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The city of Merv was a major center of learning, trade and culture of Khorasan, then part of the extensive Khwarazmian Empire. A Mongol force, estimated to number between 30,000 and 50,000 men and led by Tolui, son of Genghis Khan, traversed the Karakum Desert after destroying the former imperial capital Gurganj in the north. According to ...
Ancient sources described Genghis Khan's conquests as wholesale destruction on an unprecedented scale in certain geographical regions, causing great demographic changes in Asia. According to the works of the Iranian historian Rashid al-Din (1247–1318), the Mongols killed more than 1,300,000 people in Merv and more than 1,747,000 in Nishapur.
A minor detachment was also sent to take Khujand, but Genghis himself took Tolui and around half of the army — between 30,000 and 50,000 men — and headed westwards. [19] Campaigns of Genghis Khan between 1207 and 1225. The Khwarazmshah faced many problems. His empire was vast and newly formed, with a still-developing administration. [20]
Genghis Khan [a] (born Temüjin; c. 1162 – August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, [b] was the founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongol tribes , he launched a series of military campaigns , conquering large parts of China and Central Asia .
Not including the mortality from the Plague in Europe, West Asia, or China [35] it is possible that between 20 and 57 million people were killed between 1206 and 1405 during the various campaigns of Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, and Timur. [36] [37] [38] The havoc included battles, sieges, [39] early biological warfare, [40] and massacres. [41] [42]
The cities of Merv, Nishapur, and Herat could have only supported fractions of their reported populations, [21] and populations were reported to return almost miraculously to destroyed cities—Genghis Khan's adopted son Shigi Qutuqu was said to have ordered the deaths of a further 100,000 at Merv in November 1221, after yet another rebellion. [22]
The siege of Samarkand (1220) took place in 1220 A.D. after Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, had launched a multi-pronged invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire, ruled by Shah Muhammad II. The Mongols had laid siege to the border town of Otrar , but finding its defences obdurate, a large force commanded by Genghis and his youngest son ...
Han Chinese and Khitan soldiers defected en masse to Genghis Khan against the Jurchen Jin dynasty. [63] Towns which surrendered were spared from sacking and massacre by Kublai Khan. [64] The Khitan reluctantly left their homeland in Manchuria as the Jin moved their primary capital from Beijing south to Kaifeng and defected to the Mongols. [65]