Dictionary of Battles / From the Earliest Date to the Present Time

by Thomas Benfield Harbottle

Bokhara (Tartar Invasion of Kharismia).

This city was besieged by the Tartar army under Genghis Khan in March, 1220, and was held by a Kharismian garrison. On the approach of the Tartars, however, the Kharismian general, with the whole garrison, 20,000 strong, fled from the place, and the Bokhariots, having no means of defending themselves, opened the gates to Genghis. The Governor held out for a short time in the citadel, which was finally fired and destroyed.