About the cruelty of the medieval Mongols. Which cities of Russia resisted the Mongol troops during the capture
Nowadays, Russia, having quarreled with the West, is turning to the East, to China. Not just "without fish": the Asia-Pacific region is becoming the trade, economic and military-political pole of all mankind. And there were times in Russian history when the East did not wait for us to turn to it - it itself came to us. To stay forever, even when on November 11, 1480, after an anemic confrontation, Khan Akhmat deployed his steppe army from the Ugra River, on the other bank of which the army of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III was piled up. This final date of the "great standing on the Ugra" is considered the end of the 250-year-old Tatar-Mongol yoke (now in new history textbooks this "ethnically incorrect" term is replaced by the "yoke of the Golden Horde"), which, as we have been taught from school, is irrevocable destroyed in fire, drowned in blood primordial Russia, torn away from European Byzantium, pulled into "Asiaticism" with its slavery and servility.
The term "Tatar-Mongol yoke" is now recognized as "ethnically incorrect"
Ruthless reprisals against peaceful cities and peasants, humiliation of will and dignity, suppression of crafts and trade, unbearable tribute, hunger, desecration of faith, destruction of the chronicle memory of ancestors, age-old backwardness, hopeless underdevelopment, inferiority in the face of the "enlightened West" - this is how we "remember" Horde and its aftermath. But are the stereotypes learned from childhood so accurate and fair? The impressive prize of 200 ducats promised by the Russian Academy back in 1832 for a treatise on the influence of Mongol rule remained unpaid. Without pretending to be rewarded, let us soberly understand the paradoxes of our history.
Khanate without rudeness
Historian, professor of UrFU Sergey Nefyodov in the work "Was there a yoke?" asks the question: what exactly did the Mongols destroy? The Russian princes and boyars, who sat at the banquet tables, are, in fact, the "glorified" Varangians who founded the fortress cities. They achieved a privileged position by plundering, capturing and selling into slavery the non-military Slavs living on the gifts of land and forests, they burned and executed more zealously the coming Eastern conquerors. At the same time, continuous feuds led nomads-steppe dwellers to weakened Russia, aroused the aggressive thoughts of the Germans and Swedes.
The secret of the relatively easy military successes of the Mongols lies, according to the author, in the innovation, the "all-conquering new weapon" - the Mongol bow, the saadak, the manufacturing technology of which was "a secret with seven seals." Its destructive power was comparable to the power of the weapon of the future - a firearm musket: an arrow in three hundred steps pierced the heaviest armor. "In general, they are not hunters for hand fights," the great Russian historian Sergei Soloviev characterized the Mongols, "but they try to first kill and wound as many people and horses as possible with arrows, and then they grapple with the enemy weakened in this way." The few squads of scattered princes could not oppose anything to the rapid raids of the cavalry that surged from the Eurasian distant. But along with the devastation and bloodshed, Russia learned a strict administrative system.
The Golden Horde and Chinese officials taught Russia accounting and control
The conquerors themselves did not own writing, but skillfully used and "exported" the experience, knowledge and "personnel" of the Chinese, with whom they periodically fought. Population census, collection and accounting of taxes, recruiting for joint defense forces, arrangement of offices with repositories of the obtained data - in the 13th century, together with the yoke, a two thousand-year-old Chinese skill of organizing a state system came to us. (For comparison: in France, the first cadastre was carried out, by the way, already under Napoleon Bonaparte). Loyal Russian princes received a label for management, and Chinese "specialists" helped them collect taxes. In addition to them, the backbone of the Horde bureaucracy was also made up of Muslim officials - Arabs and Persians, who were also under the thumb of the almighty Horde. Document, stamp, money, salary - all this was taken over from them.
The tribute, it turns out, was not overwhelming for the farmsteads, its size was quite reasonable - a tenth, the tithe, which, according to some testimonies, was collected every 7-8 years, this is 1.5% of the peasant's annual income. Only a small part reached the Horde itself, the "exit" of the Vladimir principality under Dmitry Donskoy was 5 thousand rubles, although at the "entrance" theoretically it could reach 75 thousand. That is, the bulk of the collection remained in the "provinces" and went to their own needs (to edify the inter-budgetary policy of the modern Moscow "metropolis"). The Khans knew about this state of affairs and considered it quite permissible. Having established the process, foreign experts returned home, to their families, then the princes had nothing to grumble about - they were left with an effective bureaucratic machine. In cooperation with the Horde, the Moscow princes succeeded first of all: they were the ones who demonstrated vassal obedience more convincingly than others, promising to bring more and more tribute. And they did not lose: the delegated right to collect taxes led to the fact that a significant part of northeastern Russia was united around Moscow in one way or another, an ordinary settlement once turned into the capital.
Moscow won most of all Russian cities from the yoke
The coming period of “great silence” was much more favorable economically for the Russian common people than the subsequent era of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, when taxes accounted for a third of income. Community self-government appeared, its representatives participated in the courts on an equal basis with the princely ones. The East also brought new crafts: casting bells, onion domes, damask steel, firearms - all from there.
In a word, civilization (and with it the "imperial spirit" realized later in the movement of the Russians up to the Pacific Ocean) came to us precisely from the East, in comparison with which the medieval West seemed barbaric. Sergey Nefedov:
“When Russia became independent, then everything changed: the Tatars, who were former allies, turned into enemies. In retrospect, the chronicles are being altered, news about Batyev's capture of Kiev and a fantastic message about the "assassination" of Byty by the "Orthodox king" Vladislav are inserted. The grand-ducal crown, once presented to [Moscow Prince Ivan] by Khan Uzbek, is now called the “cap of Monomakh” - and this looks quite symbolic: Russia renounces the Tatar foundations and tries to replace them with Byzantine ones. It is in vain: Europe does not recognize Russia as its own, European ambassadors will argue with rare unanimity that Russia is an eastern state. In the end, one of the greatest Russian historians will agree with this: "Russia owes its greatness to the khans," Karamzin writes. However, a significant clarification must be made to these words: Russia owes the khans, but the khans were only mediators. In reality, Russia owes its greatness to the Chinese minister Yelui Chutsai. "
Our compatriot Genghis Khan
It turns out that the yoke is not such a yoke. And who are they - "yoke?" Lev Gumilev in his book "From Russia to Russia" also described the rather active and fruitful participation of the Mongol tribes in the formation of the Russian state, in the gradual establishment of order. The ancient Chinese chroniclers called the entire people who inhabited the Great Steppe Tatars (although the Tatars are one of the many steppe tribes) - a territory bordered by Siberian taiga from the north, mountain ranges from the south, its eastern part included the lands of modern Mongolia to Turkmenistan, the western part - present-day Kazakhstan, steppes of the Black Sea region, in some periods the Great Steppe extended to modern Hungary.
