashgar and part of Semirechye with some adjacent lands, joins the Empire of Genghis Khan, which, thus, comes into direct contact with the vast possessions of Khorezmshah.

War became inevitable. Genghis Khan prepared for it with particular care, since he fully considered the military might of his new enemy, one field army of which - although less disciplined and not as firmly soldered as the Mongol one - was composed mainly of contingents of militant Turkish (Turkic) peoples, possessed excellent weapons and numbered 400,000 in its ranks, mostly mounted warriors. In addition to all kinds of war machines, the army also had war elephants, a kind of weapon that the Mongols had not had to deal with in previous wars. In addition to such impressive field forces, the empire of Khorezmshah was famous for the fortress of its cities and the art of its engineers, and access from outside to its vital centers was covered by difficult natural barriers - mountain ranges and waterless deserts. On the other hand, the internal cohesion of this state, which had only recently expanded with conquests, a diverse population and undermined by irreconcilable enmity between adherents of various Muslim faiths (Sunnis, Shiites and many fanatical sects), was far from being strong.

For the grandiose enterprise of conquering Central Asia, by the spring of 1219, Genghis Khan was gathering a cavalry army of 230,000 people in the upper reaches of the Irtysh. Although after the conquest of the northern regions of the Jin Empire, the population of the Mongol state increased significantly, its ruler does not consider it expedient to increase his nomadic army by politically unreliable, unwarlike and unaccustomed to the natural conditions of the Western theater of war, elements of the settled population of the newly conquered lands. Great Commander knows only too well that quality is more important than quantity. Therefore, the Chinese (Khitans, Jurchens) enter his army only in a small proportion, making up its technical troops, united in a special corps, total strength about 30,000 people, of which only 10,000 are actually Chinese and other foreigners, and the rest are completely reliable elements.

The raid or raid carried out by them in the subsequent period of less than two years is one of the most remarkable military enterprises of this kind. Not having, of course, any maps of those countries through which they were to pass, the Mongol leaders through Tabriz, which expresses obedience to them, and Diyarbekr again penetrate into Transcaucasia, where they endure a stubborn struggle with the Georgians; in the last decisive battle with them, they are victorious through the use of one of their usual tactics. In this case, this method consisted in the fact that Jebe with 5 thousand people sat in an ambush, and Subutai with the rest of the forces, turning into a feigned flight, leads the enemy to this ambush, which suddenly attacks him simultaneously with Subutai, who went on the offensive. In this battle, the Georgians were killed up to 30,000 people. After the victory over the Georgians, the Mongol detachment deepens into the jungle of the Caucasus Range, where, among the incessant battles with the mountaineers, it makes its way through the Derbent Pass and finally enters the plains of the North Caucasus.

In 1207-1209. the Mongols subjugated the tribes living in the Yenisei valley and East Turkestan (Buryats, Yakuts, Uighurs, Tungus), defeated the Tangut kingdom in Northwestern China. In 1211, the main forces of the Mongols, having crossed the Gobi steppe, invaded China, the situation in which at that time was favorable for the conquerors.

China only to 8th century overcame the consequences of the crisis that engulfed him during the Great Migration of Nations. According to the census of 754, the taxable population recovered in the country, amounting to 52.88 million people. Science and technology developed. Woodcut printing was invented - printing books from engraved boards. Gained worldwide fame

Chinese porcelain. Large state-owned workshops sprang up, some of them employing up to 500 people. In the 10th century, a compass appeared, which soon became known to Arab merchants, and through them to Europeans. From the 11th century, gunpowder began to be used.

At the same time, with the restoration of a single, centrally controlled empire (it was named after the ruling dynasty, from 618 to 907 - Tang, from 960 to 1279 - Song), traditional Chinese problems also revived. The arbitrariness of provincial governors, officials, exactions from the ruined peasantry, which fell into dependence on usurers, and the growth of large landowners were the cause of frequent peasant uprisings. They were combined with nomadic raids and attacks by Manchurian tribes.

