'A Mongol Soldier'

The notorious Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan were the scourge of Central Asia in the 13th century. They devastated the cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Kunya Urgench and left mountains of rotting corpses in their wake. According to the historian Aladdin Ata Malik Juvaini, the armies of Genghis Khan were 'more numerous than ants or locusts and more than the sand of the desert or drops of rain.' As for their leader, Genghis Khan boldly declared himself to be the wrath of God. But he was not unprovoked: much of the blame for the widespread savagery meted out on Central Asia lies at the feet of the wily and cowardly Shah of Khorezm itself.

The Shah, Sultan Mohammed, ruled the vast Empire of Khorezm which extended all the way from the Aral Sea down to the Gulf and from Iraq to India. The greedy Shah was determined to control China as well, despite fruitless attempts by his advisors to dissuade him. When informed that China had been conquered by Genghis Khan, the Shah was nettled, and swiftly dispatched an envoy to find out more about the Mongol commander. Genghis Khan cordially received them and decided to reciprocate with an envoy of his own. His entourage arrived in the Khorezm capital Kunya Urgench in 1218, laden with lavish gifts of silver, gold, musk, jade, ivory and highly-prized white camel wool. They also bore a letter from the Khan effusing praise for his 'dearest of sons' and mooting the possibility of trade agreements. It also reminded the Shah of the Khan's military might and his former conquests of Turkic peoples.

The Shah, in turn, extravagantly entertained his guests while secretly pondering the overtones of vasseldom implied by the Khan's letter. Late that night he summoned one of the Muslims of the diplomatic mission. Plopping a large jewel in the man's pocket, the Shah asked for advice in gauging the possibility of a victory over the Khan's troops. The Shah's army numbered forty thousand, and would provide a formidable foe. However, the Muslim whispered that although the Mongol hordes were strong, a victory was far from impossible. No more was said on the matter and the Shah, still considering it in his best interests to keep the peace, sent the delegation back with an equally flowery epistle.

Friendly relations did not last for long, since later that year Governor Inalchek of Utrar, part of the Khorezm Empire, suspected that a large caravan of almost seven hundred merchants were Mongol spies. Having obtained the assent of the Shah, Inalchek ordered that the entire caravan be executed and their goods added to the city coffers. When Genghis Khan heard the news he reputedly wept tears of anger and swiftly dispatched an ambassador and two Mongols demanding the immediate surrenderumbered forty thousand, and would provide a formidable foe. However, the Muslim whispered that although the Mongol hordes were strong, a victory was far from impossible. No more was said on the matter and the Shah, still considering it in his best interests to keep the peace, sent the delegation back with an equally flowery epistle.
Life, regarded ambassadors and diplomats as almost holy. The Khan seethed with rage and began to plan the routing of the Khorezm Empire and its Shah.

Genghis spent the next year preparing for battle. At last he began to march westwards with his sons, an army of at least a hundred and fifty thousand and the latest siege weaponry. Meanwhile the Shah prepared his defence strategy. Despite the advice of his military advisors, not least his son Jallaladin Menguberdi, he decided to split up his forces and deploy them in different cities where each division would act autonomously. This strategy was to prove a devastating failure.

Although his army was extensive, the Shah had not counted on the brutal efficiency of the hordes. A horde would number as many as eighty thousand men at a time with thousands of local prisoners forced to march before them as a human shield. 'They came, they burnt, they slew, they plundered and then they departed,' was how one citizen of Bukhara was to remember their invasion. It was said of the ruthless Mongols, who worshipped water and considered it far too precious to be wasted on washing, that you could smell the hordes coming before you could see them.

The first city to meet the ire of Genghis was the city of Utrar, where his merchants had been executed. Despite fierce resistance the horde overpowered the city and the hapless Governor was brought alive to the Khan who poured molten gold down his throat and into his ears. The avenging of the deaths of the Mongol merchants was so savage that the historian Juvaini lamented, 'In retribution for every hair on their heads it seemed that a hundred thousand heads rolled in the dust.'

On hearing the news of the horde's victory, the Shah fled to the west, ignoring the pleas of his governors to organise the entire Khorezm army as a united resistance. Samarkand was conquered next. Those who would not surrender piled into the huge wooden mosque for Friday prayers, trusting that the Mongols would not commit any atrocities in such a sacred place. Having no such compunction, marksmen were soon firing flaming arrows into the mosque, which went up in smoke along with those inside it.

Moving westward, Bukhara was next to fall. The victorious Khan rode into the city and approached a most impressive building that he assumed to be the ruler's palace. On discovering that it was actually the central mosque, the Khan rode into it and declared to the cowering worshippers that he was the wrath of God poured out as judgement on the city. Soon, world-famous library buildings became stables for horses and priceless books were used instead of straw. All Bukhara, apart from the public brick buildings, was burnt to the ground.

The cowardly Shah fled far west to an island on the Caspian where he died of pleurisy, declaring on his death-bed that his second son, Jallaladdin, was to be his heir. Jallaladdin made a brave attempt to thwart the Mongol hordes, which impressed even the Khan himself. However the storming hordes were unstoppable as they made their way north-west towards the opulent capital of the Khorezm Empire.

'Jallaladdin'

The population of Kunya Urgench had time to organise a defense and prepared themselves for a siege. On arrival, the Mongols found that despite their siege weaponry, they were unable to breach the huge city walls. The inhabitants were confident of success and would taunt the Mongols, saying that they had the means to survive for each season of the year with their extensive gardens and fisheries. However Genghis Khan was not deterred and after seven months and heavy losses he had an entire wood of mulberry trees felled and the timber soaked in water. With these battering rams his forces were able to break through the city gates and proceeded to totally decimate it. Women and children were enslaved and deported, along with artisans and any other useful professions. The remainder, over a hundred thousand people, were slaughtered. Not content with ravaging the city, Genghis wanted to wipe out all traces of its existence and dammed the Oxus River, changing its course and flooding the remaining ruins of Kunya Urgench. Supposedly this changed the course of the Oxus River for three centuries causing it to flow into the Caspian Sea instead of the Aral.

Jallaladin continued to prove a nuisance to the Khan, doggedly attacking the hordes despite the Khorezm Empire being in ruins. He was eventually defeated by the Khan on the banks of the Indus River, but managed to escape by galloping into the river and swimming across it. The Khan's archers were about to shoot but Genghis ordered them to stop, declaring him a courageous adversary and far more worthy than his father.

'A towering statue of Jallaladdin in Urgench'

The cities of Urgench, Bukhara and Samarkand were eventually rebuilt. In the case of Samarkand, the city became even more beautiful than before. But the invasion of Genghis Khan was the deathblow to the Khorezm Empire which began to fragment and never regained its former glory. Today Khorezm is merely one of the smaller regions within Uzbekistan.

It was not until another five hundred years had passed that Khiva experienced another invasion from outside Central Asia. This time the menace was no longer from the Mongols of the east, but rather from the north... (see Invaders from the Tsar).