Northwards towards the Caspian Sea | The Mongol Empire: Part XXXI

[By Chuck Almdale]
[NOTE: If maps, pictures and legends don’t display properly, go to the blog.]

The Shah heads North

Shah flight map 13. Shah flees castle Qarun near Hamedan, heads west down the Baghdad road. Suddenly leaves road and heads north to castle Sarcharhan east of Zanjan.

Later that day — perhaps even while Jebe and 15,000 Mongol cavalrymen were still storming castle Qarun in the mountains south of Hamedan — the Khwarazmshah made an important decision and told several of his guides that their services were no longer needed. They should turn around and head back to Hamedan. Shortly thereafter, the Shah — now a few guides lighter and probably around a bend in the road and out-of-sight — turned off the main road and headed north towards the stronghold of castle Sarchahan, located somewhere near the city of Zanjan, in the mountains between Sa’in-Qal’a and Sultaniyeh (200 miles N of Arak, 150 miles NW of Tehran). [Remember, according to Juvayni, the other (first) battle of Sujas was fought in Zanjan province. The two stories are beginning to blur together.] Soon enough, Jebe and his troops came riding down the road, inquiring of all they met if perhaps they’d seen the Shah. The two guides had, and the Shah was well on his way thataway to Baghdad! Jebe commandeered the guides and went far enough down the road to Baghdad road to suspect he’d been misdirected. He had the less-than-useless guides executed, and turned back.

The Shah’s trail now lost, Jebe returned with his troops to Hamedan. From there he reportedly went to Sujas [Sojas, 110 miles NW of Hamedan, 160 m west of Tehran] where he destroyed a “large concentration of troops loyal to the Shah” under the command of two of the Shah’s generals.

Jebe pursuit map 14. Jebe’s routes around Hamedan. Route southwest from Ray to Hamedan, southeast towards Arak to Dowlatabad battle, back to Hamedan, southwest towards Baghdad, back to Hamedan, north towards Zanjan where at Sujas he defeats ‘troops loyal to the Shah.’

I said the story got muddied.

Shah flight and Jebe pursuit map 15. Shah (purple line) leaves castle Qarun heading towards Baghdad, Jebe 1 hour behind. Shah veers north, loses Jebe. Jebe (tan line) returns to Hamedan, Shah goes north to castle Sarcharhan. Jebe heads north next day; at Sujas he meets in battle ‘troops loyal to the Shah.’ Jebe wins. Shah’s whereabouts now unknown.

Here’s how I make sense of this purported sequence of events. Most likely the first battle at Sujas between Jebe and “troops loyal to the Shah” didn’t happen at all and the battle on the ‘plain of Dawlatabad’ did take place. The Khwarazmian troops at Dawlatabad would be those of Rukn al-Din, led by the Shah and/or Rukn al-Din. Badly beaten, the Shah, probably with Rukn al-Din and some others, escaped after battling with Jebe and fled to castle Qarun. Presumably the Shah’s mother, harem and family are still at this castle at this time. They must have immediately left for a ‘secure location’ in the Elburz Mountains on the southern border of Mazandaran province, because there is no further mention of them at castle Qarun.

The Shah left this castle on the following day, heading west, and Jebe arrived one hour later and storms the castle. Jebe learns the Shah has left. (I can see the castle defenders shouting from the walls, “He’s not here. He went thataway, to Baghdad, only an hour ago! If you leave now you can catch him on the road!”) Now hot on the trail of the Shah, Jebe sets off after the Shah. Somewhere down the road he met the Shah’s misdirecting guides, who probably believed the Shah had continued to Baghdad. It’s easier to be convincing when you believe your story is true, and torture cannot elicit a truer story. Farther down the road and out of sight the Shah turns north onto a side road. Jebe continued west. Eventually realizing he’d been duped — no one can outride the Mongols for long — Jebe gave up on Baghdad and returned to Hamedan.