V early XII century, the strengthened Manchu tribes of the Jurchens began a war against China. It was extremely unsuccessful for the Song Empire, which in 1142 was forced to admit the loss of all its territory north of the Yangtze River and pay tribute to the victors.

The power of the conquerors over Northern China, where the Jurchens created their own state, called Jin, was fragile. It was weakened by peasant uprisings, the discontent of the local nobility. Nevertheless, the attempt of the Song Empire in 1206 to regain the lost lands ended in failure.

The Jurchens, who did not enjoy support in the provinces of China they had conquered, were unable to organize a defense against the Mongols. Having captured the central provinces of the Jin state, Genghis Khan returned to Mongolia in 1216 with abundant booty and many slaves. Among them were Chinese craftsmen who knew how to make siege engines.

In 1218, the Mongols began a campaign in Central Asia, most of which at the beginning of the 13th century was part of the vast state of Khorezm, which also owned the lands of Northern Iran and Afghanistan. Numerous troops of Khorezm, which was a very fragile, multi-tribal public education, were scattered among the garrisons. Shah of Khorezm Muhammad(rules in 1200- 1220) more than the conquerors, he was afraid of his own subjects and military leaders and was not able to organize serious resistance. The largest cities of Khorezm - Urgench, Bukhara, Samarkand, Merv, Herat - were taken by the Mongols in turn. The townspeople were mercilessly beaten, many were driven into slavery.

In 1222 part of the Mongol forces invaded the Caucasus. They defeated the Georgian troops, defeated the Alans, Lezgins, Circassians, reached the Crimea and attacked the Polovtsy, who turned to the Russian princes for help. In 1223 in the battle on the river Kapke Russian squads first encountered the Mongols.

The inconsistency of the actions of the Russian princes, the flight of the Polovtsians from the battlefield allowed the Mongols to achieve victory. However, not daring to continue the war with a new enemy, they retreated deep into the steppes of Asia.