“Tatars” were divided into three branches: “white” - onguts - guarded the borders of the Great Steppe for a fee, obeyed the Manchu empire of Kinh and were despised for corruption by the “black” - herders living to the north; "Wild", hunters and fishermen, who lived even further north, denied statehood and spat on their southern neighbors. The neighboring aborigines of eastern Transbaikalia are Mongols. Nearby, the Kerait roamed - a devout people who in 1009 adopted Nestorian Christianity. To the west, in the foothills of Altai, the Naimans lived, the shores of Lake Baikal were mastered by the Merkits, and the Sayano-Altai by the Oirats.
The founder of Mongolian statehood, the great Genghis Khan, was born on the territory of modern Russia
All the tribes of the Great Steppe were at enmity with each other, but strife did not go beyond border conflicts. Their life was secure, but sadly hopeless: all the highest positions and privileges were acquired automatically, by birthright. Until the "people of long will" began to appear - young warriors seeking deeds and wealth. By the end of the 12th century, these lonely heroes united around the authoritative warrior Temujin, who in 1182 was elected as their khan, nevertheless obliged to reckon with the heads of the adjoining tribes. Temujin entered the history of mankind under the name of Genghis Khan. (By the way, the great commander, one might say, is our compatriot: he was born on the territory of the Russian Federation, eight kilometers north of the Mongol border, you can find this fact in the wonderful book by Boris Akunin "History of the Russian State. Horde Period").
Tempered in the struggle against the adherents of the old order, in 1198 Genghis Khan issued the Great Yasa - a set of laws prescribing strict discipline, the death penalty for any manifestation of betrayal, failure to provide assistance to a comrade in arms, etc. Gumilev: “People of long will, as before, had to defend themselves in order to live. But now the increased passionarity dictated to them the desire for victories, for in those days only victory over the enemies was able to save the people from the constant threat. And the wars for victory began. The Mongols' entry into the arena of world military-political history became a turning point in the existence of the entire Eurasian continent. " By 1208, there were no tribes left in the entire Great Steppe that could resist the growing military power of Genghis Khan. Having reached Persia by 1221 and conquered it, Genghis Khan died during the siege of the capital of the Tangut state, Zhongsin. But after himself the great khan left a state that stretched from the Black to the Yellow Seas.
Polite people
At this time, in contrast to the Mongol ulus, in Ancient Russia, on the contrary, there was a decrease in vigorous activity. Great Kiev in 1203 was burned and destroyed by the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavovich, after which the city never recovered. Numerous princes did not think to put personal interests below those of the state and the people. Meanwhile, the Mongols were getting closer and closer to the Russian borders, while dealing with long-standing enemies, the same steppe dwellers - the Polovtsy. Using a favorite technique, they pressed the enemies from the rear in the upper reaches of the Kuban. The Polovtsi asked for protection from the Russian princes. The Mongolian ambassadors sent to the Russians with proposals for peace and the rupture of the Russian-Polovtsian alliance were killed, "and since, according to Yasa, the deceit of the confidant was an unforgiving crime, then war and revenge after that could not be avoided."
In the battle on Kalka in 1223, the 80-thousandth Russian-Polovtsian army fell on the 20-thousandth detachment of the Mongols and ... was defeated - the princes were scattered on the battlefield. The remnants of the army were persuaded to surrender on the promise that no Russian blood would be shed. The oath was kept - the Mongols buried the captives under the boards (and where else in the bare steppe did they take so many boards?) And together with the horses settled down on the platform to feast.
Residents of Ryazan paid dearly to the Mongols for arrogance
In 1235, the Mongols, led by Batu, made a 5,000-kilometer dash to end the Cumans forever. Only a third moved forward, the rest were engaged in equally important operations in Persia and China. Part of Batu's troops, having approached the borders of the Ryazan principality, again sent envoys (Ryazan, Vladimir, Suzdal princedoms were not yet considered enemies) - the visitors needed horses and provisions. “If you kill us, everything will be yours,” the Russian princes answered arrogantly, and they ruined themselves. Then, on the way to the west, the Mongols slaughtered Torzhok, reassured by the promised help of Novgorod and therefore refused to obey. The glorious city of Kozelsk, besieged for seven weeks, did not wait for help from anyone.
“But not all cities suffered the fate of Vladimir, Torzhok and Kozelsk. Residents of the rich commercial Uglich, for example, quickly found a common language with the Mongols. By giving out horses and provisions, the Uglians saved their city; later, almost all Volga cities did this. Moreover, there were Russians who joined the ranks of the Mongolian troops. "
Chernigov and Kiev were taken. The Mongols in vain sent ambassadors to the Poles and Hungarians: no one believed in the power of a small army, all the Mongolian envoys were massacred. And again in vain. Only the Czechs in the Battle of Olomouc defeated the steppe inhabitants. Nevertheless, in 1242, Batu's army reached the Adriatic Sea and finished their campaign there. The initial enemies - the Polovtsians - were driven into Hungary, and there who fell from the locals, who escaped by adopting Catholicism.
In terms of the consequences, the Mongol campaign is more appropriate to call a raid - they did not aim to seize power in the cities, only punished those who resisted and avenged the killed ambassadors. For another twenty years they did not take any taxes from the northern principalities, and the taxed people of southern Kiev and Chernigov moved to the north.
Alexander means "protector"
However, later on, a Russian-Mongolian "axis" was formed: there were no fundamental political differences, and the Russians, under the threat of the Germans and Swedes, were looking for a reliable defender. In 1252, the Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky, despite the death of his father from the Mongol poison, found the strength to go to the Horde and fraternize with Batu's son Sartak. Gumilyov:
“True to his principle of fighting for the interests of the Fatherland, Alexander Yaroslavich, and this time“ laid down his soul for his friends ”. He went to Berke (grandson of Genghis Khan - ed.) And agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols in exchange for military assistance against the Lithuanians and Germans. But when Mongolian scribes came to Novgorod together with the prince to determine the amount of the tax, the Novgorodians staged a riot, led by Vasily Alexandrovich, the eldest son of the Grand Duke, a fool and a drunkard ... Alexander took the "Tatar" ambassadors out of the city under his personal protection without letting them be killed. Thus, he saved Novgorod from destruction - after all, we know how the Mongols acted with the population of the cities where the ambassadors of the Mongol Khan were murdered. Alexander Yaroslavich acted cruelly with the leaders of the turmoil: they "took out their eyes", believing that a person does not need eyes anyway if he does not see what is happening around. Only at such a price did Alexander manage to subdue the Novgorodians, who, along with their passionarity, lost common sense and did not understand that those who did not have the strength to defend themselves had to pay for protection from enemies. Of course, giving your money away is always unpleasant, but it’s probably better to part with money than independence and life. ”
In battles with the "pernicious West" Alexander Nevsky had a reliable rear - the Golden Horde
Even after the death of Alexander Yaroslavovich in 1263, an allied treaty with the Horde protected Russia from the oppression of the crusaders. In 1268, thanks to the Tatar detachment, Novgorod and Pskov survived, and in 1274 Smolensk retained its independence. Of course, not for free: the tribute was regularly transported to Sarai - the capital of the new state of the steppe people. At the same time, the Horde did not demand that the tributaries "change their shoes" either in religion or in the foundations - they were not interested in such "trifles". The northeastern part of Russia was gaining peace and stability, unlike its pro-Western neighbors. “Those Russian principalities that refused an alliance with the Tatars were seized partly by Lithuania, partly by Poland, and their fate was very sad. Within the framework of the Western European super-ethnos, the Russians faced the fate of second-class people. "
The foundation laid by Alexander Nevsky - altruistic patriotism that flourished under the religious and national tolerance of the Tatar-Mongols - will determine the principles of the country's structure for several centuries ahead. Russia. On the destroyed Kievskaya, the descendants of Nevsky will build Muscovite Russia, Russia itself.
