CHAPTER XXII
Mongol Invasion of Central Asia
Tāi Yāng Khān, king of the Christian tribe of Naimans, alarmed at the growing power of the young ruler, sent Alakush-Tekin, chief of the Onguts, or white Tatars, an invitation to join him against the ambitious Mongol. Alakush-Tekin immediately informed Chingiz of the Naimans’ intentions, assuring him at the same time of his own friendly feeling. Chingiz promptly marched against Tāi Yāng, who descended from the Altai to the foot of the Khanggai Mountains, attended by many allies, among whom was Tukta, king of the Merkits.[362] In the battle which took place the Naimans were utterly routed. Among the prisoners who fell into the hands of the Mongols was Tatatungo, the chancellor of Tāi Yāng, who belonged to the Uïghūr tribe, and tradition attributes to his influence the veneer of civilisation of the Mongols; and it is certain that Chingiz caused him to instruct his sons in the language, laws, and customs of the Uïghūrs.[363]
Tāi Yāng Khān perished in this battle, while his son Guchluk fled by way of Bish Bālik to the country of the Gūr-Khān of Kara-Khitāy.[364] After wandering for some time and enduring great privations, he at length arrived at the court of the Gūr-Khān (1208). He was hospitably received, and the Khān gave him his daughter in marriage; but the favours showered on him did not prevent his plotting to dethrone his benefactor. He obtained permission to enlist the remnants of the Naiman tribe, and thus collected a considerable force; then he entered into a league with Mohammad Shāh of Khwārazm, and `Othmān, prince of Samarkand, who, as we have seen above, were both vassals of the Gūr-Khān. They arranged that they should attack their Gūr-Khān suzerain simultaneously, the one from the east and the other from the west. The conditions determined on were that if Sultan Mohammad should be the first to gain a victory, Almāligh, Khotan, and Kāshghar, which were in Guchluk’s hands, should be ceded to him; but if, on the other hand, Guchluk should win the initial success, Kara-Khitāy, as far as Fināket, should be delivered over to him.[365] Guchluk arrived before the Sultan, and was at first successful, but was afterwards defeated on his way to attack Balāsāghūn, and obliged to retreat. In the meantime the troops of Mohammad and `Othmān had entered Kara-Khitāy, and gained a victory over the Gūr-Khān’s general, Tanigū, near the city of Tarāz. Guchluk, taking advantage of this reverse, hurried back, surprised the Gūr-Khān, and took him prisoner, A.H. 608 (1212). Two years later the Gūr-Khān died, at a very advanced age. Guchluk, now firmly established on the throne of Kara-Khitāy, reduced his new subjects to complete obedience. He was a cruel persecutor of Islām, being himself a Nestorian Christian until his marriage with the Gūr-Khān’s daughter, when he became a Buddhist.[366]
Chingiz had been occupied since the overthrow of the Naimans with the conquest of China, and “though it was reserved for his grandson to complete the subjugation of the Celestial Empire,[367] a great part of the northern provinces ... was added to the Mongol dominions during the great Khān’s own lifetime.”[368]
In 1218 he despatched an army 20,000 strong, under Noyan Chebe, to attack Guchluk Khān in Kāshghar. Hearing of their approach, Guchluk fled, but was shortly afterwards overtaken in the mountains of Badakhshān and put to death. He was, as we have seen, a bigot, and especially intolerant in his dealings with Mohammedans. The Mongols proclaimed religious liberty, and thereby ensured for themselves the favour of the people.[369]
After the downfall of the Kara-Khitāys the possessions of Mohammad of Khwārazm extended into the heart of Turkestān, with Samarkand as a capital. Those of Guchluk Khān were restricted to Kāshghar, Khotan, and Yarkand.[370]
Chingiz’s relations with his powerful neighbour in Khwārazm were long of a peaceful and even friendly nature, but causes were at work which altered them radically.[371] Abū-l-Ghāzi states[372] that the Caliph Nāsir’s intense jealousy of the northern empire led him to adopt every means in his power to weaken it, and that he invited Chingiz to attack Sultan Mohammad. It is probable that this perfidious policy caused a coldness between the two potentates; but the immediate cause of rupture was an act for which the Khwāarazm Sultan was alone responsible. He cruelly slew, at Otrār, some Mohammedan traders who had incurred his animosity, in spite of the fact that they were travelling under Chingiz’s protection. The avalanches which descended on the habitable world in the twelfth century were thus set in motion by princes whose interest required that the vast forces controlled by Chingiz should remain pent up in their native steppes.
In A.H. 615 (1218) he set out for Otrār, determined to avenge the insult offered by Sultan Mohammad, and on his way was joined by large reinforcements of Karliks, Uïghūr and other Mongol tribes, eager to share in the plunder of the West.[373] On reaching that goal he divided his forces among his sons, and laid down for each the object of attack.
Ogdāy and Chaghatāy were to reduce Otrār; Jūjī Khān was despatched in the direction of Jand; while two of his generals, with 5000 men, were sent to attack Fināket and Khojend. With the remainder of his forces Chingiz himself, accompanied by his son Tūlī, set out for Bokhārā,[374] and arrived at that capital in A.H. 616 (1219), having carried all before him on his march. No sooner had he appeared than the garrison, 20,000 strong, fled towards Khwārazm, but were overtaken on the banks of the Oxus and cut to pieces by the Mongols sent in their pursuit. Meanwhile the shaykhs and mullās of Bokhārā sallied forth and presented the keys of the town to Chingiz Khān, who made a formal entry, penetrated the courtyard of the principal mosque on horseback, and asked whether this fine building was Sultan Mohammad’s palace. On being told that it was God’s house he dismounted, and, ascending the pulpit, hurled the Koran beneath his horse’s feet. He next insisted that the inhabitants should deliver up their hidden treasures. Here his destroying hand would have been stayed had he not learnt that some remnants of Sultan Mohammad’s garrison were still in hiding. In order to compass their death he ordered the city, which was mainly built of wood, to be given to the flames. His behests were obeyed, and Bokhārā for a time ceased to exist. Chingiz, however, caused it to be rebuilt.[375]
Meanwhile success had attended all his other army corps; and Otrār, Jand, and Khojend, together with many other towns, submitted to the Mongols. The sons and generals of Chingiz now joined the main body, and their united forces together marched on Samarkand. Before the end of the year A.H. 616 (1219) this great city, after a three days’ siege, fell. The garrison was put to the sword, and Samarkand was given over to reckless pillage.