And the eastern part of the state of Khorezmshahs to the Mongol Empire

Opponents Commanders

The Black Khitan occupied a dominant position in the region of Central Asia in the 12th century, inflicting a crushing defeat on the Seljuks of the Sultan Sanjar to the Karakhanids at the Battle of Katvan. However, their empire was soon weakened by constant rebellions and internecine wars, which made possible the rapid conquest of the Khitan empire in 1211 by the Naimans led by Khan Kuchluk, with the active support of Khorezmshah Muhammad, who had previously paid tribute to the Karakitais, with whom Kuchluk concluded an alliance against his overlord. Kuchluk, by that time hiding from the Mongols of Genghis Khan, received asylum at the court of the gurkhan Chzhulhu and permission to gather the remnants of the army defeated at the Irtysh, which, however, did not prevent him from usurping the throne, as soon as he got a fairly strong army under his hand. After a short but decisive military campaign, the allies were left with a big win, and the gurkhan was forced to give up power in favor of an uninvited guest. In 1213, the gurkhan Chzhulhu died, and the Naiman khan became the sovereign ruler of Semirechye. Having become an irreconcilable opponent of Khorezm, Kuchluk began to persecute Muslims in his possessions, which aroused the hatred of the settled population of Zhetysu. Karluk Khan Arslan Khan, and then the ruler of Almalyk Buzar moved away from the Naimans and declared themselves subjects of Genghis Khan. The Naiman prince undertook several campaigns against Buzar, then in search of help he submitted to Genghis Khan. During the hunt, Buzar was captured by Kuchluk, who then unsuccessfully besieged Almalyk. In response, the vassals of Genghis Khan turned to him for help. In 1216, Genghis Khan sent a 20,000-strong detachment led by Jebe to punish the fugitive Naiman Khan. In connection with the approach of the Mongol detachment, Kuchluk lifted the siege of the city, killed Buzar and returned to Kashgar. The Mongols conquered Semirechye and East Turkestan, which were held by Kuchluk. In the very first battle, Jebe defeated the Naimans. The Mongols allowed Muslims to public worship, which was previously prohibited by the Naimans, which contributed to the transition of the entire settled population to the side of the Mongols. After the cruel arbitrariness of Kuchluk, the people of Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan considered the arrival of the Mongols "one of the graces of Allah." The inhabitants of Balasagun opened the gates to the Mongols, for which the city received the name Gobalyk - "meek city". Kuchluk, unable to organize resistance, fled to the Pamir Mountains, Badakhshan, where he was caught and killed. The road to Khorezm was opened before Genghis Khan. War with Khorezm The enraged Genghis Khan demanded the extradition of Kaiyr Khan, but the Khorezmshah, fearing the wrath of the Kangly nobility, refused. Instead of fulfilling the demand, Muhammad beheaded one of the ambassadors of the Mongol Khan, and let the rest go, after cutting off their beards. In the spring of 1219, without completing the conquest of China, Genghis Khan sent troops to the west. Preparing the parties for war At the top of the Khorezmian nobility, opinions were divided on the question of how to counter the upcoming Mongol invasion. Emergency Assembled Supreme state council failed to develop a reasonable plan of military action. The option of a military campaign to meet the Mongolian army on the northeastern borders of the state was proposed, but, apparently, was not implemented. Imam Shihab ad-Din Khivaki, an associate of the Khorezmshah and the head of the Shafiites of Khorezm, proposed to collect civil uprising and with all the fighting forces to meet the enemy on the banks of the Syr Darya. Other plans for military operations were also proposed, but the Sultan chose the tactics of passive defense. Khorezmshah and the dignitaries and generals who supported him, underestimating the siege art of the Mongols, relied on the fortress of the cities of Maverannahr. The Shah decided to concentrate the main forces on the Amu Darya, reinforcing them with militias from neighboring provinces. Mohammed and his commanders, sitting in the fortresses, expected to attack the Mongols after they had scattered around the country in search of prey. Powerful garrisons were located in large cities of the northeastern part of the state, a wall was built around Samarkand and a ditch was dug, although Mohammed doubted the effectiveness of defensive structures. The concentration of most of the troops was planned to be carried out southwest of the Amu Darya, where the main center of resistance was to be located. Before the outbreak of hostilities, the Mongols conducted a deep large-scale reconnaissance