One hundred years of maturity
Despite the victory of the Russian army under the leadership of Dmitry Donskoy over the Horde "separatist", the former "prime minister" Mamai, incited by the Genoese, the line had not yet been drawn. Two years later, in 1382, Khan Tokhtamysh ruined Moscow with many cities of the principality. And the battle of Donskoy itself on the Kulikovo field can hardly be regarded as an attempt to fully defend national independence from the Horde: in 1380, a century before the "great standing on the Ugra", the concept and value of the Motherland not as a native village or fortress, but as the Motherland (alas Gumilev) in the minds of the Russians were not yet. Russia was part of a large wild state, the main task of a person was simply to survive in a cruel environment.
On the whole, the century was eventful for everyone - the cities of the Horde itself were attacked by Emir Timur (Tamerlane), all sorts of feuds broke out. Various lines of the Rurik dynasty were also at enmity, fighting for the main throne and gradually learning to see in the khans not only the hand of power, but also rivals, accustoming them to non-payment of tribute. Generations of Russian warriors were brought up, taking it "for the custom" to resist the Horde in border skirmishes, who believed in the prospect of complete victory over it. The power of the khans began to be perceived by Russian society as unacceptable and illegal. A final, decisive break was brewing.
By the "great standing on the Ugra" Russians already knew what Motherland and national independence were.
Khan Akhmat, in alliance with the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir, dared to embark on a long campaign to "destroy the churches and all Orthodoxy and capture the Grand Duke himself, as it was under Batu." In 1476, the ambassador of Akhmat in Moscow demanded that the "ulusnik" Ivan III, as was customary, go with a tribute to beat the khan's favor. But the Moscow prince did not move - and both understood the inevitability of a big battle.
In the spring of 1480, Akhmat's 100-thousand army slowly began its journey from the Volga region. The Russian patrol worked fine, it gave an advantage, like another one - again new weapons, which, by the way, also came from the East: the cannons and squeaks. Using the proven tactics - calling from the rear - the Akhmatovo army moved to the left bank of the upper Oka, simultaneously ravaging local towns, closer to the Lithuanian possessions, but in vain - Lithuania did not come to the rescue. The main Russian forces took up a position for 60 km along the left bank of the Ugra. To push them away from the river, the Horde did not manage to break through the defenses - the position was well thought out. The desired effect was added by artillery - if not with accuracy, then with firing, which turned the Mongols into panic.
The stand lasted quite a long time, negotiations initiated by the Moscow prince led nowhere - the khan insisted on obedience. However, the delay did not go to the advantage of the enemy, cut off from his native Steppe, besides it was getting colder. The uninvited guests were discouraged. On November 11, Akhmat's army still had to withdraw from their positions and go home without salt, on the way they took out their anger on treacherous Lithuania. The Russian army, returning to Muscovy, was greeted with enthusiasm and prayers - many understood the significance of the "historical moment". In the spring, another good news came - Akhmat was killed by rivals in the Horde.
Ivan III cleared the road to European greatness for his grandson, Ivan the Terrible
Russia was successfully reaping the fruits of foreign policy: from all sides, including the Western, they began to reckon with it and conduct a dialogue. The country's sovereignty was universally recognized with the adoption of the title of Moscow Tsar - now it was equal in status to the monarchs of Europe. Gradually, not without wars, the state borders expanded, the lands of Lithuania and Kiev were transferred to Muscovy, Vyatka obeyed, applicants for the Kazan khan throne were looking for location near Moscow and were appointed from there, the Russians for the first time looked beyond the Urals as an army. Tver joined, Pskov and Ryazan were controlled. In twenty years, Muscovites rebuilt the Kremlin - now it was already a full-fledged stone, fortified, with all the appropriate set of institutions, the residence of the monarch. The country stepped out of the darkness of the Middle Ages.
This is how, ambivalently, a considerable, about 250 years old, period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, saturated with Russian passionarity and shaped it, affected our history: the ancestors, for example to us, did not sit still, they did not expect the weather by the sea. They were not afraid of either the West or the East, looked boldly in both directions, forged Russian Eurasia for us.
Today it is difficult to imagine how the Mongol tribes roaming in Central Asia led by Genghis Khan were able to conquer many highly developed cities and countries and create a powerful empire. But she really existed, and her history holds many dark secrets.
1. Murder
Genghis Khan's real name is Temujin. He committed his first murder at the age of 14. Temujin's half-brother, Begter, often bullied him and his younger brother. And once the brothers watched Begter and riddled him with arrows to death. Since then, Temujin began to consider killing the most effective method of solving problems. Once the famous fighter of the Storm insulted the younger brother of Temujin Belgutei.
After coming to power, Genghis Khan challenged Buri to a rematch with Belgutei. Storm was very scared and did not resist, deciding that it would be better for him to lose the fight. But Genghis Khan despised cowards. And at his command Belgutei broke his opponent's spine with a special technique, after which the helpless Storm was left alone to die in the street.
2. Torture and execution
The use of torture was not welcomed in the empire, but it still took place and was very cruel. So Khan Guyuk, suspecting one of the courtiers, Fatima, of killing his brother, first tortured her, and then they sewed her everything that was possible on her body, wrapped her in felt and threw her into the river.
The Mongols always had a taboo on bloodshed for noble people, but they found other ways of cruel reprisals against such people. One caliph from Baghdad was wrapped in a carpet and thrown under the hooves of a racing herd of horses. And after the victory over the Russians at the Kalki River, the captive princes were covered with wooden floorboards and feasted on them until they died.
3. Intrigue
Intrigues flourished at the Mongol court, and it resembled a snake ball. During the reign of Genghis Khan, the shaman Teb Tengri began to weave intrigues against the brothers of the Khan, in order to remove them from power. First, he slandered Kasar. Genghis Khan believed the shaman and almost executed his brother, but his mother prevented this.
After some time, Kasar died a natural death, and the shaman took on another heir brother, Temuge. This time, the brother was saved from death by Genghis Khan's wife, Borte. And she warned her husband that the shaman would soon reach him. After that, Genghis Khan, using his favorite trick, organized a wrestling competition in which the shaman's spine was broken and thrown into the street.
4. Status of women
Although some Mongolian women achieved high positions in society, most of them were deprived of rights. Women depended on men and had to completely obey them. It was customary for the Mongolian steppe nobility to create harems with dozens of wives. In addition, from the enslaved peoples, the Mongols often, instead of tribute, brought young girls to their concubines.