The Friday Mosque of Sojas; Seljuk era c. 1100 CE.
Source: TehranTimes – Mosque Sojas

Jebe then got word – probably through his network of spies — that the Shah had gone north. Jebe took his army north where at Sujas he met and defeated whatever was left of Rukn al-Din’s army, now led by Beg-Tegin Silahdar and Küch-Bugha Khan, which had probably been tasked with stopping or at least slowing the inexorable Jebe, perhaps also providing a screen for relocation movements by the Shah. By this time the Shah was either at castle Sarchahan or — as we’ll soon see — had moved farther west to Gilan.

Ruins_of_a_palace_in_Sultanieh (near Sojas) Iran. Painting by Eugène Flandin 1840. Source: Wikipedia – File

Along the shore of the Caspian Sea

The Khwarazmshah stayed at the castle of Sarchahan for a week. He then headed north towards Gilan on the southwest corner of the Caspian Sea. [“Gilan” may refer to Gilan province, or to Giladeh, now a village in Gilan province on the Azerbaijani border.] Suluk, a local emir, offered the Shah protection, which the Shah took advantage of for a short while but ultimately rejected.

Rudkhan castle in Gilan first built during Sasanian era (224-651 CE).
Source: Wikipedia – Rudkhan

Incidentally, Iran seems to have more castles per square kilometer than anywhere else on the planet. This incomplete alphabetical list contains 457 of them, and none of the castles or fortresses I tried to locate are on it. This list has the eleven most important castles. Eat your heart out, England and the Danube River!

Woman in traditional Gilan dress.
Source: Wikipedia – Gilan

After another week, he headed east about 200 miles along the south shore of the Caspian Sea through Gilan province and — according to Juvayni — on to Ustundar or Dabu (probably Dabusasht] near Amul in Mazandaran province. Here he lost the last of the treasure he had been carrying with him. Then his mother and harem appear, their whereabouts unknown since they left the castle of Qarun, and the Shah sends them all off to the castles of Larijan and Ilal in the Elburz Mountains on the southern border of Mazandaran.

Shah flight map 16. Shah (purple line) leaves castle Sarcharhan south of Zanjan, heads north to Ardehil, hides out 1 week at Gilandeh [town] or Gilan [region, now province]. Then he heads south down coast to Dabu near Amul. Then east to ‘island 1,’ then onward to Ashooredeh Island.

Again he consulted the local emirs as to where he should find refuge for himself. Local emirs always seemed to be full of suggestions which necessitated the Shah moving elsewhere. They suggested an island in the Caspian Sea. Now with only a handful of servants and bodyguards in tow he went to this island, but word soon spread of his presence and he moved to another nearby island.

Google satellite photo, southeast corner of Caspian Sea. Long salt marsh (and/or sand island) separates Gorgan Gulf (Astarabad Bay) from the sea. ‘Island 1’ likely part of this sand/marsh feature.

Shah flight map 17. Shah (purple line) leaves Dabu for ‘island 1,’ then moves onward to Ashooredeh Island. Illustrated route by boat along south side of marsh/sand island is conjectured, but would maximize secrecy and safety.

This second island was so close to the shore that supplies could be obtained quickly and frequently. The historian Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold concluded this island was near the mouth of the Gorgan River just north of the city of Gorgen. Google satellite map shows Gorgan Gulf [Astarabad Bay] at the southeast corner of the Caspian Sea. Gorgan River empties into the sea on the north side of a small point of land located 3 miles north of Ashooredeh [Ashuradeh] Island.

Satellite photo closeup, Ashooradeh [Aashura Deh] Island. Narrow navigation channel now cuts across the island, with original entrance into Gorgan Gulf at east end of the island, separating it from mainland.

