In China over
eighteen
millions of human beings were
slain by his armies.
slain by his armies.
Cambridge Medieval History - v4 - Eastern Roman Empire
Flourishing cities perished in a night,
leaving no memorial but ruins and mounds of piled-up corpses. The
quiet that followed the Mongol invasions was not the calm that settled on
a world wearied of strife, eager to foster once again the fruits of civilisation:
it was the gasp of expiring nations in their death-agony, before the eternal
silence of the tomb. They made their deserts and they called it peace.
To follow the destinies of the Mongols, it is necessary to think in con-
tinents not in countries, for like an irresistible torrent the armies of the
Khans swept over the map of Asia and Europe. A knowledge of no
single language will suffice to equip a student for the task of investigating
the Mongol races with any profundity. Besides the Tartar languages,
some acquaintance is essential with the languages of the peoples with whom
the Mongols came into contact. Their armies ranged over all Central
Asia, pushing on eastwards to China and westwards to Russia and even
to Germany. As a result, the student must be prepared to deal with
sources in many tongues, and with more freedom and greater facility than
is the case when dealing with other nations.
But if this combination of circumstances invests a study of the Mongols
with difficulty, it constitutes an equally potent reason for undertaking the
task. We are confronted with a new power in history, with a force that
was to bring to an abrupt end, as a deus ex machina, many dramas that
would otherwise have ended in a deadlock, or would have dragged on an
interminable course. The very magnitude of the Mongol influence and
the colossal area of their operations should prove an additional incentive
to the student, and render an attempt to estimate the nature and scope
of the changes which ensued alike attractive and fruitful.
In Europe the Mongols overran Russia, Hungary, and Silesia; to the
upheaval which they brought about, the establishment of the Turkish
Empire, and consequently the growth of the Renaissance, must be directly
attributed. This same upheaval reacted on the contests between Saracen
and Crusader and, nearer home, on the antagonism of the Papacy and the
Empire. The extermination of the Assassins (1256), a task beyond the
power of Europe or Syria, was a matter of comparative ease to the Mongols.
Before the terror which their name inspired, Europe seemed utterly
demoralised and incapable of resistance, and, had not the Mamlūks in-
tervened (1260) and beaten back the invaders at a critical moment, there
is little doubt but that a great portion of Europe would have succumbed to
Tartar rule.
The convulsion caused by the Mongols in Europe, great though it was,
cannot be compared to that produced in Asia. The destruction of Baghdad
## p. 629 (#671) ############################################
Unification of Asia
629
and the overthrow of the Caliphate (1258), the annihilation of the Kin
or Golden Dynasty which ruled the northern half of China (1234), the
conquest of Southern China, of Khwārazm, Persia, and the surrounding
countries, the establishment of the rule of the Moguls in India, are some
of the events any of which alone would suffice to make a knowledge of
the Mongol power indispensable to the general historian. It is not accurate
to regard the Mongols merely as a ravaging horde. After sacking Baghdad,
Hūlāgū founded an observatory; after conquering China, Kublai es-
tablished a university at Cambalu (Pekin). The “scourge of God” does
not smite blindly. It is a noteworthy phenomenon that a successful
barbarian attack on civilisation, however destructive be its ravages at the
moment, is ultimately followed by a great revival, and this revival may
often be traced to the very catastrophe which seemed destined to
overwhelm culture in irretrievable ruin. In the sphere of religion, this
may be observed by the Assyrian (B. C. 587) and Roman (A. D. 70) conquests
of Judaea, which, in the end, created and strengthened the diaspora and
made the outer world acquainted with the moral teachings of the
Pentateuch and Prophets. In the spheres of the arts and humanities,
the Roman conquest of Greece, the Turkish conquest of the Byzantine
Empire, are instances which go to prove how the accumulated stores of
learning may be released and rendered accessible to a wider circle. The
Arab conquest of Spain gave the light of science, medicine, philosophy,
and poetry to Europe in the Dark Ages. The capture of Jerusalem led
directly to the establishment of the schools in Jamnia, the ruthless perse-
cution of Hadrian produced the academies of Babylon, and“ on the day
when the Temple was destroyed, the Messiah was born. ”
The same statement may be made of the Mongols. The fall of Baghdad
transferred the seat of the humanities to Egypt. At the same time it
dispersed many scholars and humanists who survived the debacle. Their
dispersion throughout the Muslim lands brought academic strength to
the places where they settled, while the removal of the literary centre of
gravity from Baghdad to Cairo facilitated the access of the Western world
to the culture of the Orient. But, apart from mere negative results, the
growth of the Mongol power was responsible for other developments in
the East. The first and foremost of these was the unification of Asia.
This must not be interpreted in the modern sense of political unity or
homogeneity. The Mongol government secured tranquillity within its
vast borders. The roads were open and a traveller could, as things went,
count upon a safe journey, unless he had the misfortune to pass within
range of the Emperor's funeral cortège, in which case his fate was death.
There was complete religious toleration, and it is only a superficial judg-
ment that will ascribe this to spiritual indifference on the part of the
Mongols. Economic changes were also introduced; thus the service of posts,
· The later Mogul Emperors hated, and tried to disown, their Mongol origin.
CH. XX.
## p. 630 (#672) ############################################
630
Mongol and Tartar
though utilised by the Arabs previously, was largely increased, and the use
of paper money was sanctioned by Gaikhātū Khan in 1294 and previously
by Kublai. No nation can claim to excel in every branch of human activity,
and the deficiency of the Mongols in the domain of literature was made
good in other directions.
It is necessary to begin a sketch of the Mongols with a brief account
of their origin, and an explanation or rather an enumeration of the names
by which they are known. The name Mongol itself was first applied to
certain tribes inhabiting Central Asia. It has come to be a generic name,
far more catholic and comprehensive, but it is doubtful whether the various
tribes surrendered their own individual names in favour of a uniform im-
perial designation. “Mongol” as a national name would seem to be
more frequent in the mouths of foreigners. It is also known to Europe
in the form of Mogul, a title which is more properly restricted to the
Mongol rulers of India and which has probably arisen through the
Arabic Mughūll. As to the etymology of the name, opinions are
divided, the most generally accepted being that of Sanang Setzen (b. 1604)
who derives the name from the word Mong which, in the Chinese language,
has the signification of brave.
The second name, Tartar, should more correctly be spelt Tātār, as in
Persian. The first “r” has been inserted in consequence of a fanciful
connexion with Tartarus ; the paronomasia was attributed variously to
Innocent IV and to others (Ad sua Tartara Tartari detrudentur)? . Various
theories were held in the Middle Ages with regard to the origin of the
Tartars? . According to Roger Bacon, they were the soldiers of Antichrist;
Friar John of Pian di Carpine believed them to be remnants of the ten
tribes whom Alexander the Great endeavoured to shut up in the mountains
by the Caspian. Most, however, of these fanciful speculations were based
on the contemporary estimate of the character of the invading hordes,
not on geographical or ethnological considerations. Fear, not history,
was their source. As a matter of fact the Turkish elements in the
Mongol confederacy repudiated the name Tartar which, according to
Howorth, was sometimes applied generically by the Chinese to all their
Northern neighbours and it was thus that it came to be applied to the
Mongols. But there was a specific race, Tartar, from which the generic
term was derived. This we might guess from the fact that the name
Tartar was known in the West long before the days of Mongol supremacy
and when the Mongols were only an obscure tribe. ”
Mongol, then, and Tartar were names of two tribes living in the Eastern
portion of Central Asia, to the north-west of China, by the river Uldza and
1 Rubruquis always spells the name Moal; see Rubruquis, p. 112 note (Hakluyt
Society's ed. ). For the etymology see Howorth, 1. p. 27.
2 For a discussion on the name Tartar see Yule, 1. p. 12; Rubruquis, xvii and
XVIII (Notes); and Howorth, 1. p. 700 note.
3 See Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, Rolls ed. , pp. 76 ff. , 386 ff.
## p. 631 (#673) ############################################
Other tribes in the Mongol Confederation
631
by the Kerulen, Orkhon, Onon, and other tributaries to the great river
Amur. The origin of these tribes is shrouded in an obscurity which for the
present purpose requires no investigation. It is sufficient to pick up the
thread of the story at the place where, having formed a powerful con-
federacy, they proceeded to launch forth their hordes in all directions and
play a prominent part on the stage of general history. A brief enumeration
of the component elements would resolve itself into a mere list of names,
but a few of the more important tribes deserve mention. Of these the
chief was that known as the Kipchaks, who ultimately spread over the
districts to the north of the Black Sea and the Caspian, practically from
the Danube to the Ural. They were one of the five sections of the
Turks under Oghuz Khan, whence their later Arabic name of Ghuzz
(Uzes, Guzes) is derived'. To Europe they were known as Cumans? , from
Comania (Kumistān) in Persia, a name derived from the river Kuma. In
the ninth century their expansion brought them to the Volga, and
having conquered territory round the banks of that river they made them-
selves a thorn in the side of Russia, until their incorporation by the
Mongols in the Golden Horde during the thirteenth century.