of the enemy forces. When all the reports of informants were brought together at the headquarters of the Mongol Khan, it was decided to rely on the surprise and mobility of the Mongol troops. In the summer of 1219, Genghis Khan prepared, according to various sources, from 150 to 200 thousand people for a campaign against Khorezm. The Khorezm Sultan Mohammed could easily collect and put up against the conquerors from the east twice big army. However, these were poorly trained, poorly disciplined detachments, besides, Muhammad was afraid of his own emirs, who at any moment could revolt against him. The beginning of the war The historian Ibn al-Athir characterizes the Mongol invasion in Central Asia as follows: “What I am about to embark on contains a narration of the most terrible event, and the greatest misfortune that times have ever undergone, and which engulfed all created [by God], and especially Muslims...Perhaps people will never see such a disaster until the end of the existence of the universe...This people came from the outskirts of as-Sin. They rushed to the cities of Turkestan, such as Kashgar and Balasagun ... from there - to the cities of Maverannahr, such as Bukhara, Samarkand and others ... Then they crossed over to Khorasan, captured and devastated it, destroying [cities], killing and robbing. From there they marched to Rey, Hamadan, and the country of Jibal with its cities as far as the borders of Iraq. Then they rushed to the cities of Azerbaijan and Arran, destroyed them and killed most of their inhabitants. Only a few of them were saved, left homeless. And all this in less than a year! This has never been known before." In 1219, Genghis Khan personally went on a campaign with all his sons and with the main military forces. The conqueror's army was divided into several parts. One was commanded by his sons Chagatai and Ogedei, left by their father to besiege Otrar; the second was headed by the eldest son - Jochi. His main goal was the conquest of Sygnak and Dzhend. The third army was sent to Khujand. The main forces, led by Genghis Khan and his son Tolui, were to capture Samarkand. The siege of Otrar by the forces of several tumens began in September 1219 and lasted about five months. Kaiyr Khan, knowing that the Mongols would not spare him, desperately defended himself. The betrayal of one of the commanders hastened the fall of Otrar. Leaving the city gates at night, he surrendered to the Mongols. Through the same gate, the besiegers broke into the city. Part of the troops and residents locked themselves in the fortress and continued to defend themselves. Only a month later the Mongols were able to take the citadel. All its defenders were killed, the fortress was destroyed, Kaiyr Khan was executed, and the city was razed to the ground after being plundered. The captives (khashar) from Otrar were then used in the assault on Khujand and Samarkand. The detachments of Jochi, who made campaigns along the Syr Darya, in the spring of 1220 approached Sygnak. The siege lasted seven days, after which the Mongols broke into the city and destroyed all its fortifications. Per short term Uzgen, Barchynlykent and Dzhend submitted to the Mongols. A 10,000-strong detachment took Yangikent and headed for the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, mobilized 10,000 Turkmens there. They revolted, were partly defeated, and partly retreated south towards Merv. The main forces of Jochi were located in the Jend area. The tactics of the Mongols in relation to the population of cities If the city was able to be taken by storm after stubborn resistance, the Mongol commanders carried out a "general massacre" (Arabic-Persian, Katl-i Amm), and the remaining inhabitants, after driving them out into the field, were divided among the soldiers, who turned them into slavery. So it was in Otrar, Sygnak, Ashnas, Termez, Nisa, Balkh, Nishapur, Sabzavar, Tus, Gurganj, Herat (during the second capture after the uprising) and in other places. Sometimes, along with the cities, their rural districts were also cut out. After the massacre, the captured scribes were forced to count the number of those killed. According to Juvaini, after the massacre in Merv, the count of the dead continued for 13 days. The siege of Khujand and the heroism of Temur Malik In 1220, the third army of 5 thousand people. took Benakent and surrounded Khojent, also located on the Syr Darya. During the siege, the number of Mongol troops increased to 20 thousand people, the number of prisoners used during the siege - up to 50 thousand people. Temur-Malik, who led the defense of the island fortress, sailed down the Syr Darya. The Mongols organized the persecution, and when Timur-Melik reached the area where the Jochi troops were located, he was forced to land on the left bank of the river and was able to