On satellite photos, Ashooredeh island appears to be divided by a canal, with another narrow channel, probably the original channel into Gorgan Gulf, separating it from the eastern shore of the sea. Ashooredeh Island looks more like the end of a narrow peninsula than an island, possibly the result of 800 years of sediment buildup. The first island, if there was one, is probably now part of the peninsula, again due to silt buildup. The only other islands at the southern end of the sea are Ogurja Ada, 130 miles north and now part of Turkmenistan, and Zharskiy, 300 miles northwest, now part of southern Azerbaijan.

Shah flight map 18. Zharskiy and Ogurja Ada islands are too far away to be either of the Shah’s island refuges.

Interactive Google Map. Click on any route or icon and information about it will appear. All routes are at least partially conjectural, as are castle and battleground locations. Purple: Shah; Black: Jebe & Subutai; Tan: Jebe; Green: Subutai; Orange: other; Pale violet: Shah’s proposed trip to Ghanzi; Pink: Shah’s messengers to/from Mela ford. Zoom in/out: scroll or +/-; Details: left click on lines/icons; Move map: left click+hold & move mouse.

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Entire Mongol Empire Series: Click Here
First Installment: Why didn’t the Mongols Conquer Europe in the 13th Century?
Previous Installment: The Khwarazmshah and Jebe meet
Next Installment: The end of the pursuit of the Khwarazmshah

Main Sources
Cambridge History of Iran, The; Volume V, Chapter 4, “Dynastic and Political History of the Il-Khans”. Boyle, John Andrew; pages 302-322 (1968).
Chingas Khan Rides Again: The Mongol Invasion of Bukhara, Samarkand and other Great Cities of the Silk Road, 1215-1221, Chapter 7 – The Flight of the Khwarezmshah; Croner, Don. Ulaanbaatar, Polar Star Books, 2016. Kindle page location 2657-2978
Dan Croner’s World Wide Wanders – Chingis Khan Rides West | Flight of the Khorezmshah | Nishapur | Ray | Hamadan. This blog contains roughly half of chapter 7 of Croner’s book above.

Other Sources
Genghis Khan: The World Conqueror. Djang, Sam, New Horizon Books, 2011.
Wikipedia – Mongol Conquest of Central Asia
Wikipedia – Jalal al-Din
Wikipedia – Jebe
Wikipedia – Khwarazmian Empire
Wikipedia – Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire
Wikipedia – Muhammad II of Khwarazm
Wikipedia – Subutai
Wikimili – Terken Khatun
Wikipedia – Terken Khatun

The Khwarazmshah and Jebe meet | The Mongol Empire: Part XXX

[By Chuck Almdale]
[NOTE: If maps, pictures and legends don’t display properly, go to the blog.]

Khwarazmshah Decisions

Luristan today. Source: NationalGeographicUK – Luristan

When Khwarazmshah Ala ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Abul-Fath Muhammad Sanjar ibn Tekish [Shah Muhammad II or just “Shah”] returned to Castle Farrazin from his inspection of the bastion of Kuh-i Ushturan in the High Zagros Mountains, he found the ruler of Luristan, Nusrat al-Din, waiting for him. Luristan, ruled by a Kurdish clan, was still a part — or perhaps a vassal — of the Khwarazmian Empire, and Nusrat al-Din kissed the ground in front of the shah seven times to show the high esteem in which he held the Khwarazmshah, but nothing of import was discussed. Later Nusrat al-Din advised that the Khwarazmshah should head to another mountain valley, one rich and fertile, on the border of Luristan and Fars, and probably the Shi‘b-i Bavvan, famed as one of the Four Earthly Paradises. He urged:

“Let us go there and make our asylum…We shall muster a hundred thousand foot-soldiers out of Luristan, Shuristan, and Fars and set men at all the approaches to the mountain. When the Mongol army arrives, we shall advance against them with a stout heart and fight a good fight. As for the Sultan’s army, which has suddenly been overcome with fear and terror, if on that occasion we gain a victory, they will realize their own strength and might and the weakness and impotence of their enemies; they will take heart.”