The Eastern neighbours of the Kipchaks were the Kankali, whose
territory lay to the north of Lake Aral, between the Ural river and Lake
Balkash. They were also part of Oghuz Khan's Turkish subjects; Rubru-
quis and other travellers, in the course of their wanderings, visited and men-
tioned them. Many of the Kankali were in the service of the Khwārazm
Shāh until the overthrow of the latter by Jenghiz Khan. Farther east-
ward, to the south of the Ob and Yenisey rivers, were the Naimans, also
Turks, in whose district was the famous town Karakorum, which Ogdai
Khan made his capital. In 1211 Kushluk, Khan of the Naimans,
usurped the sovereignty of the Kara Khitai. In the time of Rubruquis,
the Naimans were, according to that traveller", subjects of Prester
John, but Mangu Khan claimed their allegiance'. To the south of the
Naimans, in the western part of Mongolia, stretching towards China were
the Uighurs. By the close of the eighth century their power increased and
they had diplomatic relations with China. This tribe was one of the
centres of Nestorian Christianity. To the north of the Uighurs, beyond
the lands of the Keraits, were the Merkits, who have been described by
Marco Polo and Rashid. They were conquered by Jenghiz Khan in 1197.
These were the chief tribes in the Mongol Confederacys.
As regards the origins of the Mongols, it is not necessary to say much.
Many fables are told about the various tribes and their heroes; among the
1 See John of Pian di Carpine, p. 36, note 2. See also Benjamin of Tudela, ed.
Adler, p. 61 and note.
2 This was first mentioned by Rubruquis, see p. xxxviii. But see supra, Chapter
VII (A), pp. 197-8.
3 Rubruquis, p. 162.
4 Ibid. pp. 2 and 9.
5 For details see Howorth, 1. pp. 1-26.
CA. XX.
## p. 632 (#674) ############################################
632
Jenghiz Khan
most interesting of these is the story of the ancestral hero, nourished when
a child by a wolf, thus furnishing an Eastern parallel to Romulus and
Remus. But until the twelfth century the influence exercised on the out-
side world was insignificant. Mention is first made of the Mongols in
Chinese records, in the history of the Tang Dynasty (618-690), and
scattered references occur later, for instance in 984 and in 1180.
Rashid traces the descent of the Mongols back to Japhet, but of
course the greater part of the early period is merely mythical. It is only
near the period of Jenghiz Khan that safe ground is reached. During the
Kin Dynasty in China, it is known that many Mongols, probably with
their Khan, Kabul, became subject to the Chinese Emperor Tai-Tsung
from 1123-1137, but rebelled in 1138 after his death. This rebellion
marks the beginning of the rise of the Mongols. It was at this period
that they suffered from internal dissension; the feud between the Mongol
and Tartar tribes was ended by the triumph of the former through the in-
strumentality of Jenghiz Khan. This hero was the son of Yesukai, who was
the grandson of Kabul Khan. While Yesukai in 1151-1155 was ravaging
the Tartar lands, his wife Ogelen Eke (or Yulun) gave birth to a first-born
son who was called Temujin, after the name of the Tartar chieftain
recently slain by Yesukai. The name Temujin is most probably Chinese
by etymology and means “excellent steel. ” The similarity of the Turkish
Temurji (smith) is perhaps the origin of the fable that Jenghiz was
himself a smith. Temujin, later known by his style of Jenghiz Khan,
was born at a place called Deligun Buldagha, near the Onon. The name
of the spot has remained until the present time; by Rubruquis it
is called Onan Kerule. When he was thirteen
of
age,
his father
Yesukai died, leaving to his son a small nucleus of subjects. At the
outset Jenghiz was confronted with many difficulties. The spirit of dis-
affection which prevailed among his followers soon developed into revolt.
A general rising jeopardised the prospects of the youthful chieftain, but
the energy and capability of his mother Yulun recovered some of the
lost ground for him. A long period of unending strife ensued. With the
Naimans, whose centre is said to have been Karakorum, and the Keraits,
Jenghiz had to wage war continuously, and with varying success. Once
he was captured and tortured, but managed to escape with his life. At
length after many years he succeeded in consolidating his position.
Finally, after a series of victories Jenghiz overcame his last opponent,
Wang Khan, and became supreme over the nucleus of the Mongols. From
the date of the Kuriltai, or general convocation, which took place after
this event, in 1203, the beginning of the empire is usually considered to
date. The title of Khan, was, however, assumed in 1206 at another
assembly by the river Onon. The period from this date until 1227, when
Jenghiz died, comprises the era of extension and conquest. The first object
of attack was China, which consisted of two main divisions: the Northern,
with Yenkin (near Pekin) as its capital, and the Southern, the chief town
years
## p. 633 (#675) ############################################
Conquest of Turkestan and Khwārazm
633
of which was Lingan, also called Hangchow or Kinsai. This Empire was
ruled by the Sung Dynasty and the Northern by the Kin. The Kin rulers
were supreme over Tartary. Subject to their sway were the Khitans, who
had previously been supplanted in the dominion of the Northern Empire.
Preliminary invasions of Hia or Tangut, the province to the west of the
Yellow River, were successfully undertaken in 1208; the Kin army was
defeated and the territory within the great wall reduced to submission.
These victories paved the way for an attack on a larger scale, and in 1213
three grand armies were despatched. The main expedition under the
command of Jenghiz himself and Tulē, his youngest son, followed a south-
eastern direction. He sent his three other sons—Juji, Jagatai, and Ogdai-
with another force to form his right wing and operate on the south, while
the remainder, under his brothers, were despatched to the east in the
direction of the sea. It is unnecessary to follow the steps of these armies
in detail; it is sufficient to record their complete success. The subjugation
of the Hia occupied him from 1208 to 1212, and the Kin and Kara-Khitai
in Eastern Turkestan from 1212 to 1214. Having crushed these foes,
Jenghiz turned his ambitions to the western horizon. His dominions now
reached as far as the territory of Muḥammad, the Shāh of Khwārazm.
This mighty empire was bounded on the west by Kurdistān, Khūzistān,
and the Persian Gulf; to the east it reached nearly to the Indus. It
included the littoral of Lake Aral, and partly of the Caspian, on the
north. It comprised Azarbā'ījān, 'Irāq 'Ajamī, Fārs, Kirmān, Mukrān
(Beluchistan), Sistān, Khurāsān, Afghanistan, the Pamirs, Sughd, and
Mā-warā-an-Nahr (Transoxiana) among its main portions. The empire
had been originally founded by Anūshtigin, a slave of Malik Shāh the
Seljūq. At the time of Jenghiz, Muḥammad, the Shāh of Khwārazm, was
at the height of his power, and it is estimated that he could put into
the field an army of half a million soldiers. War was inevitable; the
insatiable ambition of Jenghiz supplied the casus belli; the execution by
Muhammad of the Mongol envoys was alleged as a pretence. In 1219
Jenghiz left his capital Karakorum with two divisions under his sons
Juji and Jagatai. Massacre and pillage were the concomitants of their
victories. Piles of corpses and the blackened traces of ruined cities marked
their progress. Pity was unknown to them; the most atrocious treachery
and disregard of oaths and of promises of quarter were employed to hunt
out and extirpate the scattered survivors of their barbarity. The
flourishing cities of Tashkent, Nur, Bukhārā, Samarqand, and Balkh were
utterly destroyed, and their inhabitants ruthlessly butchered, according to
the well-known Mongol principle,“Stone dead hath no fellow. " Muḥammad
fied to Nīshāpūr, but was pursued to the shores of the Caspian, where he
died, leaving a shattered wreck of a kingdom to his son Jalāl-ad-Dīn.
Merv and Nīshāpūr shared the fate of the other cities. Finally Jenghiz
and Jalāl-ad-Dīn met in battle on the banks of the Indus; the latter was
utterly defeated but managed to escape to Delhi, where he found a refuge
CH. XX.
## p. 634 (#676) ############################################
634
Empire of Jenghiz Khan
and peace for a while at the court of the Sultan. The last act of
Jenghiz in this campaign was to massacre all the inhabitants of Herat,
since they had ventured to depose his nominee from the governorship.
According to Douglas, 1,600,000 people were slain within the walls.
Jenghiz returned, but did not long enjoy the fruits of peace. Not
even the enormous booty which his victories had brought him could
induce the conqueror to spare his neighbours. The death of the last of
the Kin Dynasty in 1223 removed the final shadow of autonomy in North
China, and Jenghiz was now face to face with the Sung Dynasty in the
South. He set out on a fresh expedition, but died in 1227 by the Sale
river in Mongolia. The funeral escort that bore his corpse homeward
slaughtered every person whom they met, in order to prevent the news of
his death from being divulged.
Jenghiz Khan deserves to be remembered as a ruler, not only as a con-
queror. In the intervals of bloodshed, he found time to promote the arts
of peace and order. He organised a regular service of posts and couriers,
and rendered the highways secure for travellers. His tolerance to all
religious beliefs was probably due less to superstition than to indifference.
Not being deeply attached to any definite faith, he was not anxious that
one creed should secure preponderance. Divines, physicians, and learned
men were exempted from taxes. Perhaps the only plea by which a captive
might save his life was that of learning, though few instances of such
clemency are preserved. Jenghiz introduced the use of the Uighur
character, and caused his subjects to acquire the art of writing. He com-
piled a code of laws, or rather authorised the codification of existing
tribal customs, which he raised to a legal value, and to which he imparted
the sanction of his authority. His personal habits were such as could be
expected from his character. The joys of the chase, mingled with frequent
drinking-bouts, were the normal relaxations of Jenghiz. His wives and
concubines numbered five hundred. But, though he ruled his subjects with
an iron hand, his death found him at the zenith of popularity.