Once, trying to recruit wives among the women of one of the Buryat forest tribes of the Khori-tumats, the Mongols faced resistance, the indignant Khori-tumats revolted. At that time, the leader of this tribe was a woman, Botokhoi-tarhun. She managed to seduce one of Genghis Khan's generals and lure his army into an ambush. However, later the uprising was suppressed, Botokhoi-tarhun was captured and given to one of the Mongol soldiers.
Her further fate is unknown. But some women managed to benefit from this situation. After the conquest of the Merkits, the son of Genghis Khan married their princess Doregene, who soon rose above the rest of his wives and after the death of her husband ruled the empire for about five years.
5. Creation and destruction of an empire
In 1178, Temujin married Borte, but soon after the wedding, she was kidnapped by the Merkit tribesmen. Temujin flew into a rage, gathered a small army, attacked the Merkits and freed his wife. In this battle, he gained a reputation as a brave warrior, after which he began his ascent from Temujin to Genghis Khan. It soon became clear that the rescued Borte was pregnant, but it was not clear from someone - either from her husband, or from one of the rapists.
When a boy was born, who was named Jochi, Genghis Khan adopted him and raised him as his own son. But rumors spread. And when, at the end of his life, Genghis Khan decided to appoint his eldest son Jochi as his successor, Chagatai, the second eldest son, objected to his father, believing that he should have priority, and not the "Merkid geek".
An unpleasant quarrel broke out between the brothers. Then Genghis Khan appointed his third son Ogedei as his heir, which later served as the reason for the ongoing multi-year squabbles between the brothers, which ended with the collapse of the Great Empire.
6. Religious fanaticism
The ruling elite of Mongolia considered themselves bearers of the highest divine mission, and this justified the nightmarish massacre that accompanied their campaigns. Having conquered Bukhara, Genghis Khan from the pulpit broadcast to the frightened inhabitants that he was sent to them as punishment for all the sins they had committed.
Many years later, Genghis Khan's grandson Guyuk wrote in a letter to Pope Innocent IV that all the occupied lands were given to the Mongols by God's blessing, and those who disagree with this would be considered an enemy of the empire. His other grandson, Khan Mongk, in a letter to the King of France, argued that God is the only and eternal ruler in heaven, and Genghis Khan on earth.
7. Plan for the destruction of the Chinese
The Mongols always tried to settle on open plains where there was enough food for their horses. And before setting out on a campaign to new lands, at first special detachments were sent there, which burned almost everything in these territories. After a while, by the time of the main offensive, the devastated lands had time to be overgrown with grass and could be used as pastures.
Enraged by unsuccessful attempts to conquer China, Khan Ogedei devised a plan that consisted in the mass extermination of all Chinese peasants living in the north of the country, and further turning their lands into sheer pasture.
Fortunately, the advisor Elui Chutsai managed to dissuade Ogedei from this idea. He explained that it would be better to tax the peasants, which would provide a permanent source of income to finance the army. Ogedei listened to his advice and never returned to his plan to exterminate the Chinese.
8. Drunkenness
Poor Mongolian nomadic herders mainly consumed fermented mare's milk, in which there was very little alcohol. However, after Genghis Khan's campaigns in the empire, gifts and tributes from the conquered peoples flowed in an inexhaustible stream, many Mongols began to live in luxury and fun, There were various alcoholic drinks in unlimited quantities.
And already at the end of Genghis Khan's life, drunkenness became a serious problem, affecting the family of the Great Khan himself. His two sons, Tolui and Ogedei, drank themselves and died. After their death, another son, Chagatai, fearing that he would suffer the same fate, ordered the servants to strictly ensure that he did not drink much.
Ogedei suffered especially seriously from alcoholism, who was almost constantly drunk, and even made important decisions while in this state. The problem was aggravated by the fact that his wife, Doregene, did not interfere with his drunkenness, because at that time she could feel like a ruler.
9. Civil War
During the reign of Guyuk, civil war did not break out in the empire. At one of the banquets, Guyuk had a violent quarrel with the son of Jochi, Batu. And when Batu subsequently refused to give Guyuk proper honors in honor of his ascension to the throne, they completely hated each other. Guyuk's army set out to conquer the Russian principalities controlled by Batu. However, during this campaign, Guyuk died, and the war did not happen this time.
But it happened later. When the ruler Mongk Khan died, his brothers, in their struggle for power, nevertheless unleashed a war between the clans in the country, as a result of which the descendants of Ugedei and Chagatai returned to power. The losing clans of Jochi and Hulagu, Mongka's brother, moved to the west, where they created two independent states, the Golden Horde and Il-khanat. Thus came the decline of the Mongol Empire.
10. Great cleaning
By the will of Genghis Khan, the throne passed to Ogedei. But he soon died of drunkenness, and a struggle for power began, which was initially seized for five years by Ogedei's widow, Doregene. Subsequently, as a result of her cunning intrigues, her son, Guyuk, ascended the throne. But disagreeing with his mother, who was trying to keep power for herself, he dealt with her and her advisers.
Two years later, Guyuk also died, the descendants of the sons of Jochi and Tolui entered the struggle for power, who brought Tolui's son Mongka to power. The Chagatai and Ogedei clans attempted to overthrow Mongka. But upon learning of this, Mongk carried out a massive purge in the country. The ministers, the instigators of the coups, were executed, all supporters of Ogedei and Guyuk were captured. Demonstration trials were held throughout the country.
The Mongols were very cruel to everyone. Even if the inhabitants of the cities did not put up any resistance to the conquerors, the Mongols did not spare anyone exactly. A striking example of this was the case that happened to the city of Bukhara. When the army of Genghis Khan in 1220 surrounded Bukhara, the city authorities decided not to resist and surrender to the Mongols. The conquerors were given all the keys to the gates of the city. Having discovered during the census a huge number of men among the inhabitants of the city, the merciless warriors killed everyone with sabers and iron sticks. Only skillful artisans and beautiful women were spared. The Mongols burned the city itself.
The Mongols turned out to be a threat that the states of Asia and the Russian principalities could not resist. A series of conquests began with the Central Asian states, then came the turn of Persia, Volga Bulgaria and Rus. At the same time, the Mongols used the same tactics - they offered city residents to surrender. In case of refusal, the city was destroyed, and its inhabitants were massacred without exception.
What if the city surrendered
During the Central Asian campaigns of the Mongols, several cases are known when large cities surrendered and did not offer resistance. For example, this was the case with the cities of Zernuk and Nur, which were located on the territory of modern Uzbekistan not far from Bukhara.
Often, the surrender of the city was the result of a direct betrayal of the local aristocrats. But in most cases, the inhabitants survived. Of the consequences, several main ones should be noted:
- The Mongols demanded tribute. The amount of the tribute depended on many reasons, including the mood of the khans. Therefore, each time it could be different. But the standard is "tithe", then 1 \\ 10 of the total property of each inhabitant;
- It was necessary to destroy the fortifications in order to complicate the defense in case of an uprising. The destruction of fortifications is characteristic of the first conquests, when the troops moved quickly and tried to capture the main centers of states, establishing their power there;
- Often a Mongol garrison remained in the city. It depended on the importance of such a city. Then the fortifications remained intact.