That doesn’t seem to be much of a battle plan when compared to the detailed plans the Mongols typically formulated. It sounds more like wishful thinking.

[Note: It is interesting to note that some sources state that Malik Hazarasp was the atabeg of Luristan 1204-1248, and Nusrat al-Din 1252-1257. Multiple and conflicting dates and people for just about anything that happened 800 years ago in central Asia is to be expected.]

The Khwarazmshah rejected this plan as well. This valley was apparently in the domains of the atabeg of Fars, with whom Nusrat al-Din had a running quarrel. The Shah suspected that Nusrat al-Din was trying to use him and his troops to settle accounts with the Fars atabeg. Nusrat al-Din’s counsel was rejected. At a loss at what to do, the Khwarazmshah decided to stay put and see what happened next. 

Jebe and Subutai reach Ray

It didn’t take long. Patrols arrived at castle Farrazin with news that the Mongol army had reached Ray, only 100 miles away, barely a day’s ride when the Mongols travel fast.

What happened when Jebe and Subutai reached Ray is by no means clear. According to Juvayni, the qadi and other dignitaries tendered submission to the Mongols, the Mongols accepted it, took provisions and rode on, leaving the citizens in peace. But Juvayni also says Jebe and Subutai sacked the town and slaughtered the residents. Ibn al-Athir says: 

“Many troops, Muslims and infidels, had attached themselves to [the Mongol army], as also did those troublemakers who wanted to plunder and do mischief….They took and sacked the city, captured the women and enslaved the children. They perpetrated acts unheard of, but did not stay and hurried away in the hunt for Khwarazm Shah. On the road they plundered every town and village they passed and in all of them did things much worse than what they had done at Ray. They burned, destroyed and put men, women and children to the sword. They spared nothing.”

Frankly, this sounds like the Mongols have gotten back to business as usual, despite al-Athir’s consternation. Mongol armies storm, plunder, sack, enslave. That’s what they do; that’s the point of the whole exercise. That’s how they get paid. It’s all in a day’s work. Don’t act so surprised, al-Athir.

Ruins of Shahr-e Ray, 1937 CE. Source: PeriodPaper – Ruins Shahr-e Rey

The massacre at Ray may actually be the consequence of a later rebellion. This happened in several Khwarazmian cities. They would initially submit and would be relatively well treated. Some cities would later rebel, often at the urging of someone like Jalal al-Din, at which point the Mongol hammer came down hard. Historians occasionally conflate these two events. This sacking of Ray, along with the almost offhand sacking of many other cities, support my suggestion that the soldiers were eager for booty and growing restive at this unproductive-for-them pursuit of the Khwarazmshah.

Persian stone sculpture, seated figures. Source: Alamy – Persia Antique

At Ray, Jebe and Subutai learned that the Khwarazmshah had been there but then fled towards Hamedan, 100 miles to the southwest. The castle of Farrazin (near Arak), previously mentioned as where the Shah actually headed, was somewhere on the Hamedan-Isfahan road. Arak lies between Hamedan and Isfahan, 90 miles southeast of Hamedan. There’s room for some confusion here, as we’ll soon see.

Northern Iran, Elborz Mountains in southern Mazandaran province. Iran has all the mountains that any country might want or need.
Source: FreeWorldMaps – Iran

Jebe and Subutai again decided to split forces. They may have heard that the Shah’s family had gone north to find refuge in the Elburz Mountains on the southern border of Mazandaran province.

Qazvin Towers. Source: IranChamber – Qazvin

Subutai rode northwest from Ray to Qazwin (city or province, 90 miles northwest of Ray, 130 miles northeast of Hamedan), attempting to cut off their escape route.

Subutai pursuit map 10. Subutai heads northwest to Qazwin to cut off possible escape route if Shah heads north.

The pistachio baghlava of Qazvin. Source: Wikipedia – Baklava

Jebe rushed to Hamedan, 170 miles southwest of Ray. At Hamedan, the town “…headman went out with money and clothes and with horses and other items to seek terms for the population.” (al-Athir).

