| Mongol conquest of the Qara Khitai | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theMongol campaigns in Central Asia | |||||||||
 Mongol conquest of Qara Khitai (Western Liao) and other Chinese regimes | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Mongol Empire | Qara Khitai | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Jebe | Kuchlug  | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 20,000 | Total unknown, over 30,000 | ||||||||
TheMongol Empire conquered theQara Khitai (Western Liao Empire) in the year 1218 AD. Prior to the invasion, war with theKhwarazmian Empire and the usurpation of power by theNaiman princeKuchlug had weakened the Qara Khitai. When Kuchlug besiegedAlmaliq, a city belonging to theKarluks, vassals of the Mongol Empire, and killed their ruler Ozar, who was a grandson-in-law toGenghis Khan, Genghis Khan dispatched a force under command ofJebe and Barchuk to pursue Kuchlug. After his force of over 30,000 was defeated by Jebe at the Khitan capitalBalasagun, Kuchlug faced rebellions over his unpopular rule, forcing him to flee to modernAfghanistan, 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 theKhwarazmian Empire, which they would sooninvade in 1219.
AfterGenghis Khan defeated theNaimans in 1204, Naiman princeKuchlug fled his homeland to take refuge among the Qara Khitai. TheGurkhan 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 acoup 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 aNestorian, once among the Khitai Kuchlug converted toBuddhism and began persecuting theMuslim 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 theKarluk city ofAlmaliq,[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]
In 1218, after requesting Muhammad II of Khwarazm not to aid Kuchlug, Genghis Khan dispatched general Jebe with twotumens (20,000 soldiers), along with theUyghur Barchuk (who was Genghis Khan's son-in-law) and possibly alsoArslan 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 theAltai andTarbagatai 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 ofLake Balkash into the lands of the Qara Khitai, where he besieged the capital ofBalasagun. There, Jebe defeated an army of 30,000 troops and Kuchlug fled toKashgar. 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 thePamir Mountains intoBadakhshan in modernAfghanistan. According toAta-Malik Juvayni, a group of hunters caught Kuchlug and handed him over to the Mongols, who promptly beheaded him.[13]
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With the death of Kuchlug, the Mongol Empire secured control over the Qara Khitai. Another segment of the Qara Khitai, from a dynasty founded byBuraq Hajib (theQutlugh-Khanids), survived inKirman as vassals of the Mongols, but ceased to exist as an entity during the reign of the MongolIlkhanid rulerÖljaitü.[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 theMongol invasion of that territory.[12]