It must be understood that the plans of Genghis Khan and his successors included plans to conquer the whole world. This was not an ordinary raid by nomads for plunder. The Mongol wars were aimed at subjugating the captured countries and establishing their own power there.
Did the Mongols always let their inhabitants live?
As a rule, the cities resisted and were destroyed along with the inhabitants. Not a single Russian city surrendered to the Mongols. Therefore, Ryazan, Vladimir, Moscow, Kiev, Murom, Kozelsk and other large cities of Russia were burned.
Therefore, there are no examples of the attitude of the Mongols to the inhabitants of cities that did not show resistance among Russian cities. But such facts are known from the history of other countries.
There were cases when the population of cities was massacred, voluntarily opening the gates to the invaders. And the city itself was subjected to total plunder.
This was done out of revenge for the heavy losses suffered during the storming of previous cities. Often cities were slaughtered as punishment for past actions - sheltering the enemies of the Mongols, supplying their armies with food.
At one time, the so-called. Eurasians put forward the thesis that: “Yes, the Tatars fought brutally. But in those days everyone fought fiercely: Russians, Europeans, and Chinese. Another thing is that the Mongols turned out to be more successful, which many still cannot forgive them.
[...] As for the Europeans referring to the cruelty of the Mongols, it would be better if they mentioned how the crusaders massacred Jerusalem in 1099, leaving even infants alive. Or Constantinople, plundered by them in 1204. Or the order of the Black Prince, who in England is considered a national hero, to cut out the entire population of Limoges in 1370. As they say, they see a speck in someone else's eye, but they don't notice a log in theirs. "
Here is what, for example, the most famous representative of the Eurasianists L.N. Gumilyov: “There is a well-established version regarding the capture of Central Asian cities by the Mongols:“ Wild nomads destroyed the cultural oases of agricultural peoples ”. This version is based on the legends created by the court Muslim historiographers. For example, the fall of Herat was reported by Islamic historians as a disaster in which the entire population was exterminated in the city, except for a few men who managed to escape in the mosque. They hid there, afraid to take to the streets littered with corpses. Only wild beasts roamed the city and tormented the dead. After sitting out for some time and coming to their senses, these "heroes" went to distant lands to plunder caravans in order to regain their lost wealth.
This is a typical example of myth-making. After all, if the entire population of a large city were exterminated and lay corpses in the streets, then inside the city, in particular in the mosque, the air would be contaminated with cadaveric poison, and those hiding there would simply die. No predators, except jackals, live near the city, and they very rarely enter the city. It was simply impossible for exhausted people to move to rob caravans several hundred kilometers from Herat, because they would have to walk, carrying heavy loads - water and provisions. Such a "robber", having met a caravan, would not have been able to rob it, since he would have had enough strength only to ask for water.
Even more amusing is the information reported by historians about Merv. The Mongols took it in 1219 and also allegedly exterminated all the inhabitants there, down to the last person. But already in 1229 Merv rebelled, and the Mongols had to take the city again. And, finally, two years later, Merv sent a detachment of 10 thousand people to fight the Mongols.
The fruits of fervent fantasy, taken literally, gave rise to an evil, "black" legend of Mongol atrocities. "
At present, R. Yu. Pochekaev adheres to a similar point of view: “In science, there is a stable idea that the Mongol conquests were accompanied by the destruction of states, the devastation and burning of cities and villages, murder, capture and robbery of civilians. Most of the sources that have come down to us, in fact, provide grounds for the formation of such a view. However, few people know that in the law of the Mongol Empire and its successors there were norms instructing the conquerors to refrain from violence against the civilian population of the occupied areas.
[...] It is unlikely that they could have been published under Genghis Khan himself (r. 1206 - 1227): during his reign, military leaders from among the closest associates of the founder of the empire, the former "steppe bagaturs", for whom the murder of enemies ( including those who did not participate in hostilities), the plunder and burning of cities and the seizure of prey was considered the height of heroism and youth.
[...] But already under the successor of Genghis Khan, his son Ogedei (r. 1229 - 1241), and then under the khans of Mengu (r. 1251 - 1259) and Khubilai, civil officials from settled countries began to acquire significant influence in the empire […] The new dignitaries tried in every possible way to pursue a policy of greater tolerance of the Mongol conquerors in relation to representatives of an agricultural culture alien to them. Therefore, just at the time when the Mongol conquests were carried out on the greatest scale, the sources record examples of the fact that the conquerors sought to streamline relations with the conquered population.
So, for example, we have received an interesting message from the Hungarian canon Rogerius, who survived the Mongol invasion of Hungary and himself was captured by the conquerors, so he had absolutely no reason to embellish their deeds. Nevertheless, he reports that in 1241 the Mongols managed to win over to their side a number of Hungarian and German feudal lords and with their help began to spread calls for the local population to return to their settlements, promising a peaceful existence. Another Hungarian contemporary of the Mongol invasion of Europe, Thomas of Splitsky, who described the Mongols as real people from hell, however, notes that the Mongols "did not show all their ferocious cruelty and, driving around the villages and taking prey, did not arrange big beatings."
In order to check how true the statements of Gumilyov and Pochekaev are, I decided to turn to the written sources that they used. Unfortunately, I could not find out where Gumilyov got information about Herat from. As for Merv, it is most likely that Gumilev used the text of Ala ad-Din Ata-Malik ben Mohammad Juweini (1226 - 1283).
Let's see what Juvaini wrote about the capture of Merv by the Mongols: “The next day, which was the first day of Muharram 618 and the last day of life for most of the inhabitants of Merv, Tului arrived [...] with an army as numerous as the waves of the sea and the sand of the desert.
[…] Around the city walls, the Mongols set up sentry chains and watched vigilantly all night. The attacks of the besieged have ceased. No one else dared to leave the city. Mujir al-mulk could not think of any means of salvation except to surrender to the enemy. In the morning, he sent the imam of Merv, Jemal-ad-din, to negotiate with the Mongols, received a promise of mercy, and left, taking numerous gifts loaded on the four-legged people in the city. Tului asked him about the state of the city and demanded to compile a list of all the rich and famous people. He demanded them to him and made them give out the treasures. The Mongol army entered the city. The entire population, regardless of property status, was taken out of the city, and women were separated from men.
[…] With the exception of 400 artisans and some of the children of both sexes who were taken prisoner, the entire Merv population, along with women and children, was divided between soldiers and militias and killed. [...] The walls were destroyed, the fortifications were razed to the ground and the Hanefi cathedral mosque was burned [...] After reprisals against the Merv inhabitants, Tului appointed Emir Ziya-ad-din, a Merv nobleman, whom the Mongols spared as harmless, the ruler of the destroyed city and those remaining inhabitants, who managed to hide in secret places during the pogrom. [...] The surviving inhabitants of Merv turned out to be about 5000. Of these, however, many died later when other Mongol detachments arrived in Merv, who also demanded their share in the murders.