Jebe pursuit map 11. Jebe heads south to Hamedan to track down the Shah.

Back at castle Farrazin, the Khwarazmshah’s court was panicked. Nusrat al-Din went back to Luristan, apparently without his army, as Juvayni reports, “the troops under him fleeing in all directions.”

Luristan bronze ‘master of animals’ horse bit cheekpiece, c. 700 BC.
Source: Wikipedia – Luristan Bronze

Now the story gets even more muddied.

Current Provinces of Iran. Little has changed in 800 years except they are now called ‘provinces.’

General Jebe at Hamedan

View of Hamedan. Source: Itto – Hamedan

According to Juvayni, Jebe takes his army north to Sujas [probably Sojas in Zanjan province, 100 miles north of Hamedan] where he met “a large force loyal to the Khwarazmshah,” whom the Mongols completely destroyed. As the Shah had brought almost no troops with him other than bodyguards, these troops were probably part of Rukn al-Din’s force of 30,000 troops. At this battle these troops were under the command of Beg-Tegin Silahdar and Küch-Bugha Khan rather than Rukn al-Din. Apparently Rukn al-Din had accompanied his grandmother, Terken Khadun, to their next hiding place in a castle (or castles) in the Elburz Mountains on the border between the regions of Mazandaran, Tehran and Semnan (see province map above).

Cuniform carvings near Hamedan. Source: Wikipedia – Hamadan

According to Nasavi, the Khwarazmshah found 20,000 troops — perhaps out of the same 30,000 troops formerly under Rukn al-Din? — and battled with the Mongols near Hamedan on the plain of Dawlatabad [Dowlatabad, 35 miles east of Hamedan].

Satellite view of Davudabad [Dawlatabad], north of Arak.
Note ‘Bird watching tower’ top center. Source: Mapcarta – 12619898

As this battle is about the same time of the “Sujas battle,” they may be one and the same battle. Or perhaps the Sujas battle was between Rukn al-Din’s troops and Subutai’s troops who had gone west from Ray to Qazwin which is located about 100 miles from Sujas by road. Or the two accounts may simply be irreconcilable. Nasavi writes that in the Dawlatabad battle the Mongols surrounded the Shah’s force and most of them were killed. The Khwarazmshah fled the field with a handful of survivors and raced to the castle of Qarun, reportedly in the mountains near Hamedan, where he had sent his mother, harem and probably Rukn al-Din for safekeeping. If Nasavi’s description is correct, this is the only time the Shah faced the Mongols in battle.

Jebe pursuit map 12. Jebe (tan line) heads southeast from Hamedan, meets Shah (purple line) in battle at ‘plain of Dowlatabad,’ somewhere between Arak and Dowlatabad. Shah loses badly, flees to castle Qarun in mountains near Hamedan. Jebe returns to Hamedan.

The Mongols chased the fleeing party, shooting arrows at it. The Shah’s horse was wounded, but the Shah again managed to escape. The Mongols never realized that the man they had sought for months had just gotten away. The Shah reached the castle of Qarun and stayed only one night. The next morning with fresh horses and local guides he rode westward, heading for Baghdad — then ruled by his enemy Caliph al-Nasir il-Din Allah — about 350 miles away and beyond the borders of the Khwarazmian Empire. Perhaps he hoped the Caliph had forgotten that the Khwarazmshah had tried to overthrow him a few years earlier and would join forces against this terrible threat to them both. Or perhaps he was actually setting a false trail for the Mongols to chase down.

I believe the Shah was setting a false trail. By now the Shah has proven himself to be an indecisive, yet wily and devious fellow. You don’t become the ruler of the world’s largest empire by being courteous and kind, honest to a fault or always believing in the good intentions of others.