evade persecution in battle, then kill the Mongol governor in Yangikent. As the historian Rashid ad-Din describes, “Timur Melik was left with a small number of people. He still showed resilience and did not give up. When these were also killed, he had no weapons left, except for three arrows, one of which was broken and without a tip. He was pursued by three Mongols; he blinded one of them with an unheaded arrow, which he shot, and to the others he said: “There are two arrows left according to the number of you. I'm sorry for the arrows. You'd better go back and save your life." The Mongols turned back, and he reached Khorezm and again prepared for battle. The siege and destruction of the inhabitants of Bukhara The fourth army, led by the ruler of the Mongols himself and his son Tolui, approached Bukhara (garrison, according to various sources, 3 thousand or 20 thousand people), which, after a short siege, fell into the hands of the Mongols in March 1220. The inhabitants were subjected to severe violence, and the city was plundered, destroyed and burned by the Mongols, the captives were sent to the siege of Samarkand. The historian Ibn al-Athir describes the events as follows: "After Chinggis Khan freed himself from the capture of the fortress [Bukhara], he ordered to rewrite all the main persons and elders of the city .... Then he ordered [the inhabitants of Bukhara] to leave the city. They left , deprived of their property. None of them had anything left but the clothes that he was wearing. The infidels entered the city and began to rob and kill anyone [of those who did not leave] who they found. [Genghis Khan] surrounded [men] Muslims and ordered his people to divide them among themselves, which they did. It was a terrible day, a day of continuous sobs of men, women and children. ] “was torn to shreds.” Bukhara became “destroyed to the ground” . Attack on Samarkand and killings of its inhabitants Leaving Bukhara in ruins, Genghis Khan went through the valley of Sogdiana to Samarkand (garrison, according to various sources, 40 thousand or 110 thousand people; 20 war elephants). On the third day, part of the clergy opened the gates for him and surrendered the city without a fight. 30 thousand Kangl warriors, who were the support of Khorezmshah Muhammad and his mother Turkan Khatun, were executed by the Mongols. As the historian Ibn al-Athir wrote: “On the fourth day they announced in the city that the entire population should come out to them, and if anyone slows down with this, they will kill him. All the men, women and children came out to them, and they did the same to them as they did to the inhabitants of Bukhara - they committed robberies, murders, deportation into captivity and all kinds of atrocities. Entering the city, they plundered it and burned the cathedral mosque, and left the rest as it was. They raped girls and subjected people to all kinds of torture, demanding money. Those who were not fit to be driven into captivity, they killed. Campaign to Balkh and extermination of its inhabitants Capture of Merv In 1220, the most Big City Khorasan - Merv. The historian Ibn al-Athir gives the following information: "Then [the son of Genghis Khan] sat on a golden seat and ordered to bring those soldiers whom he captured. They were brought and executed, and people looked at them and cried. As for the common people, then the infidels divided among themselves men, women and children and their property.Because of the [terrible] cries, weeping and groans, [this day was like the coming day of judgment, of which it is said:] "And this is the day that they will see!" They seized the rich, beat them and tortured them in every possible way, soliciting money.It is possible that one of them died from a severe beating, [although] he had nothing left with which he could pay off. Escape of Khorezmshah Ala ad-Din Muhammad Having lost the war without a fight and having no support, Muhammad fled to one of the deserted islands of the Caspian Sea, where he died in the village of Astara in February 1221, transferring power to his son Jalal-ad-Din. Three tumens led by Jebe, Subedei-bagatur and Tohuchar-noyon pursued Muhammad. Passing through the possessions of Khan-Melik, Tohuchar, in violation of the preliminary agreement, began to rob and capture the inhabitants, as a result of which he was recalled by Genghis Khan and demoted. The assault on Urgench and the courage of Naj ad-din Kubra Genghis Khan did not go further than Samarkand, but sent Tolui with a 70,000-strong army to conquer Khorasan, and at the beginning of 1221, a 50,000-strong army of Jochi, Chagatai and Ogedei approached the capital of Khorezm, the city of Urgench. After a seven-month siege, the Mongols took it, defeated it, and took the inhabitants into captivity. As the historian Rashid-ad-din wrote, “the Mongols fought