The Empire of Jenghiz Khan was the largest that ever fell to one
conqueror. The brain reels at the thought of the slaughter by which it
was achieved.
In China over eighteen millions of human beings were
slain by his armies. No plague, no other “Scourge of God," has ever
smitten so severely. Howorth? would seek to palliate his record, but it
is impossible to do so.
The death of Jenghiz was followed by an interregnum of two years.
The affairs of state were administered without interruption by the sons
of the late chief and by the officers whom he had appointed. At length,
in 1229, a Kuriltai was held in order to elect an overlord. It is important
to notice the names of four sons of Jenghiz whose claims were considered
at this Kuriltai, for their subsequent dissensions contributed in no small
1 See Howorth, op. cit. 1. pp. 113 seqq.
## p. 635 (#677) ############################################
Conquest of Northern China
635
degree to the disruption of the Empire. Juji, the eldest son, had died
during his father's lifetime, but the claims to the succession which were
his by right of primogeniture passed, according to Mongol custom, to
his family. His three brothers, in order of age, were Jagatai, Ogdai, and
Tulē. The pretensions of Juji's family might without injustice have
been passed over in favour of Jagatai, but the Kuriltai had no free choice.
Jenghiz before his death had settled the destinies of his sons and, although
he ventured to break down the regular Mongol ideas of inheritance, the
force of his authority remained binding beyond the grave. The Kuriltai,
after due deliberation and no little hesitation, carried out the commands
of Jenghiz. Ogdai, who was elected chief Khan and successor to his father,
retained Tulē near the seat of government, appointing him to various
official posts. The family of Juji received possessions in the west, Jagatai
in the Uighur country. For the present there was loyal co-operation
between the brothers, and with the accession of Ogdai a new stage in the
history of Mongol expansion begins.
This expansion proceeded in both directions, towards China and
towards Europe. The death of Jenghiz found the Mongol possessions
extending “from the China Sea to the Dnieper. ” In China, the Kin
Dynasty had been beaten and reduced to submission. In the west,
the kingdom of Khwārazm had been destroyed and its ruler driven far
away from his home. Numerous expeditions had spread the fame of the
Mongols and shaken Europe with terror. The time was ripe for another
ebullition. In China the subjugated Kin were beginning to shew signs
of revival. Sporadic hostilities had occurred. In 1228 and again in 1230
the Mongols were defeated; the battles, though by no means serious in
character, were sufficient to raise false hopes among the Chinese; the
Mongols no longer appeared to be invincible. Eventually Ogdai roused
himself to punish the rebels and determined to teach them an enduring
lesson. It was not merely the effect of the Kin victories and various
incidents of a provocative nature that set the Mongols in motion;
it was the prospect of further conquests beyond the territories of the
Kin. The Southern division of China under the Sung Dynasty, pro-
bably alarmed at the fate of the Kin, had endeavoured to propitiate the
Mongols and avoid any collision with them. It is in any case doubtful
whether this course would have had any efficacy, but a political error at
this juncture gave the Mongols a casus belli, which when they had finished
with the Kin they were not slow to utilise. The Sung Emperor refused
to grant the Mongol armies leave to pass through his dominions, and
slew their envoy. This refusal was to cost him dear. Meanwhile Ogdai
marched against the Kin from the north ; Tulē invaded Honan from
Paoki, in the Shensi province. After various campaigns, battles, and
massacres, the Kin were finally swept out of existence in 1234, and the
descendants of Jenghiz maintained the supreme rule until displaced by
the Ming Dynasty in 1368.
CH. XX.
## p. 636 (#678) ############################################
636
Advance westward
The overthrow of the Kin was speedily followed up by an attack on the
Sung. The Sung Emperor had ended by assisting the Mongols in their
war against the Kin. His reward was to have been the province of Honan.
This the Mongols refused to evacuate. Having secured all that they de-
sired from the Sung Emperor, they were in no mood to keep their
promise, and alleging as a pretext his former refusal of a passage to the
Mongol forces, they despatched an army in 1235.
At this stage it is desirable to turn back to events in the West. The
last years of Jenghiz Khan were marked by signs of activity among the
conquered cities of Khwārazm. When Muḥammad Shāh, defeated by the
Mongol armies, died of illness on the Caspian shore, he left a son Jalāl-
ad-Din. The destruction of the Khwārazmian empire deprived the latter
of a throne. A beaten fugitive from his Mongol pursuers, he reached
Delhi. Here the Sultan received him with kindness and gave him his
daughter in marriage. Jalāl-ad-Dīn watched for a favourable opportunity,
and, with the aid of his father-in-law, succeeded in regaining piecemeal
large portions of his lost heritage. He crossed the Indus and marched
north. Although his troops were few in number and had suffered severely
from the hardships of the journey, he effected the expulsion of his
surviving brother Ghiyāth-ad-Dīn, who ruled 'Irāq 'Ajamī, Khurāsān, and
Māzandarān, and seized his dominions. He attacked and defeated the
Caliph of Baghdad. In 1226 he captured Tiflis in Georgia, between the
Black Sea and the Caspian, and, in the following year, overcame a small
Mongol army. The important city of Khilat, in Armenia, now fell into his
hands and his power increased on all sides. But vengeance fell upon him
swiftly and suddenly. Ogdai sent a large force to reduce him, and before
the news of its coming reached Jalāl-ad-Dīn he was surrounded in
Diyārbakr. No chance of combat remained, for the Khwārazmian troops
were far away. Jalāl-ad-Dīn took refuge in flight but was slain by a Kurd.
His death brought an end to the Khwārazm Shāhs and their kingdom. But
the Mongols did not cease their campaign. The horror inspired by their
name was such that their victims abandoned all thoughts of resistance.
It is related that the whole population of a large village obeyed the
command of a single Mongol, and stood in a line while he slaughtered
them, one by one. Terror and devastation spread all over the country.
By 1236 they had overcome Erbil, Diyārbakr, Khilat, Mesopotamia,
Azarbā'ījān, Georgia, and Armenia. They made terrible examples of Kars
and Tiflis. The Caliph of Baghdad preached a jihad (sacred war) against
them and won a victory at Jabal Hamrīn on the Tigris. In 1238 he was,
however, defeated, and the Mongol armies marched northwards.
The hordes of Mongols seemed as inexhaustible as they were irre-
sistible. In 1235 Ogdai organised three large expeditions: against Korea,
the Sung Dynasty, and the country beyond the river Volga. The King
of Korea had submitted to Jenghiz Khan in 1218, but subsequently
various incidents stirred up discord between vassal and overlord. The
## p. 637 (#679) ############################################
Invasion of Europe
637
murder of a Mongol envoy in 1231 was followed by a victorious invasion,
led by Sabutai, who set up Mongol governors in many cities of Korea.
In 1232 a popular upheaval resulted in the assassination of many of
these officials, and the King of Korea, frightened of the consequences,
fled to the island of Siang-Hua on the west coast. Ogdai summoned
him to appear before his judgment-seat to answer for these acts; a re-
fusal led to the expedition of 1235. By 1241 the Korean King submitted
and gave the required hostages.
The expedition against the Sung Dynasty, though generally successful,
effected no permanent conquests, and the Southern Dynasty was not finally
reduced until the time of Kublai Khan, the second son of Tulē.
The third army requires further mention, for this force swept down
upon the West like an overwhelming avalanche. No crowning mercy, such
as the victory of Tours in 732 against the tide of Islām, saved the destinies
of Europe. Divided, and distracted by internal strife, the Christian
countries could offer no opposition to the invading hordes. The Mongol
wave spent its energy and fell back, shattered by no rock or impediment.
Had not the death of Ogdai recalled Bātu and his generals, there is little
doubt but that Paris and Rome would have shared the fate of Kiev
and Moscow.
It was originally the wish of Ogdai to lead the Western army in
person, but on reflection he changed his mind and assigned the command
to Bātu the son of Juji. With Bātu the renowned Sabutai was associated
as adviser. Ogdai's sons and nephews accompanied the expedition. The
forces met in Great Bulgaria in 1237. The Mongol onslaught was charac-
terised by its usual speed; indiscriminate slaughter, rape, and destruction,
as before, marked their path. A list of Mongol victories resolves itself into
a catalogue of doomed towns and ravaged country-sides. Blow after blow
followed in quick succession. Bulgar, Ryazan, Moscow, Vladímir, are but
a few of the places that succumbed. Princes, bishops, nuns, and children
were slain with savage cruelty. It is impossible to describe the bar-
barities that prolonged the death of the unfortunate inhabitants. None
remained to weep or to tell the tale of disaster. Novgorod was saved
by a thaw which melted the ice and turned the country into an im-
passable swamp. Koselsk was the scene of such exceptional severity
that the Mongols themselves noted the occasion by calling this place
“Mobalig,” town of woe. In 1240 the Mongols advanced still further,
towards the Dnieper. Pereslavl, Chernigov, Glokhov, and finally the
metropolitan city Kiev, were destroyed. The Mongols divided their
forces, one part marching against Poland and the other through the
Carpathians against Hungary. At Mohi on the Theiss the whole
chivalry of Hungary was crushed in an overwhelming defeat. The nobility
and clergy shared the fate of the common soldiers, and the King Béla IV
escaped as a fugitive to the Adriatic. In the same year (1241) Henry,
Duke of Silesia, was overthrown at Liegnitz near Breslau by the Mongols,
CA. XX.