The Mausoleum of Ibn Sina [Avicenna] in Hamedan.
Source: Wikipedia – Avicenna

Barely an hour after the Khwarazmshah had left, Jebe arrived and assaulted the castle Qarun. When they learned the Shah had fled westward, they quit the battle and raced down the road after him. They soon came across some of the guides whom the Shah had let go, who told them the Shah was off for Baghdad. So off towards Baghdad rode Jebe, with approximately 15,000 cavalry in tow.

Interactive Google Map. Click on any route or icon and information about it will appear. All routes are at least partially conjectural, as are castle and battleground locations. Purple: Shah; Black: Jebe & Subutai; Tan: Jebe; Green: Subutai; Orange: other; Pale violet: Shah’s proposed trip to Ghanzi; Pink: Shah’s messengers to/from Mela ford. Zoom in/out: scroll or +/-; Details: left click on lines/icons; Move map: left click+hold & move mouse.

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Entire Mongol Empire Series: Click Here
First Installment: Why didn’t the Mongols Conquer Europe in the 13th Century?
Previous Installment: Jebe & Subutai reach Shahr-e Ray
Next Installment: Northwards towards the Caspian Sea

Main Sources
Cambridge History of Iran, The; Volume V, Chapter 4, “Dynastic and Political History of the Il-Khans”. Boyle, John Andrew; pages 302-322 (1968).
Chingas Khan Rides Again: The Mongol Invasion of Bukhara, Samarkand and other Great Cities of the Silk Road, 1215-1221, Chapter 7 – The Flight of the Khwarezmshah; Croner, Don. Ulaanbaatar, Polar Star Books, 2016. Kindle page location 2657-2978
Dan Croner’s World Wide Wanders – Chingis Khan Rides West | Flight of the Khorezmshah | Nishapur | Ray | Hamadan. This blog contains roughly half of chapter 7 of Croner’s book above.

Other Sources
Genghis Khan: The World Conqueror. Djang, Sam, New Horizon Books, 2011.
Wikipedia – Mongol Conquest of Central Asia
Wikipedia – Jalal al-Din
Wikipedia – Jebe
Wikipedia – Khwarazmian Empire
Wikipedia – Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire
Wikipedia – Muhammad II of Khwarazm
Wikipedia – Subutai
Wikimili – Terken Khatun
Wikipedia – Terken Khatun

The Siege of Gurganj | The Mongol Empire: Part XXVI

[By Chuck Almdale]
[NOTE: If maps, pictures and legends don’t display properly, go to the blog.]

Satellite view: Caspian Sea, Sarygamysh Lake, Urgench (red marker),  Bukhara, Qarshi, Samarkand.

Mongols at the gates of Gurganj

The first Mongols to appear were an advance party commanded by Taji-Beg. Defenders on the city walls, as Juvayni describes:

“…beheld a small troop of horsemen like a puff of smoke, who arrived before the gates of the town and busied themselves with driving off cattle. Hereat some short-sighted persons became exultant thinking that they had come in so small a party out of bravado and that they had ventured on such insolence out of sport.”

Both cavalry and foot soldiers rushed out the city gates and “the Mongols, like wild game now startled, now cast a glance behind them and ran.” The Khwarazmians finally caught up to them four miles away at Bagh-i Kurram. Does this story sound familiar?

Suddenly a far larger group of Mongols appeared on both their flanks, surrounded them and cut the entire force down. Historians Juvayni and Rashid al-Din claim 100,000 Khwarazmians died, which is probably 100 times too high. (Would anyone send 100,000 soldiers after a “small troop of horsemen?”) The Mongols rode back to Gurganj and entered through the conveniently still-open gate. This undoubtedly frightened the residents, but the Mongol force was far too small to hold the city and they left at sundown. The following day the Khwarazmians would not leave their city and a Mongol attack on one of the gates failed.