[…] Ziya-ad-din ordered the restoration of the Merv walls and rampart.
At this time, a detachment of the Mongolian army arrived. Ziya-ad-din found it necessary to honor them and for some time kept [them] at home, until Kush tegin-pahlavan from the Sultan's troops came with a large army and began to siege the city. […] When Ziya-ad-din realized that nothing would come of the matter if the [general] desire was different, he and the detachment of Mongols who were with him went to the Marga fortress, and Kush-tegin entered the city.
[…] Kush-tegin actively set about restoring the city and agricultural economy. The destroyed dam was rebuilt by him.
However, further measures to rebuild the city were soon to stop. The Mongolian commander Karacha-noyon was already in Serakhs. Having received information about the approach of Mongol troops, Kush-tegin fled at night from Merv [...] A few days later, a detachment of Mongols, about 200 people, approached Merv, where Kush-tegin's deputies remained, heading for Kutuk-noyon. Half of the detachment went to carry out the task entrusted to it, and half remained to besiege Merv and reported this to Turbay and Kabar, who were in Nakhsheb. By this time, people from different places were going to Merv, as it was better there.
Five days later [arrived] Turbai with 5000 troops and Sipekhsalar Humayun, who bore the nickname Ak-melik and served them [the Mongols]. Reaching the Merv gates, they immediately took the city and, having bridled the faithful like camels, tied them with a rope ten, twenty in one chain and threw them into a bloody vat. More than 100,000 were martyred. The quarters were divided among the warriors, and most of the houses, castles, mosques and places of worship were destroyed. The commanders with the army of the Mongols withdrew, leaving Ak-melik with several people to catch those who, being prudent, hid in a secluded corner and escaped the sword. All the tricks that could be done for the search were done, and since there were no other tricks left, one person from Nakhsheb who was with them began to shout adhan and read the call to prayer. Anyone who crawled out of the shelter in response to his voice was seized, imprisoned in the Shikhabi madrasah and then thrown down from the roof. Many more people died in this way. For 41 days they showed such zeal until they left there. No more than 4 people survived in the entire city.
When there were no more troops left in Merv and its environs, all those [inhabitants] who were in the villages or went into the desert went to Merv. […] When the rumor about Merv reached Nesa, one Turkmen gathered a gang and came to Merv. He acquired the favor of influential persons [in the city], and about 10 thousand people gathered around him. He ruled [Merv] for 6 months and sent [detachments] to the vicinity of Merverud, Pendzhdeh and Talcan to stealthily attack the Mongol carts and bring horses.
[...] Merv was attacked first by the Mongolian commander Karacha-noyon, who was at that time in Talcan. He killed all the residents who caught his eye and used their wheat supplies. Then, after him, came another Mongol commander, Kutuku-noyon, with an army of 100,000 people. The Khalajs, Ghaznians and Afghans, who were part of this army as a militia, completed the destruction of the city and the extermination of its inhabitants. For 40 days, they carried out such violence, "the likes of which no one has seen," and such devastation among the population that "not even 100 people remained in the city and surrounding villages."
So, as we see, according to Juvaini, the Mongols captured Merv three times. At the same time, after the first and second defeat, the number of townspeople was renewed at the expense of people from the vicinity of Merv. Personally, I am confused by too round numbers in this text:
After the first defeat of Merv, 5,000 people survived;
- during the second defeat, 100,000 people died;
- after the second defeat, 10,000 people gathered in the city.
The question is, who counted all of them there?
Storming of the fortified city by the Mongols
It is curious that in addition to the Mongols themselves, Mongol allies took an active part in the destruction of the townspeople of Merv: the Khalajs, Ghaznians, Afghans. This information reminded me of the events of the twentieth century, when in the occupied territory in the destruction of civilians, besides the Nazis themselves, their accomplices from among the local population took an active part: Ukrainians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians.
Now, let's turn to R. Pochekaev, or rather to the links that he makes in his text. So, after the phrase: "Nevertheless, he reports that in 1241 the Mongols managed to win over a number of Hungarian and German feudal lords and, with their help, began to spread calls for the local population to return to settlements, promising a peaceful existence" on the book of R. Pochekaev himself “Batu. A Khan Who Was Not a Khan ”p. 148.
We open and read: “In other regions, Batu preferred to establish contact with the local population. So, according to Rogeria, even before the battle at Chaio, Kadan captured Count Aristald, chose 600 people from among the German prisoners and used them in his service. By order of Batu, texts were written and distributed in which the victors urged the inhabitants to return to their villages and promised them a peaceful existence. These messages were composed of prisoners or Magyar and German feudal lords who voluntarily sided with the Mongols. "
I discovered Rogeria (c. 1200 - 1266) and found the corresponding places. First, about the German prisoners: “King Kadan, for three days on impassable roads making his way through the forests between Russia and the Company, came to the rich Rudan - a Teutonic village located among the high mountains and the royal silver mine, where innumerable multitudes of people gathered. But since they were warlike people and did not lack weapons, when it became known about the arrival of the Tatars, they left the village through the forests and mountains to meet them. Kadan, amazed at the multitude of armed men, showed his back, feigning flight from them. Then these people, returning victorious and laying aside their weapons, began to get drunk with wine, because of which the Teutonic rage disappeared. The Tatars, suddenly appearing, burst into the settlement from many sides, as if there were no ditches, no walls, or other fortifications. And because of this, a great massacre would have occurred, if only people, not seeing that they were not able to resist the Tatars, would not have given themselves completely under their protection. Kadan, having received this settlement under his patronage, annexed to his army the komit of the settlement of Ariskald with six hundred selected armed Teutons, intending to go with them through the forests.
Now about the texts of Batu: “After the victory and triumph of the Tatar army [...] the sovereign with the most noble of the Tatars, having received on this division the royal seal found from the scribe, whose head they cut off from the body with a terrible sword, already firmly believing their land and fearing that people, having heard about the flight of the king, turning to flight, would not have shirked the fight, invented one trick, which they did.
[...] With the help of some Hungarian priests, who were still spared, they composed various forged letters on behalf of the king for the nobility and commoners throughout Hungary on behalf of the king: “Do not be afraid of ferocity and fury and do not dare to leave your homes. Although, due to some imprudence, both the castles and the tents, we have left, little by little, our God by grace, we again plot to win them back, resuming a skilful battle against our enemies. And therefore turn to prayer, so that the merciful God would allow the heads of our enemies to bow before us. " These letters were sent through those Hungarians who had already surrendered to them and who misled me and all of Hungary. For we had such confidence in these letters that, although every day we learned the opposite, since confusion reigned where the clashes took place, we could in no way send messengers to check the rumors, and did not want to believe the opposite. So there was no escape route in conquered Hungary. "
So, as we can see, we are talking about a military trick, which, by the way, was a success.
The second footnote comes after the phrase: “Another Hungarian contemporary of the Mongol invasion of Europe, Thomas of Splitsky, who characterized the Mongols as real people from hell, however, notes that the Mongols“ did not show all their ferocious cruelty and, driving through the villages and taking the spoils, did not arranged big beatings ”. Well, here the footnote is just a page from the text of Thomas of Split (c. 1200 - 1268).