## p. 638 (#680) ############################################
638
The recall of Bātu saves Europe
and the whole of Silesia was given up to slaughter. The area over which
the Mongol hordes were spreading seemed limitless; no country was safe.
Bātu followed up the capture of Pesth by crossing the Danube and
assaulting Gran, which he took. Europe was now prostrate, and no
saviour arose to ward off the Mongols. But the death of Ogdai, in the
sanie year as that of Pope Gregory IX, involved the return of Bātu to
Karakorum, in order to assist in the election of a new Khan, and the
western portions of Europe were freed from the terror of the Mongol
armies.
The coming of the Mongols found Europe utterly unprepared and
heedless. The first invasion of 1222, when the forces of Jenghiz Khan
crossed the Caucasus and ravaged parts of Russia, created little notice.
The west of Europe seems to have been ignorant of the event, but in
the years 1235–1238 two circumstances combined to awaken the Christian
kings to a knowledge of the perils awaiting them. The first of these was
an embassy from the Ismāʻīlīyah, and the second was the arrival of the
Mongol armies under Bātu and his generals. Those Ismāʻīlīyah, or
Ishmaelites, who are known to the general historian by the name of
“Assassins," were themselves marked out by the Mongols as a prey, but
they escaped attention until the time of Hūlāgū. Stirred by premonition,
or roused by the fate of their neighbours, they strove to effect a com-
bination against the all-conquering Mongols among all nations, even those
mutually hostile, that were confronted by this same foe whose coming
would involve them all in common ruin. The efforts of the Assassins
were not limited to the rulers in their immediate neighbourhood. In 1238
they sent envoys to the Kings of France and England, asking their aid.
The fame of this sect was great among the crusaders. Many distin-
guished men, Muslim and Christian, had fallen victims to their daggers,
and Saladin himself narrowly escaped assassination. It would have been
thought that, seeing the terror of their dreaded enemies, the Christian
princes would have awakened to a sense of their position and have
concluded an alliance, at least until such time as the Mongols had
been repulsed. Who knows what the effect of such an alliance might
have been? Apart from all military results, it is impossible to estimate
the effect on Europe of friendly intercourse and military co-operation
on a large scale with the Easterns? . But the warning fell on deaf ears.
The Emperor Frederick II did indeed realise what was at stake. He
wrote an extremely important letter to Henry III urging combined
action, and giving what was for that time a fairly accurate account of
the Mongols.
i Hayton, King of Little Armenia (1224-1269), was a friend and ally of the
Mongols. He sent missions and himself visited Bātu and Mangu in 1254, after the
accession of the latter. An account of his travels was compiled by one of his fol-
lowers. See Enc. Brit. s. v. Cf. supra, Chapter vi, p. 175.
2 Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora (Rolls ed. ), pp. 112 ff.
## p. 639 (#681) ############################################
The Papacy and the Mongols
639
Other rulers also bestirred themselves. In 1241, a few weeks before
the battle of Liegnitz, the Landgrave of Thuringia appealed for aid to
the Duke of Brabant, and the Church assisted in publishing the danger
by proclaiming fasts and intercessions. In an often misquoted passage,
Matthew Paris relates that in 1238 the fishermen from Friesland and
Gothland, “dreading their attacks, did not, as was their custom, come to
Yarmouth, in England, at the time of the herring-fisheries, at which place
their ships usually loaded; and, owing to this, herrings in that year were
considered of no value, on account of their abundance, and about forty
or fifty, although very good, were sold for one piece of silver, even in
places at a great distance from the sea. ”
Nevertheless, despite the growing feeling of insecurity, no active steps
were taken. The envoys were given empty answers. Nothing but the
quarrel between Emperor and Pope occupied men's minds. Some alleged
that Frederick II had manufactured the scare in order to help his cause.
Others, whose lack of political foresight was only equalled by their
ignorance of the Mongols, suggested that, if Europe remained inactive,
Mongols and Muslims would destroy one another and the triumph of the
Cross would be assured. The mass of the population were too apathetic
to be moved: nothing except the thoughts of Crusades could arouse them
from their torpor. Pope Gregory IX had written letters of sympathy to
the Queen of Georgia and to the King of Hungary, when these rulers
had been smitten by the Mongol scourge, but his mind was concentrated
on his quarrels with the Emperor. He died shortly after the battle of
Liegnitz, when the death of Ogdai recalled the Mongols and gave Europe
a breathing-space. The successor to Gregory was Innocent IV, who was
elected in 1243. He, as none before him, understood what was at issue,
and conceived two main plans for saving Christendom from the Mongols
-attack and persuasion. In order to stimulate the former, he ordered a
new combination of forces against them, and invested the expedition
with the dignity of a crusade by offering to all who fought against the
“ ministers of Tartarus” spiritual privileges similar to those offered to
the crusaders. Little came of these efforts, but the second plan, though
equally ineffective, has proved of infinite value to later ages on account
of the information thus gleaned concerning the Mongols.
The Pope imagined that, if the Mongols could be converted to Christi-
anity, they would be restrained from attacking Europe through religious
fears. Wonderful stories of Prester John filled Europe; it was possible
that the Mongols were in some way connected with this strange monarch.
There were the legends ascribing to the Mongols Semitic origin: they
were the lost ten tribes, shut up by Alexander within impenetrable
mountains, from which they had broken forth to ravage the world. In
short the soil was ripe for the seed of the gospel, and the monk would
succeed where the knight had failed.
This fond hope resulted in the missions of Friars John of Pian di
CH, XX.
## p. 640 (#682) ############################################
640
Ogdai and Kuyuk
Carpine and Benedict the Pole in 1245, and of Friar William of Rubruck
(Rubruquis) in 1253. The former were envoys of the Pope, the latter of
Louis IX. The itineraries of these travellers have been preserved, and
can well be ranked with the accounts of Marco Polo and Don Clavijo.
The mass of information contained therein constitutes one of the principal
sources of extant knowledge concerning the Mongols of this period.
Diplomatically and spiritually the mission of Friar William was as un-
successful as that of his predecessors, but from the point of view of the
historian both journeys were signally fruitful.
Ogdai's death, which delivered Europe, occurred in his fifty-sixth
year, on 11 December 1241. His comparatively early end was due to
excessive intemperance, a fault to which Mongols were prone. His chief
pleasure lay in hunting. He built a palace for himself at Karakorum, to
which he gave the name of Ordu Balig or City of the Camp. The site of
the palace and the marvels that were to be seen there have long been dis-
puted, but the Central Asiatic expeditions of N. Yadrintsev (1889), of the
Helsingfors Ugro-Finnish Society in 1890, and of Radlov in 1891, have
succeeded in fixing the position. The use of paper currency was known
to Ogdai, but it is uncertain whether he actually adopted this expedient.
Certain reforms are also ascribed to him, notably the curbing of the
extortionate demands and requisitions imposed by the princes and state
officials upon the common people. His personal gentleness forms a
contrast to the severity of Jagatai; but there was little evidence of
tenderness in his government. The policy of rule by brute force was not
modified until the later reigns of Mangu and Kublai.
After the death of Ogdai, the succession did not pass to either of his
nominees, Kuchu or Shiramun, the son of Kuchu. The former was the
third son of Ogdai and had predeceased his father in 1236. Shiramun
was kept from the throne by the instrumentality of Turakina, the widow
of the late Khan; Kuyuk, the eldest son of Ogdai, was ultimately, in 1246,
elected as Khan, as Turakina wished.
The Kuriltai at which Kuyuk was chosen is of interest because of
the presence of Friar John of Pian di Carpine, who gives a full descrip-
tion of the ceremony in his itinerary. The ill-will between the houses of
Jagatai and Ogdai was all this while increasing, but the dominion of the
house of Ogdai was not yet ended. The reign of Kuyuk, on the whole
uneventful, is noteworthy on account of various incidents. A Musul-
man called 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān was allowed to purchase the farming of the
taxes; this circumstance was greatly resented, because the efforts to dis-
tribute the taxes on a just basis were beginning to bear good fruit. The
foreign wars were maintained and armies sent against Korea, the Sung,
and Persia. Both in Mesopotamia and in Armenia the conquests and
ravages of the Mongols continued. At the court of Kuyuk Nestorian
Christians frequently appeared; Islām, Christianity, Buddhism, and
Shamanism were tolerated on an equal footing.
## p. 641 (#683) ############################################
Downfall of the Assassins
641
At the death of Kuyuk (1248) considerable confusion ensued; Kaidu,
grandson of Ogdai, and Chapar, son of Kaidu, successively held the
Khanate for short and troublous periods. Discontent among the nobles
and rival claims robbed the titular rulers of every shadow of authority, and
finally in 1251 Mangu, the son of Tulē, was elected Khan. The feud
between the houses of Jagatai and Ogdai was quelled and the house of
Ogdai ruled no more. The house of Tulē, youngest son of Jenghiz, now
took the lead.
The accession of Mangu brought a settlement to the political strife.
A period of prosperity followed. Rubruquis, whose visit happened at
this time, bears testimony that the luxury prevalent at Mangu's court
was not incompatible with the stability of the State, efficiency in govern-
ment, order and peace thoughout the Empire. Internal administration
was wise and popular. The Mongols were beginning to learn the lesson
of ruling as well as of conquering. But fresh conquests were soon under-
taken; a new outburst was ready.