fiercely and took quarter after quarter and palace after palace, demolished and burned them, until within seven days they took the whole city in this way. [Then] they drove everyone into the steppe at once people, separated from them about a hundred thousand artisans and sent [them] to Eastern countries. Young women and children were driven away in full, and the rest of the people were divided among the soldiers so that they would be killed. They say that for every Mongol there were twenty-four people, the number of warriors [Mongols] was more than fifty thousand. In short, they killed everyone and the army [of the Mongols] took up the flood and plunder. The remains of houses and quarters were destroyed at once. Genghis Khan heard about the sheikh of the sheikhs, the pole of poles Najm-ad-din Kubra, and he sent him to say: “I will betray Khorezm to be beaten and plundered. That saint of his time needs to leave the environment of the Khorezmians and join us!”. The sheikh, in response, said: “For seventy years now, I have been content and endure the bitterness and sweetness of fate in Khorezm with these people. Now that the time [has come] for the descent of troubles, if I run away and leave him, it will be far from the path of nobility and generosity! . Najm ad-din Kubra died during the storming of the city. As Juvaini wrote: "The inhabitants of the city fortified themselves in the streets and quarters; on every street they started fighting, and near each passage they set up barriers. The [Mongolian] army burned their houses and quarters with vessels of oil and sewed people together with arrows and cannonballs" . When the city was captured, the surviving inhabitants were driven into the field. Artisans were separated and taken into slavery (according to Juvaini, more than 100 thousand), as well as young women and children, and other residents were divided among the soldiers, and, according to Juvaini, each warrior had 24 people, and they were all killed with "axes, picks, sabers, maces." After that, the Mongols opened the dams, the water of the Amu Darya gushed and flooded the whole city, so that the people hiding in various shelters died, and "not one of the inhabitants survived." Conquest of Eastern Iran Meanwhile, Tolui, together with his army, entered the province of Khorasan and took Nessa by storm, after which he appeared in front of the fortress walls of Merv. Near Merv, prisoners from almost all the cities previously captured by the Mongols were used. Taking advantage of the betrayal of the inhabitants of the city, the Mongols captured Merv and, in their usual manner, plundered and burned the city in April 1221. From Merv Tolui went to Nishapur. For four days, its inhabitants fought desperately on the walls and streets of the city, but the forces were unequal. The city was taken, and, with the exception of four hundred artisans who were left alive and sent to Mongolia, the rest of the men, women and children were brutally killed. Herat opened its gates to the Mongols, but this did not save him from ruin. At this stage of his advance through the cities of Asia, Tolui received an order from his father to join his army in Badakhshan. Jalal ad-Din's struggle with the Mongols On the territory of Afghanistan, the fight against Genghis Khan was led by the son of Ala ad-din Muhammad II of Khorezmshah (1200-1220), Jalal ad-din, who was the ruler of the Ghazni inheritance. He gathered a considerable army. In Garchistan (a region in the upper reaches of the Murgab), Khan-Malik (from the Turkmens) joined him, as well as one of the major Turkmen leaders, Seif ad-din, who had a 40,000-strong army. Upon arrival in Ghazni, Timur-Malik and Amin al-mulk, Gur emirs and, finally, a detachment of Afghan soldiers led by Muzaffar-Malik joined him with their detachments. In the summer of 1221, advancing towards Genghis Khan, Jalal ad-din camped near the village of Parvan. He made a successful attack on large detachment Mongol troops, who besieged the fortress of Valiyan, and utterly defeated it. Alarmed by the defeat of his troops, information about which could inspire and raise against the Mongols the population of the regions conquered by him and his sons, Genghis Khan sent a large detachment of troops (30-40 thousand) against Jalal ad-din, led by one of his experienced commanders, Shigi- Khutuhu-noyon (Shigi-Kutuk). Jalal-ad-Din, having gathered a 70,000th army, defeated a 30,000th detachment of the Mongols led by Shigi-Kutuk at Pervan. Genghis Khan, who at that time was tied up by the siege of Talkan, soon took possession of the strong city and could himself oppose Jalal ad-Din with the main forces; its rear was provided by the detachment of Tolui in Khorasan. The leader of the Mongols at the head of the 30,000th army overtook Jalal-ad-Din in December 1221 on the river bank