We open and read the phrase not in such a truncated form as in Pochekaev's, but completely: “When they met with the first inhabitants of the country, at first they did not show all their ferocious cruelty and, driving around the villages and taking the spoils, did not arrange big beatings”. I think comments are superfluous.
Now, let's see what Rogerius and Thomas Splitsky wrote about the cruelty of the Mongols towards civilians: “Having destroyed the walls and towers, they [the Mongols] made an attack and, having seized the castle. They captured the warriors, canons and all others who, during the capture of the castle, were not killed with a sword. Noble ladies and maidens wished to take refuge in the cathedral church. The Tatars took the warriors' weapons and, through the most cruel tortures, took what they had from the canons. Since they could not immediately enter the cathedral church, having brought fire, they burned the church, and the noble women who were in it, and everyone else who happened to be there. In other churches, they committed such great atrocities with women that it would have been better not to talk about them, so as not to incite people to something very bad. The nobility, the townspeople, soldiers and canons, who were outside the city in the field, were all killed without any regret. […] After the intolerable stench began to come from the bodies of the dead, leaving everything, they left there, and this place remained deserted. People hiding in the nearby forests returned there to find something edible. And when they examined the ruins and bodies of the dead, the Tatars unexpectedly returned and did not leave alive any of the survivors who were found there again. So new murders were constantly committed there every day. "
“Having driven a crowd of meek women, old people and children, they ordered them to sit in one row, and so that the clothes would not get stained with blood and the executioners would not get tired, they first pulled off the clothes from everyone, and then the sent executioners, raising each hand, easily thrust their weapons in the heart and destroyed everyone. Moreover, Tatar women, armed in a masculine manner, like men, courageously rushed into battle, and with particular cruelty they mocked the captive women. If they noticed women with more attractive faces, which at least to some extent could cause them a feeling of jealousy, they immediately killed them with a blow of the sword, but if they saw fit for slave labor, then cut off their noses and with disfigured faces gave them to perform duties slaves. They even called captive children to themselves and arranged such fun: first they forced them to sit in a row, and then calling their children, gave each of them a heavy club and ordered them to hit the unfortunate kids on the heads with them, while they themselves sat and mercilessly watched, laughing loudly and praising the one who was more marks and who with one blow could break the skull and kill the child. "
Mongolian horsemen with prisoners. Illustration by Rashid ad-Din
The cruelty of the Mongols is evidenced not only by written sources, but also by data from archaeological excavations: “Our expedition conducted systematic excavations of the mass graves of the victims of the Mongol invasion in 1977-1979. on the hem near the Oka and near the former estate house of the Sterligovs near the southern outskirts of the village of Fatyanovka.
The study of anthropological materials showed: of the 143 opened burials, the majority belong to men aged 30 to 40 years and women from 30 to 35 years old. There are many children's graves, from babies to 6-10 years old. […] The skeleton of a pregnant woman was found, the murdered man was holding a small child to his chest. Some of the skeletons have fractured skulls, traces of saber blows on the bones, and the hands are severed. Many individual skulls. Arrowheads were stuck in the bones.
[...] The captives were cut off their heads: during the excavations A.V. Selivanov of the Savior Cathedral found clusters of 27 and 70 skulls, some with traces of blows from sharp weapons. "
“On the territory of Volodymyr-Volynskiy and its suburbs (Shkartani, Luzivschina, etc.), places were revealed where human bones with chopped bones and skulls pierced with large iron nails were randomly lying in a layer of coal and fragments of ceramics. In some cases, accumulations of skulls pierced with nails were found near the old Vladimir churches: Apostolshchina, Mikhailovna, Spashchina, Stara-Cathedral. "
Historians explain the massacres of civilians carried out by the Mongols as follows: “Terror by the Mongols was often used for quite pragmatic purposes, as part of their“ active measures ”- intimidation and spread of rumors about terrorist acts gave results no less than direct military action. One can often read in the sources that the inhabitants of the next city surrender at the first demand of the Mongols, especially if not long before this the Mongols cut down the city in the neighborhood. "
“Terror was also a means of diplomatic pressure - after the“ cutting down ”of one region, it was much easier for the Mongolian ambassadors to“ negotiate ”with its neighbors, more precisely, to make them fulfill their demands. True, the total extermination of the captured cities had not only these goals, there were others - revenge for the losses (for example, Kozelsk, the "evil city" where more than 4000 invaders were killed), or simply the impossibility of leaving behind an unnecessary population, since, for example, when Long-distance raids the Mongols did not need full (after the battle on Kalka, Russian and Polovtsian prisoners were apparently killed) and bulky trophies (the same Tumens of Subedei and Zhebe in Transcaucasia burned seized property). "
The second reason for the cruelty of the Mongols is a direct consequence of the worldview that Chinggis Khan instilled in them: “The most ridiculous mistake would be to consider the Mongols of Genghis Khan and his successors as ordinary (perhaps very well-organized) barbarians who simply wanted to crush as many peoples as possible and countries. Genghis was the herald of a true world revolution with detailed teachings, and his troops and heirs were its conscious carriers.
[…] From the Mongolian point of view, the primary meaning and purpose of life for an individual is a kind of everyday contentment, that is, a stable and safe combination of a well-fed life and a normal family life. […] The main condition for such existence is, obviously, a single power that eliminates civil strife that undermines it and scares away enemies; in turn, such power requires strict discipline.
[...] the most important component of the imperial Mongol doctrine is the idea of \u200b\u200ba universal universal monarchy.
[…] There is no need to say that the Mongols, and only they, should have remained the "people of masters" in the coming world empire forever. [...] the Mongols carried out a clear division of people into nomads as carriers of possible social harmony and, in principle, farmers and townspeople who were not capable of it. The Mongolian revolution believed that sedentary life and the wealth it creates inevitably generate such great disunity, discord, envy and collapse that it is impossible to cope with them.
In conclusion, a few words should be said about the "technical" side of the issue. There are authors who doubt that a relatively small number of people could have killed, and only with the help of cold weapons, hundreds of thousands. Here is what D. Maine writes about this: "The Mongols, one and all, were masters at slaughtering animals, for them it was a routine matter to kill a sheep, and the killing of those people was no different from that, it was a job that was supposed to be done ..."
“For the Mongol, it was easier to deal with the captive who submitted to fate than with the resisting sheep. The sheep are slaughtered with care so as not to spoil the meat. A small hole is made in the chest, a hand is thrust into it, they grab the heart and stop it. The sheep, apparently, does not feel anything, and the whole operation takes half a minute. To deal with the inhabitants of Merv, who represented an incomparably lower price than a sheep, did not require such ceremonies. It takes a few seconds to slash down the throat, and you can move on to the next.