Reference has already been made to the Assassins.
leaving no memorial but ruins and mounds of piled-up corpses. The
quiet that followed the Mongol invasions was not the calm that settled on
a world wearied of strife, eager to foster once again the fruits of civilisation:
it was the gasp of expiring nations in their death-agony, before the eternal
silence of the tomb. They made their deserts and they called it peace.
To follow the destinies of the Mongols, it is necessary to think in con-
tinents not in countries, for like an irresistible torrent the armies of the
Khans swept over the map of Asia and Europe. A knowledge of no
single language will suffice to equip a student for the task of investigating
the Mongol races with any profundity. Besides the Tartar languages,
some acquaintance is essential with the languages of the peoples with whom
the Mongols came into contact. Their armies ranged over all Central
Asia, pushing on eastwards to China and westwards to Russia and even
to Germany. As a result, the student must be prepared to deal with
sources in many tongues, and with more freedom and greater facility than
is the case when dealing with other nations.
But if this combination of circumstances invests a study of the Mongols
with difficulty, it constitutes an equally potent reason for undertaking the
task. We are confronted with a new power in history, with a force that
was to bring to an abrupt end, as a deus ex machina, many dramas that
would otherwise have ended in a deadlock, or would have dragged on an
interminable course. The very magnitude of the Mongol influence and
the colossal area of their operations should prove an additional incentive
to the student, and render an attempt to estimate the nature and scope
of the changes which ensued alike attractive and fruitful.
In Europe the Mongols overran Russia, Hungary, and Silesia; to the
upheaval which they brought about, the establishment of the Turkish
Empire, and consequently the growth of the Renaissance, must be directly
attributed. This same upheaval reacted on the contests between Saracen
and Crusader and, nearer home, on the antagonism of the Papacy and the
Empire. The extermination of the Assassins (1256), a task beyond the
power of Europe or Syria, was a matter of comparative ease to the Mongols.
Before the terror which their name inspired, Europe seemed utterly
demoralised and incapable of resistance, and, had not the Mamlūks in-
tervened (1260) and beaten back the invaders at a critical moment, there
is little doubt but that a great portion of Europe would have succumbed to
Tartar rule.
The convulsion caused by the Mongols in Europe, great though it was,
cannot be compared to that produced in Asia. The destruction of Baghdad
## p. 629 (#671) ############################################
Unification of Asia
629
and the overthrow of the Caliphate (1258), the annihilation of the Kin
or Golden Dynasty which ruled the northern half of China (1234), the
conquest of Southern China, of Khwārazm, Persia, and the surrounding
countries, the establishment of the rule of the Moguls in India, are some
of the events any of which alone would suffice to make a knowledge of
the Mongol power indispensable to the general historian. It is not accurate
to regard the Mongols merely as a ravaging horde. After sacking Baghdad,
Hūlāgū founded an observatory; after conquering China, Kublai es-
tablished a university at Cambalu (Pekin). The “scourge of God” does
not smite blindly. It is a noteworthy phenomenon that a successful
barbarian attack on civilisation, however destructive be its ravages at the
moment, is ultimately followed by a great revival, and this revival may
often be traced to the very catastrophe which seemed destined to
overwhelm culture in irretrievable ruin. In the sphere of religion, this
may be observed by the Assyrian (B. C. 587) and Roman (A. D. 70) conquests
of Judaea, which, in the end, created and strengthened the diaspora and
made the outer world acquainted with the moral teachings of the
Pentateuch and Prophets. In the spheres of the arts and humanities,
the Roman conquest of Greece, the Turkish conquest of the Byzantine
Empire, are instances which go to prove how the accumulated stores of
learning may be released and rendered accessible to a wider circle. The
Arab conquest of Spain gave the light of science, medicine, philosophy,
and poetry to Europe in the Dark Ages. The capture of Jerusalem led
directly to the establishment of the schools in Jamnia, the ruthless perse-
cution of Hadrian produced the academies of Babylon, and“ on the day
when the Temple was destroyed, the Messiah was born. ”
The same statement may be made of the Mongols. The fall of Baghdad
transferred the seat of the humanities to Egypt. At the same time it
dispersed many scholars and humanists who survived the debacle. Their
dispersion throughout the Muslim lands brought academic strength to
the places where they settled, while the removal of the literary centre of
gravity from Baghdad to Cairo facilitated the access of the Western world
to the culture of the Orient. But, apart from mere negative results, the
growth of the Mongol power was responsible for other developments in
the East. The first and foremost of these was the unification of Asia.
This must not be interpreted in the modern sense of political unity or
homogeneity. The Mongol government secured tranquillity within its
vast borders. The roads were open and a traveller could, as things went,
count upon a safe journey, unless he had the misfortune to pass within
range of the Emperor's funeral cortège, in which case his fate was death.
There was complete religious toleration, and it is only a superficial judg-
ment that will ascribe this to spiritual indifference on the part of the
Mongols. Economic changes were also introduced; thus the service of posts,
· The later Mogul Emperors hated, and tried to disown, their Mongol origin.
CH. XX.
## p. 630 (#672) ############################################
630
Mongol and Tartar
though utilised by the Arabs previously, was largely increased, and the use
of paper money was sanctioned by Gaikhātū Khan in 1294 and previously
by Kublai. No nation can claim to excel in every branch of human activity,
and the deficiency of the Mongols in the domain of literature was made
good in other directions.
It is necessary to begin a sketch of the Mongols with a brief account
of their origin, and an explanation or rather an enumeration of the names
by which they are known. The name Mongol itself was first applied to
certain tribes inhabiting Central Asia. It has come to be a generic name,
far more catholic and comprehensive, but it is doubtful whether the various
tribes surrendered their own individual names in favour of a uniform im-
perial designation. “Mongol” as a national name would seem to be
more frequent in the mouths of foreigners. It is also known to Europe
in the form of Mogul, a title which is more properly restricted to the
Mongol rulers of India and which has probably arisen through the
Arabic Mughūll. As to the etymology of the name, opinions are
divided, the most generally accepted being that of Sanang Setzen (b. 1604)
who derives the name from the word Mong which, in the Chinese language,
has the signification of brave.
The second name, Tartar, should more correctly be spelt Tātār, as in
Persian. The first “r” has been inserted in consequence of a fanciful
connexion with Tartarus ; the paronomasia was attributed variously to
Innocent IV and to others (Ad sua Tartara Tartari detrudentur)? . Various
theories were held in the Middle Ages with regard to the origin of the
Tartars? . According to Roger Bacon, they were the soldiers of Antichrist;
Friar John of Pian di Carpine believed them to be remnants of the ten
tribes whom Alexander the Great endeavoured to shut up in the mountains
by the Caspian. Most, however, of these fanciful speculations were based
on the contemporary estimate of the character of the invading hordes,
not on geographical or ethnological considerations. Fear, not history,
was their source. As a matter of fact the Turkish elements in the
Mongol confederacy repudiated the name Tartar which, according to
Howorth, was sometimes applied generically by the Chinese to all their
Northern neighbours and it was thus that it came to be applied to the
Mongols. But there was a specific race, Tartar, from which the generic
term was derived. This we might guess from the fact that the name
Tartar was known in the West long before the days of Mongol supremacy
and when the Mongols were only an obscure tribe. ”
Mongol, then, and Tartar were names of two tribes living in the Eastern
portion of Central Asia, to the north-west of China, by the river Uldza and
1 Rubruquis always spells the name Moal; see Rubruquis, p. 112 note (Hakluyt
Society's ed. ). For the etymology see Howorth, 1. p. 27.
2 For a discussion on the name Tartar see Yule, 1. p. 12; Rubruquis, xvii and
XVIII (Notes); and Howorth, 1. p. 700 note.
3 See Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, Rolls ed. , pp. 76 ff. , 386 ff.
## p. 631 (#673) ############################################
Other tribes in the Mongol Confederation
631
by the Kerulen, Orkhon, Onon, and other tributaries to the great river
Amur. The origin of these tribes is shrouded in an obscurity which for the
present purpose requires no investigation. It is sufficient to pick up the
thread of the story at the place where, having formed a powerful con-
federacy, they proceeded to launch forth their hordes in all directions and
play a prominent part on the stage of general history. A brief enumeration
of the component elements would resolve itself into a mere list of names,
but a few of the more important tribes deserve mention. Of these the
chief was that known as the Kipchaks, who ultimately spread over the
districts to the north of the Black Sea and the Caspian, practically from
the Danube to the Ural. They were one of the five sections of the
Turks under Oghuz Khan, whence their later Arabic name of Ghuzz
(Uzes, Guzes) is derived'. To Europe they were known as Cumans? , from
Comania (Kumistān) in Persia, a name derived from the river Kuma. In
the ninth century their expansion brought them to the Volga, and
having conquered territory round the banks of that river they made them-
selves a thorn in the side of Russia, until their incorporation by the
Mongols in the Golden Horde during the thirteenth century.