Period: , .

The time of Mongol rule in Central Asia, Iran and Transcaucasia is characterized, on the one hand, by the further intensification of feudal exploitation, and, on the other hand, by people's liberation movements directed against the arbitrariness and oppression of foreign conquerors.

The conquest of the Khorezm state, which united under its rule by the beginning of the XIII century. Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan, was largely due to its internal weakness. The struggle between different groups of nobility and feudal fragmentation prevented the organization of defense.

Khorezmshah did not trust his vassals and was afraid to convene their militias, the vassals were at enmity with each other and with the central government, and all together they were afraid of the activity of the masses, did not dare to arm them to fight the external enemy.

Therefore, as evidenced by the reports of the Arab historian Ibn al-Athir, as well as Juvaini, Rashid ad-Din and other authors XIII - early XIV century, writing in Persian, in Central Asia, as well as in Iran, as well as in the countries of Transcaucasia, the most active fighters against the militias of Genghis Khan were the masses, primarily artisans organized in workshops and the urban poor.

The conquerors met with a very strong rebuff, but as a result of the passivity or direct betrayal of the local feudal lords, isolated pockets of resistance were suppressed by the Mongols one by one.

At first, Genghis Khan exchanged embassies with Khorezmshah Muhammad (1200-1220), trying through his ambassadors and merchants to collect as much information as possible about the enemy's forces.

Then he began hostilities (1219), using as a pretext a robbery in the city of Otrar on the Syr Darya of a trade caravan coming from Mongolia.

Khorezmshah was afraid to unite the militias of his vassals together, dispersed his troops in separate fortified cities and thereby doomed them to passive defense. The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan, having taken Otrar, headed across the steppes to Bukhara.

The speed of the movement of Genghis Khan's troops did not allow the necessary measures to be taken to meet the enemy. Large landowners, merchants and the highest Muslim clergy, fearing for their wealth and not trusting the masses, began to blow betrayal.

Because of their betrayal, at the beginning of 1220, Bukhara, Samarkand and other cities of the Zarafshan valley were captured. Serious resistance was offered in Dzhenda and especially in Khujand, where its heroic defender Timur-Melik, one of the few military leaders who showed genuine stamina and great military abilities, advanced.

Khorezmshah Muhammad, frightened by the successes of Genghis Khan, fled to Iran under the pretext of gathering new troops, but then took refuge on one of the islands of the Caspian Sea, where he died at the end of 1220. After a long and heroic defense of Merv and Urgench, these cities were taken by their population and destroyed.

By 1221, all of Central Asia was captured by the Mongol conquerors.

The consequences of the conquest of Central Asia by the Mongols were catastrophic.

The wonderful irrigation systems of the Merv oasis, Khorezm and other regions were destroyed.

Urgench, Merv, Termez and other cities lay in ruins.

To manage the agricultural regions of Maverannahr, the Great Khan Ogedei, in agreement with the Ulus Khan Chagatai, appointed the rich Khorezm merchant Mahmud Yalavach, who was in the service of Genghis Khan, and played the main role in the above-mentioned embassies to Khorezmshah Muhammad.

The descendants of Mahmud Yalavach, who became feudal lords, ruled the agricultural regions of Maverannahr until 1311.

They tried to rely on the surviving local feudal nobility and Muslim clergy, as well as on the rich merchants, who quickly reconciled themselves to Mongol rule.

Chagatai Khan and his successors until the beginning of the XIV century. continued to live with subject tribes in the steppes of Semirechye, maintaining a nomadic lifestyle.

The domination of the nomads had a disastrous effect on the economy and culture of Semirechye. During the XIII century. here agricultural oases and cities almost disappeared, the whole country turned into a steppe.

The conquerors established cruel forms of feudal exploitation of the conquered settled working population. The peasants and artisans who remained in the cities were crushed by huge taxes and duties.

Some of the artisans with their families were enslaved. They worked in government workshops on meager rations, receiving only bread every day and only three times a week a little meat.

Conquest of China

Already in 1205, Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts, a people of Tibetan origin who inhabited the Chinese provinces of Gansu and Ordos. In 1207 and 1209, as a result of repeated attacks in the direction of Northern China, the way was opened for a massive offensive deep into Chinese territory.

In 1211, the Mongols invaded Chinese lands and captured territories north of the Great Wall of China. In 1213, the wall was breached, and hordes of Mongol nomads poured into the Chinese plains. Many Chinese generals went over to the side of the Mongols, and cities often surrendered without a fight at all. In the summer of 1215, Beijing was captured and sacked, and the Qin Emperor fled to Kaifeng, on the south bank of the Yellow River.

