Mongol conquest of Persia & Mesopotamia
Part of theMongol invasions and conquests
TheSiege of Baghdad, in which the Mongols decisively secured their hegemony over Mesopotamia
Date 1219–1258 Location Central Asia,Khorasan,Mesopotamia,Persia Result Mongol victory
Belligerents
Mongol Empire Golden Horde(1253–1258)[1]	Khwarazmian Empire Abbasid Caliphate Nizari Ismaili state

TheMongol conquest of Persiaand Mesopotamia comprised threeMongol campaigns againstIslamic states in theMiddle East andCentral Asia between 1219 and 1258. These campaigns led to the termination of theKhwarazmian Empire, theNizari Ismaili state, and theAbbasid Caliphate ofBaghdad, and the establishment of the MongolIlkhanate government in their place inPersia.

Genghis Khan had unified theMongolic peoples andconquered theWestern Xia state in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. After a series of diplomatic provocations on the part ofMuhammad II, the ruler of the neighbouringKhwarazmian Empire, the Mongols launched an invasion in 1219. The invaders laid waste to theTransoxianan cities ofBukhara,Samarkand, andGurganj in turn, before obliterating the region ofKhorasan, slaughtering the inhabitants ofHerat,Nishapur, andMerv, three of the largest cities in the world. Muhammad died destitute on an island in theCaspian Sea. His son and successor,Jalal al-Din, tried to resist the Mongols, butwas defeated and forced into exile. Genghis returned to hiscampaign against the Jin dynasty in 1223, only retaining governance of the northern Khwarazmian regions.

The war had been one of the bloodiest in human history, with total casualties estimated to be between two and fifteen million people. The next three decades saw conflicts of lesser scale but equal destruction in the region. Soon after his accession to thekhaganate in 1227,Ögedei Khan sent an army underChormaqan Noyan to end Jalal al-Din's renewed resistance and subjugate several minor polities in Persia. This was carried out gradually: Jalal al-Din was killed in 1231, withIsfahan andMaragheh being besieged and captured the same year;Erbil was captured in 1234; andGeorgiawas gradually subjugated and vassalised before Chormaqan's death in 1241. Several other Persian towns and cities, such asHamadan,Ray, andArdabil, were also captured by the Mongols.

The final stage began in 1254. On the orders of his brother,Möngke Khan,Hulagusystematically captured the fortresses of theNizari Ismaili state in northern Persia, seizing their capital ofAlamut in 1256. In 1258, Hulagu marched on theAbbasid Caliphate ofBaghdad;capturing the city, he ended the 500-year-oldAbbasid dynasty by killing thecaliphAl-Musta'sim, marking the end of theIslamic Golden Age. Persia would later become the heartland of the MongolIlkhanate.

After the fall of theSeljuks ofPersian Iraq, with the defeat ofToghrul III byAla al-Din Tekish (the father of ShahMuhammad), a severe enmity arose over the governance ofWestern Iran between theAbbasid caliphAl-Nasir and Ala al-Din Tekish. These conflicts continued during the reign of Shah Muhammad, and Western Iran became the battleground of the Khwarazmian troops and the caliphate troops. In order to destroy theKhwarazmian Empire, Al-Nasir not only provoked theGhurids and fanatical religious scholars fromTransoxiana against it, but also asked help from theNizari Ismaili state, theQara Khitai andMongol tribes. These actions eventually not only led to the overthrow of the Khwarazmian Empire, but also the subsequent overthrow of the Abbasid government.^[2]: 338

Simultaneously with the coronation ofShah Muhammad, theGhurids captured the remaining lands of theGhaznavids andKhorasan cities such asBalkh. Shah Muhammad defeated the Ghurid dynasty in 1212 and capturedGhazni in 1215, thus he extended the border of his territory toIndia from the east. In 1209, he conqueredMazandaran, which had been held by theBavands for a long time. In the 12th century, a group ofKhitan people fromNorth China who wereBuddhists, had formed a large political entity in the province ofKashgar andHotan calledQara Khitai. In order to block their expansionism, theKhwarazmians had agreed to pay them a yearly tribute. This custom continued until the times of Shah Muhammad, but then he refused to pay tribute to the "polytheist" king. Shah Muhammad fought three times with the Qara Khitai. At last in 1210, the Shah asked for help fromKuchlug, a prince and leader of theNaimans, in order to defeat the Qara Khitai. Kuchlug defeated them inTransoxiana and conqueredBukhara andSamarkand, usurping theQara Khitai Empire from his father-in-lawYelü Zhilugu.^{[3]: 22–25 [4]}

After conqueringTransoxiana,Kuchlug alienated both his subjects and theKhwarazmian Empire with anti-Muslim measures. As a Mongol detachment led byJebe hunted Kuchlug down, he fled; meanwhile,Muhammad was able tovassalize the territories ofBalochistan andMakran in modern-dayPakistan andIran, and to gain the allegiance of theEldiguzids.^[5]