The Eastern neighbours of the Kipchaks were the Kankali, whose
territory lay to the north of Lake Aral, between the Ural river and Lake
Balkash. They were also part of Oghuz Khan's Turkish subjects; Rubru-
quis and other travellers, in the course of their wanderings, visited and men-
tioned them. Many of the Kankali were in the service of the Khwārazm
Shāh until the overthrow of the latter by Jenghiz Khan. Farther east-
ward, to the south of the Ob and Yenisey rivers, were the Naimans, also
Turks, in whose district was the famous town Karakorum, which Ogdai
Khan made his capital. In 1211 Kushluk, Khan of the Naimans,
usurped the sovereignty of the Kara Khitai. In the time of Rubruquis,
the Naimans were, according to that traveller", subjects of Prester
John, but Mangu Khan claimed their allegiance'. To the south of the
Naimans, in the western part of Mongolia, stretching towards China were
the Uighurs. By the close of the eighth century their power increased and
they had diplomatic relations with China. This tribe was one of the
centres of Nestorian Christianity. To the north of the Uighurs, beyond
the lands of the Keraits, were the Merkits, who have been described by
Marco Polo and Rashid. They were conquered by Jenghiz Khan in 1197.
These were the chief tribes in the Mongol Confederacys.
As regards the origins of the Mongols, it is not necessary to say much.
Many fables are told about the various tribes and their heroes; among the
1 See John of Pian di Carpine, p. 36, note 2. See also Benjamin of Tudela, ed.
Adler, p. 61 and note.
2 This was first mentioned by Rubruquis, see p. xxxviii. But see supra, Chapter
VII (A), pp. 197-8.
3 Rubruquis, p. 162.
4 Ibid. pp. 2 and 9.
5 For details see Howorth, 1. pp. 1-26.
CA. XX.
## p. 632 (#674) ############################################
632
Jenghiz Khan
most interesting of these is the story of the ancestral hero, nourished when
a child by a wolf, thus furnishing an Eastern parallel to Romulus and
Remus. But until the twelfth century the influence exercised on the out-
side world was insignificant. Mention is first made of the Mongols in
Chinese records, in the history of the Tang Dynasty (618-690), and
scattered references occur later, for instance in 984 and in 1180.
Rashid traces the descent of the Mongols back to Japhet, but of
course the greater part of the early period is merely mythical. It is only
near the period of Jenghiz Khan that safe ground is reached. During the
Kin Dynasty in China, it is known that many Mongols, probably with
their Khan, Kabul, became subject to the Chinese Emperor Tai-Tsung
from 1123-1137, but rebelled in 1138 after his death. This rebellion
marks the beginning of the rise of the Mongols. It was at this period
that they suffered from internal dissension; the feud between the Mongol
and Tartar tribes was ended by the triumph of the former through the in-
strumentality of Jenghiz Khan. This hero was the son of Yesukai, who was
the grandson of Kabul Khan. While Yesukai in 1151-1155 was ravaging
the Tartar lands, his wife Ogelen Eke (or Yulun) gave birth to a first-born
son who was called Temujin, after the name of the Tartar chieftain
recently slain by Yesukai. The name Temujin is most probably Chinese
by etymology and means “excellent steel. ” The similarity of the Turkish
Temurji (smith) is perhaps the origin of the fable that Jenghiz was
himself a smith. Temujin, later known by his style of Jenghiz Khan,
was born at a place called Deligun Buldagha, near the Onon. The name
of the spot has remained until the present time; by Rubruquis it
is called Onan Kerule. When he was thirteen
of
age,
his father
Yesukai died, leaving to his son a small nucleus of subjects. At the
outset Jenghiz was confronted with many difficulties. The spirit of dis-
affection which prevailed among his followers soon developed into revolt.
A general rising jeopardised the prospects of the youthful chieftain, but
the energy and capability of his mother Yulun recovered some of the
lost ground for him. A long period of unending strife ensued. With the
Naimans, whose centre is said to have been Karakorum, and the Keraits,
Jenghiz had to wage war continuously, and with varying success. Once
he was captured and tortured, but managed to escape with his life. At
length after many years he succeeded in consolidating his position.
Finally, after a series of victories Jenghiz overcame his last opponent,
Wang Khan, and became supreme over the nucleus of the Mongols. From
the date of the Kuriltai, or general convocation, which took place after
this event, in 1203, the beginning of the empire is usually considered to
date. The title of Khan, was, however, assumed in 1206 at another
assembly by the river Onon. The period from this date until 1227, when
Jenghiz died, comprises the era of extension and conquest. The first object
of attack was China, which consisted of two main divisions: the Northern,
with Yenkin (near Pekin) as its capital, and the Southern, the chief town
years
## p. 633 (#675) ############################################
Conquest of Turkestan and Khwārazm
633
of which was Lingan, also called Hangchow or Kinsai. This Empire was
ruled by the Sung Dynasty and the Northern by the Kin. The Kin rulers
were supreme over Tartary. Subject to their sway were the Khitans, who
had previously been supplanted in the dominion of the Northern Empire.
Preliminary invasions of Hia or Tangut, the province to the west of the
Yellow River, were successfully undertaken in 1208; the Kin army was
defeated and the territory within the great wall reduced to submission.
These victories paved the way for an attack on a larger scale, and in 1213
three grand armies were despatched. The main expedition under the
command of Jenghiz himself and Tulē, his youngest son, followed a south-
eastern direction. He sent his three other sons—Juji, Jagatai, and Ogdai-
with another force to form his right wing and operate on the south, while
the remainder, under his brothers, were despatched to the east in the
direction of the sea. It is unnecessary to follow the steps of these armies
in detail; it is sufficient to record their complete success. The subjugation
of the Hia occupied him from 1208 to 1212, and the Kin and Kara-Khitai
in Eastern Turkestan from 1212 to 1214. Having crushed these foes,
Jenghiz turned his ambitions to the western horizon. His dominions now
reached as far as the territory of Muḥammad, the Shāh of Khwārazm.
This mighty empire was bounded on the west by Kurdistān, Khūzistān,
and the Persian Gulf; to the east it reached nearly to the Indus. It
included the littoral of Lake Aral, and partly of the Caspian, on the
north. It comprised Azarbā'ījān, 'Irāq 'Ajamī, Fārs, Kirmān, Mukrān
(Beluchistan), Sistān, Khurāsān, Afghanistan, the Pamirs, Sughd, and
Mā-warā-an-Nahr (Transoxiana) among its main portions. The empire
had been originally founded by Anūshtigin, a slave of Malik Shāh the
Seljūq. At the time of Jenghiz, Muḥammad, the Shāh of Khwārazm, was
at the height of his power, and it is estimated that he could put into
the field an army of half a million soldiers. War was inevitable; the
insatiable ambition of Jenghiz supplied the casus belli; the execution by
Muhammad of the Mongol envoys was alleged as a pretence. In 1219
Jenghiz left his capital Karakorum with two divisions under his sons
Juji and Jagatai. Massacre and pillage were the concomitants of their
victories. Piles of corpses and the blackened traces of ruined cities marked
their progress. Pity was unknown to them; the most atrocious treachery
and disregard of oaths and of promises of quarter were employed to hunt
out and extirpate the scattered survivors of their barbarity. The
flourishing cities of Tashkent, Nur, Bukhārā, Samarqand, and Balkh were
utterly destroyed, and their inhabitants ruthlessly butchered, according to
the well-known Mongol principle,“Stone dead hath no fellow. " Muḥammad
fied to Nīshāpūr, but was pursued to the shores of the Caspian, where he
died, leaving a shattered wreck of a kingdom to his son Jalāl-ad-Dīn.
Merv and Nīshāpūr shared the fate of the other cities. Finally Jenghiz
and Jalāl-ad-Dīn met in battle on the banks of the Indus; the latter was
utterly defeated but managed to escape to Delhi, where he found a refuge
CH. XX.
## p. 634 (#676) ############################################
634
Empire of Jenghiz Khan
and peace for a while at the court of the Sultan. The last act of
Jenghiz in this campaign was to massacre all the inhabitants of Herat,
since they had ventured to depose his nominee from the governorship.
According to Douglas, 1,600,000 people were slain within the walls.
Jenghiz returned, but did not long enjoy the fruits of peace. Not
even the enormous booty which his victories had brought him could
induce the conqueror to spare his neighbours. The death of the last of
the Kin Dynasty in 1223 removed the final shadow of autonomy in North
China, and Jenghiz was now face to face with the Sung Dynasty in the
South. He set out on a fresh expedition, but died in 1227 by the Sale
river in Mongolia. The funeral escort that bore his corpse homeward
slaughtered every person whom they met, in order to prevent the news of
his death from being divulged.
Jenghiz Khan deserves to be remembered as a ruler, not only as a con-
queror. In the intervals of bloodshed, he found time to promote the arts
of peace and order. He organised a regular service of posts and couriers,
and rendered the highways secure for travellers. His tolerance to all
religious beliefs was probably due less to superstition than to indifference.
Not being deeply attached to any definite faith, he was not anxious that
one creed should secure preponderance. Divines, physicians, and learned
men were exempted from taxes. Perhaps the only plea by which a captive
might save his life was that of learning, though few instances of such
clemency are preserved. Jenghiz introduced the use of the Uighur
character, and caused his subjects to acquire the art of writing. He com-
piled a code of laws, or rather authorised the codification of existing
tribal customs, which he raised to a legal value, and to which he imparted
the sanction of his authority. His personal habits were such as could be
expected from his character. The joys of the chase, mingled with frequent
drinking-bouts, were the normal relaxations of Jenghiz. His wives and
concubines numbered five hundred. But, though he ruled his subjects with
an iron hand, his death found him at the zenith of popularity.
