Mongol conquest of the Qara Khitai

Last updated

Mongol conquest of the Qara Khitai
Part of the Mongol invasion of Central Asia
Mongol Invasion of China.png
Mongol conquest of Qara Khitai (Western Liao) and other Chinese regimes
Date1218
Location
Modern-day Central Asia
Result Mongol victory
Territorial
changes		 Territories of the Qara Khitai added to Mongol Empire
Belligerents
Mongol Empire Qara Khitai
Commanders and leaders
Jebe Kuchlug   Skull and Crossbones.svg
Strength
20,000 total unknown, over 30,000

The Mongol Empire conquered the Qara Khitai (Western Liao Empire) in the year 1218 AD. Prior to the invasion, war with the Khwarazmian Empire and the usurpation of power by the Naiman prince Kuchlug had weakened the Qara Khitai. When Kuchlug besieged Almaliq, a city belonging to the Karluks, vassals of the Mongol Empire, and killed their ruler Ozar, who was a grandson-in-law to Genghis Khan, Genghis Khan dispatched a force under command of Jebe and Barchuk to pursue Kuchlug. After his force of 30,000 was defeated by Jebe at the Khitan capital Balasagun, Kuchlug faced rebellions over his unpopular rule, forcing him to flee to modern Afghanistan, where he was captured by hunters in 1218. The hunters turned Kuchlug over to the Mongols, who beheaded him. Upon defeating the Qara Khitai, the Mongols now had a direct border with the Khwarazmian Empire, which they would soon invade in 1219.

Contents

Background

After Genghis Khan defeated the Naimans in 1204, Naiman prince Kuchlug fled his homeland to take refuge among the Qara Khitai. The Gurkhan Yelü Zhilugu welcomed Kuchlug into his empire, and Kuchlug became an advisor and military commander, eventually marrying one of the daughters of Zhilugu. However, during a war with the bordering Khawarzmian dynasty, Kuchlug initiated a coup d'état against Zhilegu. After Kuchlug took power, he allowed Zhilegu to rule the Qara Khitai in name only. [1] When the Gurkhan died in 1213, Kuchlug took direct control of the khanate. [1] Originally a Nestorian, once among the Khitai Kuchlug converted to Buddhism and began persecuting the Muslim majority, forcing them to convert to either Buddhism or Christianity, a move which alienated Kuchlug from most of the population. [2] [1]

The invasion was precipitated when Kuchlug besieged the Karluk city of Almaliq, [3] which was a vassal of the Mongol Empire and whose ruler, Ozar, was married to a daughter of Jochi. [4] Ozar was killed, and Kuchlug advanced on the city, which requested aid from Genghis Khan. [3] [5]

Invasion

In 1218, after requesting Muhammad II of Khwarazm not to aid Kuchlug, Genghis Khan dispatched general Jebe with two tumens (20,000 soldiers), along with the Uyghur Barchuk (who was Genghis Khan's son-in-law) and possibly also Arslan Khan, ruler of the Karluk city Qayaliq and another son-in-law of Genghis Khan, to deal with the Qara Khitai threat, while sending Subutai with another two tumens on a simultaneous campaign against the Merkits. [6] [7] [8] The two armies traveled alongside each other through the Altai and Tarbagatai Mountains until arriving at Almaliq. [7] At that point, Subutai turned southwest, destroying the Merkits and protecting Jebe's flank against any sudden attacks from Khwarazm. [9] [10] Jebe relieved Almaliq, then moved south of Lake Balkash into the lands of the Qara Khitai, where he besieged the capital of Balasagun. There, Jebe defeated an army of 30,000 troops and Kuchlug fled to Kashgar. Taking advantage of the unrest fomenting under Kuchlug's rule, Jebe gained support from the Muslim populace by announcing that Kuchlug's policy of religious persecution had ended. When Jebe's army arrived at Kashgar in 1217, the populace revolted and turned on Kuchlug, forcing him to flee for his life. [11] [12] Jebe pursued Kuchlug across the Pamir Mountains into Badakhshan in modern Afghanistan. According to Ata-Malik Juvayni, a group of hunters caught Kuchlug and handed him over to the Mongols, who promptly beheaded him. [13]

Aftermath

Map Asia physical (continental).png
Map of the Mongol Confederation.png
class=notpageimage|
The Mongol homeland and main polities in continental Asia c.1215, on the eve of the Mongol invasion

With the death of Kuchlug, the Mongol Empire secured control over the Qara Khitai. Another segment of the Qara Khitai, from a dynasty founded by Buraq Hajib, survived in Kirman as vassals of the Mongols, but ceased to exist as an entity during the reign of the Mongol Ilkhanid ruler Öljaitü. [14] The Mongols now had a firm outpost in Central Asia directly bordering the Khwarazm Empire. [12] Relations with the Khwarazms would quickly break down, leading to the Mongol invasion of that territory. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1218</span> Calendar year

Year 1218 (MCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.