After extending the borders of the Khwarazmian Empire from the north-east and east toKashgar and theSindh, ShahMuhammad decided to conquer the west, i.e.Iraq. At that time, these lands were in the hands of theEldiguzids andSalghurids, and the authority of theAbbasid caliph's clergymen remained partly in these two regions. Shah Muhammad was at enmity with the Abbasid caliph, because the caliph asked for help from the Ismailis and theQara Khitai to overthrow his rule and also because the shah wanted the authority of the Khwarazmians sentence inBaghdad. As a result of this dispute and enmity, Shah Muhammad received afatwa from the scholars of his country that "Bani Abbas" do not deserve the caliphate and one of "Husayni Sadat" (a person from the generation ofImam Husayn) should be chosen for this position. Therefore, he declared the caliph deposed and ordered that the name of the Abbasid caliph should not be mentioned in sermons and not be inserted on coins, and appointed one of theTermezi Alawi Sadats, as the caliphate. In 1217, Shah Muhammad marched towardsBaghdad, but because it was winter, his troops suffered a lot from the snow and cold in the Asadabad pass betweenKermanshah andHamadan, and thus he returned toKhorasan.^{[3]: 22–25 [5]}

Genghis Khan conqueredBeijing after raidingnorthern China. Then he forced theUyghur clans to obey him,Kuchlug Khan, the leader of theNaiman tribes, who had dominated the lands of theQara Khitai tribes, was driven from there, and thus Genghis found a common border with theKhwarazmian Empire, whose eastern border had reached these areas. Genghis was very interested in the spread of commerce and the movement of merchants, therefore he encouraged commerce and tried to establish friendly relations with ShahMuhammad II, whom he considered as a powerful king. So, he sent a group of his merchants headed byMahmud Yalavach with gifts to visit Shah Muhammad and inform him about the size of his country, prosperity of his possessions, and the strength of his army. Shah Muhammad, who was trying to expand Khwarazmia's territory, got angry that Genghis had called him "his son" in his letter, but Mahmud Yalavach quelled his anger and made him agree to establish friendly relations with Genghis Khan.^[6]

In this way, the first ambassador of Shah Muhammad was accepted inBeijing, and Genghis declared trade between theMongols andKhwarazmians as a necessity for establishing friendly relations. During this situation, a number ofMuslim merchants from Shah Muhammad's territory took some goods to theMongol Empire, and although Genghis treated them violently at the beginning of their arrival, he finally appeased them and sent them back with respect. At the time that they were returning in 1218, a number of Mongol merchants, whose number reached 450 and apparently most of them were Muslims, was sent by Genghis with some goods and a letter containing his advice and request to establish relations between the two governments. ButInalchuq, the ruler ofOtrar who was the nephew ofTerken Khatun (Shah Muhammad's mother) and supported by her, was greedy for the wealth of the merchants and arrested the Mongol merchants on the charge of espionage on the border of the territory under his rule, and then with the permission of Shah Muhammad, who was inPersian Iraq at that time, massacred all these merchants.^[7]: 522 Then the officials of theKhwarazmian Empire sold the cargo of the caravan, which included 500 camels of gold, silver, Chinese silk artefacts, precious skins and such on, and sent the resulting amount to the capital of the Khwarazmian government.^{[8]: 701 [9]}

When the news of Otrar incident reached Genghis Khan, he decided to control his anger and made his last attempt to gain satisfaction through diplomacy. He sent a Muslim, who was previously in the service ofAla al-Din Tekish and was accompanied by two Mongols, to protest against the performance ofInalchuq and requested to surrender him to the Mongols.^[10]: 305 Shah Muhammad didn't want to surrender Inalchuq because most of the leaders of the Khwarazmian army were his relatives, and alsoTerken Khatun who had influence in the Khwarazmian court was supporting him. Therefore, Shah Muhammad not only did not accept Genghis Khan's request, but also executed his Muslim envoy who came toSamarkand, the capital of theKhwarazmian Empire, and sent his companions back to Genghis Khan with their beards and mustaches cut off. This bellicose behavior of Shah Muhammad accelerated theMongol invasion of Central Asia.^{[8]: 701 [11]} Historians cite the fact that Genghis was already bogged down inhis war against the Jin in China, and that he had to deal with theHoi-yin Irgen rebellion inSiberia in 1216, so he didn't want to start another war.^[12]

The Mongols had a need for the goods of more advanced regions; therefore, it was very important for them to keep trade routes open since ancient times.^[3]: 569 From the beginning of his monarchy, Genghis Khan attached great importance to commerce because he needed to procure weapons fromIndia andDamascus; he also needed markets to sell Mongolian and Chinese products. But the conflict betweenShah Muhammad andKuchlug Khan, the leader of theNaimans, had caused the closure of the roads and the interruption between the east and west trade. At the same time as this interruption in the land routes, the sea route of thePersian Gulf was also blocked due to the war between the ruler ofKish and the ruler ofHormuz, which resulted in a trade crisis in theCentral Asian region. The merchants wanted the end of the conflicts and the opening of the roads. Hence, during the Mongols' attacks, some Muslim merchants helped Genghis to progress to the west. To solve this crisis,Kuchlug Khan was killed by the Mongols in 1218. Shah Muhammad didn't care to the importance of trade relations with theFar East and the significance of the location of his lands on theSilk Road, and he was indifferent to the merchants' needs and Genghis' wishes, so after removing Kuchlug Khan, it was Shah Muhammad's turn.^[13]