The Empire of Jenghiz Khan was the largest that ever fell to one
conqueror. The brain reels at the thought of the slaughter by which it
was achieved.
In China over eighteen millions of human beings were
slain by his armies. No plague, no other “Scourge of God," has ever
smitten so severely. Howorth? would seek to palliate his record, but it
is impossible to do so.
The death of Jenghiz was followed by an interregnum of two years.
The affairs of state were administered without interruption by the sons
of the late chief and by the officers whom he had appointed. At length,
in 1229, a Kuriltai was held in order to elect an overlord. It is important
to notice the names of four sons of Jenghiz whose claims were considered
at this Kuriltai, for their subsequent dissensions contributed in no small
1 See Howorth, op. cit. 1. pp. 113 seqq.
## p. 635 (#677) ############################################
Conquest of Northern China
635
degree to the disruption of the Empire. Juji, the eldest son, had died
during his father's lifetime, but the claims to the succession which were
his by right of primogeniture passed, according to Mongol custom, to
his family. His three brothers, in order of age, were Jagatai, Ogdai, and
Tulē. The pretensions of Juji's family might without injustice have
been passed over in favour of Jagatai, but the Kuriltai had no free choice.
Jenghiz before his death had settled the destinies of his sons and, although
he ventured to break down the regular Mongol ideas of inheritance, the
force of his authority remained binding beyond the grave. The Kuriltai,
after due deliberation and no little hesitation, carried out the commands
of Jenghiz. Ogdai, who was elected chief Khan and successor to his father,
retained Tulē near the seat of government, appointing him to various
official posts. The family of Juji received possessions in the west, Jagatai
in the Uighur country. For the present there was loyal co-operation
between the brothers, and with the accession of Ogdai a new stage in the
history of Mongol expansion begins.
This expansion proceeded in both directions, towards China and
towards Europe. The death of Jenghiz found the Mongol possessions
extending “from the China Sea to the Dnieper. ” In China, the Kin
Dynasty had been beaten and reduced to submission. In the west,
the kingdom of Khwārazm had been destroyed and its ruler driven far
away from his home. Numerous expeditions had spread the fame of the
Mongols and shaken Europe with terror. The time was ripe for another
ebullition. In China the subjugated Kin were beginning to shew signs
of revival. Sporadic hostilities had occurred. In 1228 and again in 1230
the Mongols were defeated; the battles, though by no means serious in
character, were sufficient to raise false hopes among the Chinese; the
Mongols no longer appeared to be invincible. Eventually Ogdai roused
himself to punish the rebels and determined to teach them an enduring
lesson. It was not merely the effect of the Kin victories and various
incidents of a provocative nature that set the Mongols in motion;
it was the prospect of further conquests beyond the territories of the
Kin. The Southern division of China under the Sung Dynasty, pro-
bably alarmed at the fate of the Kin, had endeavoured to propitiate the
Mongols and avoid any collision with them. It is in any case doubtful
whether this course would have had any efficacy, but a political error at
this juncture gave the Mongols a casus belli, which when they had finished
with the Kin they were not slow to utilise. The Sung Emperor refused
to grant the Mongol armies leave to pass through his dominions, and
slew their envoy. This refusal was to cost him dear. Meanwhile Ogdai
marched against the Kin from the north ; Tulē invaded Honan from
Paoki, in the Shensi province. After various campaigns, battles, and
massacres, the Kin were finally swept out of existence in 1234, and the
descendants of Jenghiz maintained the supreme rule until displaced by
the Ming Dynasty in 1368.
CH. XX.
## p. 636 (#678) ############################################
636
Advance westward
The overthrow of the Kin was speedily followed up by an attack on the
Sung. The Sung Emperor had ended by assisting the Mongols in their
war against the Kin. His reward was to have been the province of Honan.
This the Mongols refused to evacuate. Having secured all that they de-
sired from the Sung Emperor, they were in no mood to keep their
promise, and alleging as a pretext his former refusal of a passage to the
Mongol forces, they despatched an army in 1235.
At this stage it is desirable to turn back to events in the West. The
last years of Jenghiz Khan were marked by signs of activity among the
conquered cities of Khwārazm. When Muḥammad Shāh, defeated by the
Mongol armies, died of illness on the Caspian shore, he left a son Jalāl-
ad-Din. The destruction of the Khwārazmian empire deprived the latter
of a throne. A beaten fugitive from his Mongol pursuers, he reached
Delhi. Here the Sultan received him with kindness and gave him his
daughter in marriage. Jalāl-ad-Dīn watched for a favourable opportunity,
and, with the aid of his father-in-law, succeeded in regaining piecemeal
large portions of his lost heritage. He crossed the Indus and marched
north. Although his troops were few in number and had suffered severely
from the hardships of the journey, he effected the expulsion of his
surviving brother Ghiyāth-ad-Dīn, who ruled 'Irāq 'Ajamī, Khurāsān, and
Māzandarān, and seized his dominions. He attacked and defeated the
Caliph of Baghdad. In 1226 he captured Tiflis in Georgia, between the
Black Sea and the Caspian, and, in the following year, overcame a small
Mongol army. The important city of Khilat, in Armenia, now fell into his
hands and his power increased on all sides. But vengeance fell upon him
swiftly and suddenly. Ogdai sent a large force to reduce him, and before
the news of its coming reached Jalāl-ad-Dīn he was surrounded in
Diyārbakr. No chance of combat remained, for the Khwārazmian troops
were far away. Jalāl-ad-Dīn took refuge in flight but was slain by a Kurd.
His death brought an end to the Khwārazm Shāhs and their kingdom. But
the Mongols did not cease their campaign. The horror inspired by their
name was such that their victims abandoned all thoughts of resistance.
It is related that the whole population of a large village obeyed the
command of a single Mongol, and stood in a line while he slaughtered
them, one by one. Terror and devastation spread all over the country.
By 1236 they had overcome Erbil, Diyārbakr, Khilat, Mesopotamia,
Azarbā'ījān, Georgia, and Armenia. They made terrible examples of Kars
and Tiflis. The Caliph of Baghdad preached a jihad (sacred war) against
them and won a victory at Jabal Hamrīn on the Tigris. In 1238 he was,
however, defeated, and the Mongol armies marched northwards.
The hordes of Mongols seemed as inexhaustible as they were irre-
sistible. In 1235 Ogdai organised three large expeditions: against Korea,
the Sung Dynasty, and the country beyond the river Volga. The King
of Korea had submitted to Jenghiz Khan in 1218, but subsequently
various incidents stirred up discord between vassal and overlord. The
## p. 637 (#679) ############################################
Invasion of Europe
637
murder of a Mongol envoy in 1231 was followed by a victorious invasion,
led by Sabutai, who set up Mongol governors in many cities of Korea.
In 1232 a popular upheaval resulted in the assassination of many of
these officials, and the King of Korea, frightened of the consequences,
fled to the island of Siang-Hua on the west coast. Ogdai summoned
him to appear before his judgment-seat to answer for these acts; a re-
fusal led to the expedition of 1235. By 1241 the Korean King submitted
and gave the required hostages.
The expedition against the Sung Dynasty, though generally successful,
effected no permanent conquests, and the Southern Dynasty was not finally
reduced until the time of Kublai Khan, the second son of Tulē.
The third army requires further mention, for this force swept down
upon the West like an overwhelming avalanche. No crowning mercy, such
as the victory of Tours in 732 against the tide of Islām, saved the destinies
of Europe. Divided, and distracted by internal strife, the Christian
countries could offer no opposition to the invading hordes. The Mongol
wave spent its energy and fell back, shattered by no rock or impediment.
Had not the death of Ogdai recalled Bātu and his generals, there is little
doubt but that Paris and Rome would have shared the fate of Kiev
and Moscow.
It was originally the wish of Ogdai to lead the Western army in
person, but on reflection he changed his mind and assigned the command
to Bātu the son of Juji. With Bātu the renowned Sabutai was associated
as adviser. Ogdai's sons and nephews accompanied the expedition. The
forces met in Great Bulgaria in 1237. The Mongol onslaught was charac-
terised by its usual speed; indiscriminate slaughter, rape, and destruction,
as before, marked their path. A list of Mongol victories resolves itself into
a catalogue of doomed towns and ravaged country-sides. Blow after blow
followed in quick succession. Bulgar, Ryazan, Moscow, Vladímir, are but
a few of the places that succumbed. Princes, bishops, nuns, and children
were slain with savage cruelty. It is impossible to describe the bar-
barities that prolonged the death of the unfortunate inhabitants. None
remained to weep or to tell the tale of disaster. Novgorod was saved
by a thaw which melted the ice and turned the country into an im-
passable swamp. Koselsk was the scene of such exceptional severity
that the Mongols themselves noted the occasion by calling this place
“Mobalig,” town of woe. In 1240 the Mongols advanced still further,
towards the Dnieper. Pereslavl, Chernigov, Glokhov, and finally the
metropolitan city Kiev, were destroyed. The Mongols divided their
forces, one part marching against Poland and the other through the
Carpathians against Hungary. At Mohi on the Theiss the whole
chivalry of Hungary was crushed in an overwhelming defeat. The nobility
and clergy shared the fate of the common soldiers, and the King Béla IV
escaped as a fugitive to the Adriatic. In the same year (1241) Henry,
Duke of Silesia, was overthrown at Liegnitz near Breslau by the Mongols,
CA. XX.