The Kara-Khanid Khanate, also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids, was a Karluk Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek Khanids refer to royal titles with Kara Khagan being the most important Turkic title up until the end of the dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qara Khitai</span> Historical sinicized empire in Central Asia

The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai, also known as the Western Liao, officially the Great Liao, was a dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Yelü clan of the Khitan people. Being a rump state of Liao Empire, Western Liao was culturally Sinicized to a large extent, especially among the elites consisting of Liao refugees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anushtegin dynasty</span> 1077–1260 Persianate Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin

The Anushtegin dynasty or Anushteginids, also known as the Khwarazmian dynasty was a Persianate Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin from the Bekdili clan of the Oghuz Turks. The Anushteginid dynasty ruled the Khwarazmian Empire, consisting in large parts of present-day Central Asia, Afghanistan and Iran in the approximate period of 1077 to 1231, first as vassals of the Seljuks and the Qara Khitai, and later as independent rulers, up until the Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire in the 13th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toghrul</span> Mongol chieftain, khan of the Keraites (c. 1130–1203)

Toghrul, also known as Wang Khan or Ong Khan was a khan of the Keraites. He was the blood brother (anda) of the Mongol chief Yesugei and served as an important early patron and ally to Yesugei's son Temüjin, later known as Genghis Khan. The main source on his life is The Secret History of Mongols.

The Karluks were a prominent nomadic Turkic tribal confederacy residing in the regions of Kara-Irtysh and the Tarbagatai Mountains west of the Altay Mountains in Central Asia. Karluks gave their name to the distinct Karluk group of the Turkic languages, which also includes the Uzbek, Uyghur and Ili Turki languages.

Yelü Dashi, courtesy name Zhongde (重德), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Dezong of Western Liao (西遼德宗), was the founder of the Western Liao dynasty. He initially ruled as king from 1124 to 1132, then as emperor from 1132 to 1143. He was also known in Muslim sources as Nūshī Taifū, Qushqin Taifū or Qushqīn, son of Baighū. He fled the Liao dynasty in northern China as it was on the verge of destruction by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty and moved westward into Central Asia where he established a new empire.

Kuchlug was a member of the Naiman tribe who became the last emperor of the Western Liao dynasty. The Naimans were defeated by Genghis Khan and he fled westward to the Qara Khitai, where he became an advisor to his future father-in-law Yelü Zhilugu. He later rebelled, usurped the throne and took control of the empire, putting an end to the rule of the House of Yelü. He was killed in 1218 by the Mongols and the domain of the Qara Khitai was absorbed into the Mongol Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genghis Khan</span> Founder of the Mongol Empire (c. 1162–1227)

Genghis Khan, also romanised as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire, which he ruled from 1206 until his death in 1227; it later became the largest contiguous empire in history. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongol tribes, he launched a series of military campaigns, conquering large parts of China and Central Asia.

The Mongol invasion of Khwarazmia took place between 1219 and 1221, when the Mongol forces under Genghis Khan invaded the lands of the Khwarazmian Empire in Central Asia. The campaign, which followed the annexation of the Qara Khitai Khanate, saw widespread devastation and atrocities. The invasion marked the completion of the Mongol conquest of Central Asia, and began the Mongol conquest of Persia.

Mongol campaigns in Central Asia occurred after the unification of the Mongol and Turkic tribes on the Mongolian plateau in 1206. Smaller military operations of the Mongol Empire in Central Asia included the destruction of surviving Merkit and Naimans and the conquest of Qara Khitai. These were followed by a major campaign against Khwarazm. Expansion into Central Asia began in 1209 as Genghis Khan sent an expedition to pursue rivals who had fled to the region and threatened his new empire. The Uyghur kingdom Qocho and leaders of the Karluks submitted voluntarily to the Mongol Empire and married into the imperial family. By 1218 the Mongols controlled all of Xinjiang and by 1221 all the territories of the former Khwarazmian Empire. In 1236, the Mongols defeated the eastern portions of Cumania and swept into Eastern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mongol invasion of Persia and Mesopotamia</span>

The Mongol conquest of Persia comprised three Mongol campaigns against Islamic states in the Middle East and Central Asia between 1219 and 1258. These campaigns led to the termination of the Khwarazmian dynasty, the Nizari Ismaili state, and the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad, and the establishment of the Mongol Ilkhanate government in their place in Persia.