Leaving one of his generals in China, entrusting him with further operations in northern China, Genghis Khan returned to Mongolia to concentrate on the Central Asian campaign.

Conquest of Central Asia

After the conquest of China and Khorezm, the supreme ruler of the Mongol clan leaders, Genghis Khan, sent a strong cavalry corps under the command of Jebe and Subedei to reconnoiter the "western lands". They marched along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, then, after the devastation of Northern Iran, penetrated into Transcaucasia, defeated the Georgian army (1222) and, moving north along the western coast of the Caspian Sea, met in the North Caucasus the united army of the Polovtsy, Lezgins, Circassians and Alans. There was a fight that did not have decisive consequences. Then the conquerors made a split in the ranks of the enemy. They gave the Polovtsy gifts and promised not to touch them. The latter began to disperse to their nomad camps. Taking advantage of this, the Mongols easily defeated the Alans, Lezgins and Circassians, and then defeated the Polovtsy in parts. At the beginning of 1223, the Mongols invaded the Crimea, took the city of Surozh (Sudak) and again moved to the Polovtsian steppes.

The Polovtsy fled to Russia. Departing from the Mongol army, Khan Kotyan, through his ambassadors, asked not to refuse him the help of his son-in-law Mstislav the Udaly, as well as Mstislav III Romanovich, the ruling Grand Duke of Kiev. At the beginning of 1223, a large princely congress was convened in Kiev, where an agreement was reached that military establishment princes of Kiev, Galicia, Chernigov, Seversk, Smolensk and Volyn principalities, having united, should support the Polovtsians. The Dnieper, near the island of Khortitsa, was appointed as a gathering place for the Russian united rati. Here the envoys from the Mongol camp were met, offering the Russian military leaders to break the alliance with the Polovtsy and return to Russia. Taking into account the experience of the Polovtsy (who in 1222 went to persuade the Mongols to break their alliance with the Alans, after which Jebe defeated the Alans and attacked the Polovtsy), Mstislav executed the envoys. In the battle on the Kalka River, the troops of Daniil of Galicia, Mstislav the Udaly and Khan Kotyan, without notifying the rest of the princes, decided to "crack down" on the Mongols on their own, crossed to the eastern bank, where on May 31, 1223 they were completely defeated while passively contemplating this bloody battle from the side of the main Russian forces led by Mstislav III, located on the elevated opposite bank of the Kalka.

Mstislav III, having fenced himself with a tyn, held the defense for three days after the battle, and then went to an agreement with Jebe and Subedai on laying down arms and free retreat to Russia, as if he had not participated in the battle. However, he, his army and the princes who trusted him were treacherously captured by the Mongols and brutally tortured as "traitors to their own army."

After the victory, the Mongols organized the pursuit of the remnants of the Russian army (only every tenth warrior returned from the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov), destroying cities and villages in the Dnieper direction, capturing civilians. However, the disciplined Mongol commanders had no orders to linger in Russia. Soon they were recalled by Genghis Khan, who considered that the main task of the reconnaissance campaign to the west had been successfully completed. On the way back at the mouth of the Kama, the troops of Dzhebe and Subedei suffered a serious defeat from the Volga Bulgars, who refused to recognize the power of Genghis Khan over them. After this failure, the Mongols went down to Saksin and returned to Asia along the Caspian steppes, where in 1225 they joined the main forces of the Mongol army.

The Mongol troops that remained in China met with the same success as the armies in Western Asia. The Mongol Empire was expanded with a few new conquered provinces north of the Yellow River, with the exception of one or two cities. After the death of Emperor Xuin Zong in 1223, the Northern Chinese Empire practically ceased to exist, and the borders Mongol Empire almost coincided with the borders of Central and South China, ruled by the imperial Song dynasty.