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ِDespiteMuhammad II's apparent authority, he was unprepared to defend his polity in case of theMongol attack. During preparations for the war, he collected taxes from his people three times in one year, causing dissatisfaction and unrest among the population.^[8]: 707 Before the invasion, Shah Muhammad formed a council composed of his army commanders.ImamShahab al-Din Khiyoqi, one of the famous jurists and teachers ofKhwarazm, proposed to bring as many soldiers as possible from different corners of the empire and prevent Mongols from crossingSyr Darya (medievalArabs called this riverSeyhan) but the commanders of the Khwarazmian army did not fancy his plan. They suggested that they wait for the Mongols to arrive toTransoxiana and reach the difficult straits. They also proposed to attack the Mongols when they would be having certain difficulties considering their supposed lack of knowledge of the loсal terrain. The Shah didn't give importance to the counsel of Shahab al-Din, and accepted the plan of scattering his troops to protect major cities of the empire. In the meanwhile, Shah Muhammad left forBalkh.^{[3]: 39 [10]: 306}

In September 1219,Genghis Khan arrived atOtrar, on the border of theKhwarazmian territory, and divided his forces into three parts; He assigned one part to his sonsÖgedei andChagatai to besiege Otrar, sent another part under the command ofJochi to take the cities around theSyr Darya towards the city ofJand, and he himself moved towardsBukhara with his sonTolui at the head of the main forces.^[8]: 702 Genghis always used the services of advisers, roadmen and merchants during his campaigns. Therefore, there was always a group ofMuslim merchants who were familiar with the roads ofKhwarazmia, and were in his camp for their advice.^[14] Also, after the start of the invasion, some of the commanders of Khwarazmia who were hostile to the Shah, likeBadr al-Din Omid, whose father and uncle were killed by the order of Shah Muhammad, also joined the Mongol army and gave a lot of information to Genghis Khan about the situation in the Shah's court and the roads. From the method of attack, the division of the army and other decisions of Genghis Khan, it can be said that Genghis was really well familiar with the geographical situation ofTransoxania.^{[3]: 41, 91}

In 1220,Genghis Khan attackedBukhara with the main forces of his army.Shah Muhammad was caught completely unaware. He had anticipated that Genghis would attackSamarkand first, where both his field army and the garrison stationed at Bukhara would relieve the siege. The Khan's march through theKyzylkum Desert had left the Shah's field army impotent, unable to either engage the enemy or help his people.^[15] The Khan faced strong resistance from the defenders of the city; But this resistance did not last long. The city fell in less than two weeks, because the city's communication routes were cut off from all sides, and so they Inevitably gave up their resistance. After capturingBukhara, the Mongol invaders killed thousands of unarmed and defenseless citizens and took the rest as slaves.^{[4]: 34 [8]: 702 [16]: 133} Genghis Khan summoned the elders of Bukhara and told them that the purpose of summoning them is to collect the assets that Shah Muhammad had sold to merchants (The Otrar Incident), because these objects belonged to the Mongols. They brought all the property they had from the Otrar caravan and handed them over to Genghis Khan.^[3]: 44 Then they took the road toSamarkand.

Shah Muhammad greatly emphasized the defense ofSamarkand and had gathered a large force in this city and the fortifications of the city had been repaired. According to various historians, between 50,000 and 110,000 soldiers had gathered in Samarkand to defend the city. It seems that the city could have resisted the siege for several years. On the third day of the siege, a group of the city's defenders came out of their positions and attacked the enemy. They killed some of the Mongol soldiers, but then they were surrounded by the enemy, and most of them perished on the battlefield. This unsuccessful attack had an unfortunate effect on the morale of the defenders. Some influential people of the city decided to surrender and sent theqadi andShaykh al-Islām of the city to Genghis Khan to talk about surrender. Finally, they opened the gates of the city to the enemy, and Genghis' army entered the city and massacred and looted the people. After the attack, the city of Samarkand became a ruin and was deserted.^{[8]: 703 [15]}Mongol soldiers took the city ofOtrar after a decisive attack, but the fortress of Otrar resisted for a month (according to some documents, six months). After taking the fortress of Otrar, Mongols killed all the defenders of the city and the fortress.^{[8]: 702 [10]: 307}

• Martin, Janet (2007).Medieval Russia: 980–1584. Second Edition. E-book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-511-36800-4.

• 13th-century conflicts
• 13th-century Islam
• 13th century in Iran
• Military expeditions
• Khwarazmian Empire
• Invasions of Iran
• Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire

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