The Khwarazmian or Khwarezmian Empire was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim empire of Turkic mamluk origin. Khwarazmians ruled large parts of present-day Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran in the approximate period of 1077 to 1231, first as vassals of the Seljuk Empire and the Qara Khitai, and from circa 1190 as independent rulers, up until the Mongol conquest in 1219–1221.

In the 13th century, the Mongol Empire launched several military expeditions in the region of Siberia as part of its invasions and conquests. The first campaigns in North Asia involved the rise of Genghis Khan in the first decade of the 13th century and the early territorial expansion of his empire into South Central and southern Western Siberia. Even this early period of expansion gained the Mongol Empire access to trade and tribute all the way north to the Arctic Ocean. Expansion throughout North Asia and into historic Manchuria continued throughout the 13th century, including against northern possessions of Cumania and the Jin dynasty, and into as late as the early 14th century with the securing of the Sakhalin peninsula.

Yelü Zhilugu was the third emperor of the Western Liao dynasty, ruling from 1177 to 1211. As the final ruler from the House of Yelü, he is considered by traditional Chinese sources to be the last monarch of the Western Liao dynasty.

The rise of Genghis Khan involves the events from his birth as Temüjin in 1162 until 1206, when he was bestowed the title of "Genghis Khan", which means something along the lines of "Universal Ruler" or "Oceanic Ruler" by the Quriltai, which was an assembly of Mongol Chieftains.

The Irghiz River skirmish was a minor engagement fought between forces of the Khwarazmian Empire and the Mongol Empire during the early 13th century. While the occurrence of the skirmish itself is well-attested, its precise dating is uncertain, since the major chroniclers of the period give differing accounts. Modern historians have proposed two possible dates: 1209 or 1219. The background events are similar for each possible date: Genghis Khan, khagan of the Mongols, sent an army under his general Subutai to attack hostile forces in the former lands of the Qara-Khitai dynasty. Shah Muhammad, the ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire, received news of large armies operating along his northern borders and set out to confront them.

There were many wives and concubines of Genghis Khan, as was common for powerful Mongol men of the time. Wives and concubines were frequently acquired from conquered territory, and, in the case of Genghis Khan, sometimes whole empires, and the women enrolled as either his wives or concubines were often princesses or queens that were either taken captive or gifted to him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otrar Catastrophe</span> Siege and capture of Otrar by Mongol Empire

The Otrar Catastrophe was a siege that took place between December 1219 and February 1220 during the Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire at Otrar, a large trading city on the Syr Darya river. Inalchuq, the city's governor, had seized the goods of a Mongol trade caravan the previous year; after more provocations from Inalchuq's liege and ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire, Shah Muhammad II, Genghis Khan launched a full-scale invasion of the empire.

The Battle of the Irtysh River or Battle Along the Buqdarma was a battle between the Mongol Empire and remnants of the Merkit and Naimans, fought at the junction of the Bukhtarma with the Irtysh in late 1208 or very early 1209. The Merkit had a longstanding rivalry with the Borjigin, the family of Genghis Khan, and together with the Naimans opposed Genghis Khan's rise to power. The Battle of Chakirmaut in 1204 shattered the forces of the Merkit-Naimans alliance and the survivors fled into southern Western Siberia. When Jochi, the son of Genghis, led an expedition into Siberia to subjugate what the Mongols called the "Forest Peoples", he encountered the remnant armies of the Merkits and Naimans at the Irtysh and soundly defeated them, shattering the alliance. The Merkit commander Toqto'a was slain and the Naiman leader Kuchlug fled.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Golden 2011, p. 82.
  2. ↑ Morgan 2007, p. 54.
  3. 1 2 Soucek 2000, Chapter 6 – Seljukids and Ghazvanids.
  4. ↑ Broadbridge, Anne F. (2018). Women and the Making of the Mongol Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 123–124, 145. ISBN   978-1-108-42489-9.
  5. ↑ Broadbridge, 2018, pp. 155-156
  6. ↑ Lococo 2008, p. 75.
  7. 1 2 Gabriel 2004, p. 70.
  8. ↑ Broadbridge, 2018, pp. 122-123, 155-156
  9. ↑ Lococo 2008, p. 76.
  10. ↑ Gabriel 2004, pp. 70–71.
  11. ↑ Turnbull 2003, p. 16.
  12. 1 2 3 Beckwith 2009, pp. 187–188.
  13. ↑ Juvayni c. 1260.
  14. ↑ Biran 2005, p. 87.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.