## p. 638 (#680) ############################################
638
The recall of Bātu saves Europe
and the whole of Silesia was given up to slaughter. The area over which
the Mongol hordes were spreading seemed limitless; no country was safe.
Bātu followed up the capture of Pesth by crossing the Danube and
assaulting Gran, which he took. Europe was now prostrate, and no
saviour arose to ward off the Mongols. But the death of Ogdai, in the
sanie year as that of Pope Gregory IX, involved the return of Bātu to
Karakorum, in order to assist in the election of a new Khan, and the
western portions of Europe were freed from the terror of the Mongol
armies.
The coming of the Mongols found Europe utterly unprepared and
heedless. The first invasion of 1222, when the forces of Jenghiz Khan
crossed the Caucasus and ravaged parts of Russia, created little notice.
The west of Europe seems to have been ignorant of the event, but in
the years 1235–1238 two circumstances combined to awaken the Christian
kings to a knowledge of the perils awaiting them. The first of these was
an embassy from the Ismāʻīlīyah, and the second was the arrival of the
Mongol armies under Bātu and his generals. Those Ismāʻīlīyah, or
Ishmaelites, who are known to the general historian by the name of
“Assassins," were themselves marked out by the Mongols as a prey, but
they escaped attention until the time of Hūlāgū. Stirred by premonition,
or roused by the fate of their neighbours, they strove to effect a com-
bination against the all-conquering Mongols among all nations, even those
mutually hostile, that were confronted by this same foe whose coming
would involve them all in common ruin. The efforts of the Assassins
were not limited to the rulers in their immediate neighbourhood. In 1238
they sent envoys to the Kings of France and England, asking their aid.
The fame of this sect was great among the crusaders. Many distin-
guished men, Muslim and Christian, had fallen victims to their daggers,
and Saladin himself narrowly escaped assassination. It would have been
thought that, seeing the terror of their dreaded enemies, the Christian
princes would have awakened to a sense of their position and have
concluded an alliance, at least until such time as the Mongols had
been repulsed. Who knows what the effect of such an alliance might
have been? Apart from all military results, it is impossible to estimate
the effect on Europe of friendly intercourse and military co-operation
on a large scale with the Easterns? . But the warning fell on deaf ears.
The Emperor Frederick II did indeed realise what was at stake. He
wrote an extremely important letter to Henry III urging combined
action, and giving what was for that time a fairly accurate account of
the Mongols.
i Hayton, King of Little Armenia (1224-1269), was a friend and ally of the
Mongols. He sent missions and himself visited Bātu and Mangu in 1254, after the
accession of the latter. An account of his travels was compiled by one of his fol-
lowers. See Enc. Brit. s. v. Cf. supra, Chapter vi, p. 175.
2 Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora (Rolls ed. ), pp. 112 ff.
## p. 639 (#681) ############################################
The Papacy and the Mongols
639
Other rulers also bestirred themselves. In 1241, a few weeks before
the battle of Liegnitz, the Landgrave of Thuringia appealed for aid to
the Duke of Brabant, and the Church assisted in publishing the danger
by proclaiming fasts and intercessions. In an often misquoted passage,
Matthew Paris relates that in 1238 the fishermen from Friesland and
Gothland, “dreading their attacks, did not, as was their custom, come to
Yarmouth, in England, at the time of the herring-fisheries, at which place
their ships usually loaded; and, owing to this, herrings in that year were
considered of no value, on account of their abundance, and about forty
or fifty, although very good, were sold for one piece of silver, even in
places at a great distance from the sea. ”
Nevertheless, despite the growing feeling of insecurity, no active steps
were taken. The envoys were given empty answers. Nothing but the
quarrel between Emperor and Pope occupied men's minds. Some alleged
that Frederick II had manufactured the scare in order to help his cause.
Others, whose lack of political foresight was only equalled by their
ignorance of the Mongols, suggested that, if Europe remained inactive,
Mongols and Muslims would destroy one another and the triumph of the
Cross would be assured. The mass of the population were too apathetic
to be moved: nothing except the thoughts of Crusades could arouse them
from their torpor. Pope Gregory IX had written letters of sympathy to
the Queen of Georgia and to the King of Hungary, when these rulers
had been smitten by the Mongol scourge, but his mind was concentrated
on his quarrels with the Emperor. He died shortly after the battle of
Liegnitz, when the death of Ogdai recalled the Mongols and gave Europe
a breathing-space. The successor to Gregory was Innocent IV, who was
elected in 1243. He, as none before him, understood what was at issue,
and conceived two main plans for saving Christendom from the Mongols
-attack and persuasion. In order to stimulate the former, he ordered a
new combination of forces against them, and invested the expedition
with the dignity of a crusade by offering to all who fought against the
“ ministers of Tartarus” spiritual privileges similar to those offered to
the crusaders. Little came of these efforts, but the second plan, though
equally ineffective, has proved of infinite value to later ages on account
of the information thus gleaned concerning the Mongols.
The Pope imagined that, if the Mongols could be converted to Christi-
anity, they would be restrained from attacking Europe through religious
fears. Wonderful stories of Prester John filled Europe; it was possible
that the Mongols were in some way connected with this strange monarch.
There were the legends ascribing to the Mongols Semitic origin: they
were the lost ten tribes, shut up by Alexander within impenetrable
mountains, from which they had broken forth to ravage the world. In
short the soil was ripe for the seed of the gospel, and the monk would
succeed where the knight had failed.
This fond hope resulted in the missions of Friars John of Pian di
CH, XX.
## p. 640 (#682) ############################################
640
Ogdai and Kuyuk
Carpine and Benedict the Pole in 1245, and of Friar William of Rubruck
(Rubruquis) in 1253. The former were envoys of the Pope, the latter of
Louis IX. The itineraries of these travellers have been preserved, and
can well be ranked with the accounts of Marco Polo and Don Clavijo.
The mass of information contained therein constitutes one of the principal
sources of extant knowledge concerning the Mongols of this period.
Diplomatically and spiritually the mission of Friar William was as un-
successful as that of his predecessors, but from the point of view of the
historian both journeys were signally fruitful.
Ogdai's death, which delivered Europe, occurred in his fifty-sixth
year, on 11 December 1241. His comparatively early end was due to
excessive intemperance, a fault to which Mongols were prone. His chief
pleasure lay in hunting. He built a palace for himself at Karakorum, to
which he gave the name of Ordu Balig or City of the Camp. The site of
the palace and the marvels that were to be seen there have long been dis-
puted, but the Central Asiatic expeditions of N. Yadrintsev (1889), of the
Helsingfors Ugro-Finnish Society in 1890, and of Radlov in 1891, have
succeeded in fixing the position. The use of paper currency was known
to Ogdai, but it is uncertain whether he actually adopted this expedient.
Certain reforms are also ascribed to him, notably the curbing of the
extortionate demands and requisitions imposed by the princes and state
officials upon the common people. His personal gentleness forms a
contrast to the severity of Jagatai; but there was little evidence of
tenderness in his government. The policy of rule by brute force was not
modified until the later reigns of Mangu and Kublai.
After the death of Ogdai, the succession did not pass to either of his
nominees, Kuchu or Shiramun, the son of Kuchu. The former was the
third son of Ogdai and had predeceased his father in 1236. Shiramun
was kept from the throne by the instrumentality of Turakina, the widow
of the late Khan; Kuyuk, the eldest son of Ogdai, was ultimately, in 1246,
elected as Khan, as Turakina wished.
The Kuriltai at which Kuyuk was chosen is of interest because of
the presence of Friar John of Pian di Carpine, who gives a full descrip-
tion of the ceremony in his itinerary. The ill-will between the houses of
Jagatai and Ogdai was all this while increasing, but the dominion of the
house of Ogdai was not yet ended. The reign of Kuyuk, on the whole
uneventful, is noteworthy on account of various incidents. A Musul-
man called 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān was allowed to purchase the farming of the
taxes; this circumstance was greatly resented, because the efforts to dis-
tribute the taxes on a just basis were beginning to bear good fruit. The
foreign wars were maintained and armies sent against Korea, the Sung,
and Persia. Both in Mesopotamia and in Armenia the conquests and
ravages of the Mongols continued. At the court of Kuyuk Nestorian
Christians frequently appeared; Islām, Christianity, Buddhism, and
Shamanism were tolerated on an equal footing.
## p. 641 (#683) ############################################
Downfall of the Assassins
641
At the death of Kuyuk (1248) considerable confusion ensued; Kaidu,
grandson of Ogdai, and Chapar, son of Kaidu, successively held the
Khanate for short and troublous periods. Discontent among the nobles
and rival claims robbed the titular rulers of every shadow of authority, and
finally in 1251 Mangu, the son of Tulē, was elected Khan. The feud
between the houses of Jagatai and Ogdai was quelled and the house of
Ogdai ruled no more. The house of Tulē, youngest son of Jenghiz, now
took the lead.
The accession of Mangu brought a settlement to the political strife.
A period of prosperity followed. Rubruquis, whose visit happened at
this time, bears testimony that the luxury prevalent at Mangu's court
was not incompatible with the stability of the State, efficiency in govern-
ment, order and peace thoughout the Empire. Internal administration
was wise and popular. The Mongols were beginning to learn the lesson
of ruling as well as of conquering. But fresh conquests were soon under-
taken; a new outburst was ready.
Reference has already been made to the Assassins.