Feigned retreat tactic. Behance

The main Mongol armies now arrived and grew to around 100,000 soldiers, with siege equipment — covered ladders, mangonels and the like — in tow. An emissary were sent in to demand submission, but when no acceptable reply was immediately received — the returned severed head of their emissary was deemed not acceptable — they set up their equipment. Large hurling-sized boulders were not available in this marshy delta land, so they cut down mulberry trees, soaked their trunks in water to make them heavier, and hurled those at the walls and houses within. (Mulberry leaves are the food for silkworms. Silk worms, silk road, mulberries — it’s all falling into place.) The residents remained adamant.

Three major forms of catapult. Source: reddit – Catapult memes

Jochi arrived from Jand on the Syr Darya with his army. Juvayni says Jochi was not with his army, others say he was. Levies (conscripted or volunteer workers previously taken prisoner at conquered cities) filled in the surrounding moat with dirt in ten days, then set to undermining the walls as mangonels hurled tree trunks into the city. Then the Mongols attacked, “loosing a yell like thunder and lightning they rained down missiles and arrows like hailstones.” Khumar Tegin, the chosen leader of the Gurganj defense, changed his mind about this endeavor, slipped out a side gate, threw himself upon the mercy of the Mongols, and was never heard of again.

Large mulberry tree trunk in Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
Source: 123RF – Valery Smirnov

The covered ladders were erected, men poured up and planted their flag on the city wall, then fought their way down to street level and threw open the city gate. The cavalry rode in and urban warfare began. Juvayni writes: “The inhabitants opposed them in all the streets and quarters of the town, in every lane they engaged in battle, and in every cul-de-sac they resisted stoutly.” Citizens were chopped to pieces in the streets, fires began, the river ran red with blood. But the defenders gave as good as they got. Mongols were not used to such hand-to-hand battle on foot and their casualties mounted ever higher. Their brilliance in horseback warfare did not apply here.

As in Bukhara, the only building that survived Genghis Khan was the city’s tall minaret.
Source: Caravanstan – Konye-Urgench

The Mongols torched whole quarters of the town with mangonel-launched flaming naphtha bombs, and filled everyone they saw with arrows. This went on for two days and large sections of the city were completely destroyed. The Mongol need for loot and pillage then reasserted itself, and complaints appeared: “If we destroy it all, there’s nothing left for us. Already half the city is reduced to dirt and rubble.” The Mongols began rethinking their methods, and the friction between the three brothers — Jochi, Chagatai and Ögedei — came to the fore.

Arguments arose among the three. Jochi claimed that as first son he must have command all the troops. Chagatai insisted he should command because Gurganj was within the territory (Ulus) which Genghis had promised to him. But Genghis had actually promised the city of Gurganj to Jochi, and Jochi asserted his right to decide how the city would be dealt with. He then engaged in extended negotiations with the leaders of Gurganj, trying to avoid the city’s inevitable and complete destruction should they choose to continue to resist. He had fallen in love with the beautiful city, or what was now left of it. But Chagatai wanted to immediately attack and be done with it, reducing all to useless ashes, rubble and corpses if need be.

They agreed to cease with burning, and instead tried to take control of the city’s water supply. It is unclear how this was to be done or whether the goal was to withhold the water or flood the city. Whatever the method was, it didn’t work. The 3,000 troops assigned to this task were surrounded by Khwarazmians and completely slaughtered.

According to historian Ibn al-Athir, by this point the number of Mongolian losses exceeded the Khwarazmian dead (so he certainly doesn’t accept the purported initial loss of 100,000 Khwarazmians during the Mongol’s feigned retreat). Hillocks of Mongol bones were still visible sixty years later, attesting to their losses. Jochi was blamed for this tactical failure, which didn’t help his argument for saving the city for looting or for his future use.

The old point of friction between Jochi and Chagatai again arose—was Jochi really Temüjin’s son or was his father that man who raped Börte, his mother? And then their father chose third son Ögedei as successor over both Jochi and Chagatai.  Meanwhile the Khwarazmian garrison at Gurganj built up their defenses while waiting for the Mongolian brothers to sort themselves out.