[...] Considering the attitude of the Mongols towards non-Mongols, their strict obedience to orders and their art of killing, it was technically possible for them to kill three or more million people in two or three years ... "
It seems to me that there were different periods in the military history of mankind. And in each such period, there were warriors who were distinguished by more cruel behavior towards civilians of the conquered countries. I will list some: Assyrians, Avars, Vikings, Timur's soldiers, landsknechts, conquistadors, in the twentieth century - the German and Japanese armies.
In the XIII century. the most cruel conquerors were the Mongols.
Andrey Shestakov
Notes:
1. Mazurkevich S.A. Encyclopedia of delusions. History. M., 2004.S. 117
2. Gumilyov L.N. From Russia to Russia. M., 1994.S. 121
3. Pochekaev R. Yu. Mongolian conquerors and civilians: legal aspects of mutual relations. On the website: www.pr-page.narod.ru
4. Ala ad-Din Ata-Malik Juweini The story of the conqueror of the world. On the website: www.vostlit.info
5. Pochekaev R.Yu. Batu. A khan who was not a khan. M., 2006.S. 148
6. Master Rogerius A woeful song about the ruin of the Hungarian kingdom by the Tatars. SPb., 2012.S. 31
7. Ibid. P. 43
8. Thomas of Split History of the Archbishops of Salona and Split. On the website: www.drevlit.ru
9. Master Rogerius A woeful song about the ruin of the Hungarian kingdom by the Tatars. SPb., 2012.S. 48
10. Thomas of Split History of the Archbishops of Salona and Split. On the website: www.drevlit.ru
11. Darkevich V.P. Travel to ancient Ryazan. Ryazan, 1993.S. 246
12. Kargalov V.V. Russia and nomads. M., 2004.S. 140
13. Khrapachevsky R.P. The military power of Genghis Khan. M., 2004.S. 268
14. Ibid. P. 269
15. Mongol Empire in 1248 - 1388: a world revolution that almost won. On the website: www.wirade.ru
16. Maine D. Genghis Khan. M., 2006.S. 206
17. Ibid. P. 203
The sources do not give us an exact definition of the time when the Mongol troops appeared before the walls of Otrar. The ruler of Otrar, Gair Khan, who knew that he had nothing to expect for mercy from the Mongols, defended himself desperately, to the last opportunity. Under his command, according to al-Nasawi, there were 20 thousand soldiers. According to Juvaini, the Khorezmshah gave him 50 thousand "external troops". “The citadel, the outer fortifications and the city wall were well fortified, and a large number of weapons were collected for the army,” wrote the 13th century historian. Ala ad-Din Ata Malik Juwayni. At the end of the fifth month of the heroic defense of Otrar, Karadzha-hajib, shortly before the siege, sent by the Khorezmshah to the aid of Gair-khan with a detachment of ten thousand, lost heart and, leaving the city through the gates of the "Sufi Khan", surrendered with his army to the Mongols; by the verdict of the princes Chagatai and Ogedei, he was betrayed, along with those close to him, to execution for treason.
But the Mongols managed to break into the city and, having driven its inhabitants out of the city "like a herd of sheep", began a general robbery. However, Otrar still stubbornly defended itself; Gayr Khan with 20 thousand "lion-like" daredevils fortified themselves in the citadel, for the capture of which the Mongols needed another month. When the citadel was taken and all its defenders perished, Gair Khan with two surviving comrades continued to resist on the roof of the building.
When these two fell, and there were no more arrows left, he threw bricks at his enemies, which the slaves gave him "from the wall of the palace"; when there were no bricks left, the Mongols, who had an order to take the ruler alive, surrounded him and tied him up. “The citadel and walls were razed to the ground and the Mongols withdrew. And those of the commoners and artisans who escaped the sword, they took with them in order to use their skill in the craft. " Chagatai and Ogedei in February 1220 joined Genghis Khan when he was on the way between Bukhara and Samarkand, and delivered him a live Gair-khan Yinalchuk. Genghis Khan ordered to melt the silver and pour it into his ears and eyes, and he was killed as punishment for his "ugly act and vile act."
The eldest son of Genghis Khan, Jochi, allocated for the conquest of cities along the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, first of all approached Sygnak, with whose inhabitants he began negotiations. As his representative, he also sent the city of the Muslim merchant Hasan-hajji to persuade the inhabitants to surrender without a fight, but the "villains, rabble and vagabonds" rebelled and, having killed the traitor, prepared for the "great, holy war." The Mongols continuously besieged the city for seven days and nights, finally, they took it by storm and, "closing the gates of mercy and mercy," killed the entire population. The governor of that area was appointed the son of the murdered Hasan-hajji.
On the further path, the Mongols took Uzgend and Barchylygkent, the population of which did not put up strong resistance, and therefore there was no general massacre. Then the Mongolian detachment approached Ashnas; the city, "the majority of whose army were vagabonds and the mob," put up stubborn resistance, but fell in an unequal struggle, and many inhabitants were killed.
After that, the Mongols approached Dzhend, which by that time had been abandoned by the troops of the Khorezmshah led by Kutluk Khan, who fled to Khorezm. Upon learning of this, Jochi sent Chin-Timur to the city for negotiations. The emissary of the Mongols, however, was badly received by the inhabitants and was able to return alive only because he reminded the Jands of the sad fate that befell Sygnak because of the murder of Hasan-hajji, and promised them to remove the Mongols from the city. Having released Chin-Timur, the inhabitants locked the gates, but did not offer any resistance. The Mongols, having prepared preliminary siege weapons, placed ladders, calmly climbed the walls and occupied the city without bloodshed; then all the inhabitants were driven into the field, where they remained for nine days while the plunder of the city continued. Only a few persons were killed, who insulted Chin-Timur with their speeches. Bukharan Ali-Khoja was appointed the governor of the city. At the same time, a corps of one tumen, sent by Jochi, occupied Yangikent, and the Mongols planted their shikhne - "the guardian of order" there. All this happened during the winter of 1219-1220. and the spring of 1220
By the spring of 1221, the conquest of Central Asia by the Mongols was completed. Since that time, their military operations have moved to the territory of Iran, Afghanistan, North India. The corps of Mongolian commanders Jebe and Subedei, defeating the Alans, Kipchaks and Russians on the river. Kalka and having ruined the southern outskirts of the Russian lands, through the lands of Kazakhstan he returned in 1224 to the horde of Genghis Khan on the Irtysh.
Thus, as a result of the Mongol invasion in 1219 - 1224. Kazakhstan became part of the empire of Genghis Khan. “Tushi (Jochi) and Chagatai,” says Juzjani, “having dealt with the affairs of Khorezm, turned to Kypchak and Turkestan, conquered and captivated one after another the troops and tribes of Kypchak and subjugated all these tribes to their power”.
The nomadic tribes of Kazakhstan put up resistance to the Mongolian troops, but the local nobility (Kypchak and Oguz) entered the service of the Mongols, and ordinary nomads were used to form new “hundreds”, “thousands”, “tumens”, which were distributed to the feudal powers of the Chingizids. Kypchaks and other Turkic tribes made up a significant part of the Mongol army, which headed by Batu (Batu) in 1237 to conquer Eastern Europe.