Turabek Khanum Mausoleum, Gurganj. Source: Wikiwand – Konye-Urgench

Word of the brotherly dissension made its way back to Genghis Khan, who, as one should expect by now, became enraged, named Ögedei as supreme commander, told Jochi and Chagatai to shut up, follow orders and attack. The street-by-street battle resumed.

When the city was down to three ‘quarters’ that had not yet fallen, the residents sued for peace through an emissary sent personally to Jochi, whom they knew to be sympathetic. It was too late; Jochi could do nothing to stop the slaughter, destruction and the ensuing mass executions.

As usual, artisans, technicians and engineers were set aside, many to be sent back to Mongolia. (Some wound up in China, growing grapes.) Young women and children were given to the Mongol soldiers as slaves, and the rest of the population was massacred. The Persian scholar Juvayni states that 50,000 Mongol soldiers were given the task of executing twenty-four Gurganj citizens each, which would mean that 1.2 million people were killed, almost certainly an exaggeration. Still — however high the body count — the sacking of Gurganj is considered one of the bloodiest massacres in human history and a cultural catastrophe of the highest magnitude.

After collecting what booty they could find among the rubble, they reportedly broke the dams and flooded the city. The armies of Jochi, Chagatai and Ögedei then worked their way upstream along the Amu Darya towards Tirmidh and Samarqand, taking cities along the way, including the city of Khanka, not far east of Gurganj.

Gurganj fell in April 1221, more than a year after the fall of Samarqand.

A Minaret and Soltan Tekesh Mausoleum, Urgench. 2006.
Source: Wikipedia – Mongol Conquest of Khwarazmian

Aftermath of the fall of Gurganj

Jochi was enraged. In his fury he was definitely his father’s son. This was supposed to be his city, and his brothers destroyed it, despite—or perhaps because of—his admiration for it. Many historians view Jochi as a man who saw his desires ignored and his younger brothers promoted over him, despite his own considerable military skills, and they credit the sacking of Gurganj with being the decisive impetus for his estrangement from his father and brothers.  Jochi became very unhappy, and thereafter refused to return to the Mongolian homeland, missed important kurultais, and made his home thereafter in the Kipchak steppe portion of his ulus, on the banks of the Volga River. At one point, not long before Genghis Khan died, he became so furious at Jochi for ignoring the rest of the family and skipping a kurultai that he was ready to order Jochi to appear before him, at which moment Genghis would have him executed.

Temüjin and his three quarreling sons had inadvertently laid the groundwork for the eventual dissolution of the entire Mongol Empire. 

Map of Central Asia showing urban sites with 10th century occupation.
Nakhshab 1220 CE summering location for Genghis Khan in lower right.
Source: Research Gate – Interfaces and Crossroads

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Entire Mongol Empire Series: Click Here
First Installment: Why didn’t the Mongols Conquer Europe in the 13th Century?
Previous Installment: Gurganj Awaits
Next Installment: The Khwarazmshah’s Flight

Main Source
Chingas Khan Rides Again: The Mongol Invasion of Bukhara, Samarkand and other Great Cities of the Silk Road, 1215-1221, Chapter 8 – The Fall of Termez and Gurgenj; Croner, Don. Ulaanbaatar, Polar Star Books, 2016. Kindle page location 2979-3509

Secondary Sources
HistoryDiscussion – Chengiz Khan
WeaponNews – Empire of Genghis Khan and the Khwarazm
Wikimilli – Terken Khatun
Wikipedia – Afrighids
Wikipedia – Chagatai
Wikipedia – Jalal al-Din
Wikipedia – Jochi
Wikipedia – Mongol Conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire – Gurganj
Wikipedia – Muhammad II of Khwarazm
Wikipedia – Ögedei
Wikipedia – Terken Khatun
Wikipedia – Urgench