Draft:Siege of Ghazni (1221)

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Siege of Ghazni
Part of the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire

Photograph of the Ghazni citadel today
Date1221
Location
Ghazni, Khwarazmian Empire (present-day Ghazni Province, Afghanistan)
33°35′N 68°25′E / 33.583°N 68.417°E / 33.583; 68.417
Result Mongol victory
Territorial
changes		 Ghazni incorporated into the Mongol Empire; city largely destroyed
Belligerents
Mongol Empire Khwarazmian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ögedei Khan Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Entire population massacred
Ghazni is located in Afghanistan
Ghazni
Ghazni
class=notpageimage|
Location of Ghazni in present-day Afghanistan
Ghazni is located in West and Central Asia
Ghazni
Ghazni
Ghazni (West and Central Asia)

The siege of Ghazni (Persian:محاصره غزنی) took place in 1221, during the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire. It pitted the inhabitants of Ghazni, loyal to the defunct Khwarazmian Empire, against the armies of the nascent Mongol Empire, commanded by Ögedei Khan. It ended in a decisive victory for the Mongols and the destruction of the city.

Background

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Genghis Khan sent Tekechiik and a group of commanders from Taliqan to defeat Sultan Jalal al-Din Mangburni. By that time, however, Jalal al‑Din had been reinforced by Ighraq I and other warriors from various regions, enabling him to decisively defeat the Mongol detachment, which was hindered by its small numbers and lack of support. Upon receiving news of this setback, Genghis Khan reportedly marched with extreme urgency, covering double the usual distance each day, leaving his troops no time to prepare food. When he arrived at Ghazni, he learned that Jalal‑ad‑Din had already left the city roughly two weeks earlier, intending to cross the Indus River. After appointing Mama Yalavach as the Mongol governor (basqaq) of Ghazni, Genghis Khan pursued Jalal‑ad‑Din toward the Indus River. Upon reaching the riverbanks, the Mongol army encircled the Sultan’s forces, cutting off both their front and rear. The Mongol formations were arranged in multiple concentric rings, leaving Jalal‑ad‑Din with progressively less room to manoeuvre. Genghis Khan instructed his troops to attempt to capture the Sultan alive, and Chagatai Khan and Ögedei Khan also arrived from Khwarezm to reinforce the Mongol army. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Jalal‑ad‑Din pressed the attack, repeatedly charging the Mongol centre and fighting fiercely. The Mongols advanced steadily, limiting his freedom of movement, yet he continued to resist with remarkable skill and courage. Mounted on a fresh horse, he repeatedly attacked and withdrew, eventually reaching the Indus River. In a dramatic escape, he rode into the river and crossed it, evading capture. The Mongols, impressed by his audacity, did not pursue him further on Genghis Khan’s orders. The remainder of Jalal‑ad‑Din’s army that did not drown in the river was killed. His family, including wives and children, were captured; male captives, including infants, were executed, while artisans and other skilled captives were spared for labour. Jalal‑ad‑Din’s wealth, primarily in gold and silver, had been thrown into the river by his orders, and the Mongols attempted to recover it through divers. Genghis Khan continued along the riverbanks but sent Ögedei back to Ghazni. The city submitted voluntarily, and its inhabitants were taken into the open country. Artisans were spared, but the rest of the population was executed, and the city was subsequently destroyed. Qutuqu Noyan was left in charge of the captives and craftsmen who were to pass the winter in that place.[1]

Siege

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According to Juvayni, even though the city had surrendered without a fight, Ögedei ordered the population to go out onto a plain where the artisans were separated from the rest and the rest were killed.[2] He left the pardoned artisans and prisoners in the care of General Shigi Qutuqu and spent the winter in the area before returning to his father via the Garmsir Pass from Herat.[3] Ibn al-Athir's chronicle also states that the Mongols took the city quickly, as it had no defenders. They massacred the men, enslaved the women, and stole everything they could, leaving the region depopulated.[4] Al-Umari also wrote that the people of Ghazni were massacred.[5] Juzjani, for his part, maintains that Ögodei marched with General Bahadur Sha'ur (or Sa'ur) against Ghazni. They rounded up the inhabitants and massacred them all except for a few survivors.[6]

Hamadani's chronicle mentions that Ögedei massacred the inhabitants, except for the artisans, who were sent to the East, and destroyed the city. This would have occurred at the same time that Genghis Khan sent an expedition to capture the Shah in India , which the Russian historian Ziya Bunyatov calculates to have happened at the beginning of spring 1223.[7] In contrast, his Afghan colleague Ali Ahmad Jalali estimates that it must have happened in the spring of 1222.[8][9] The Swedish Carl Sverdrup also believes it occurred in 1222.[10]

Aftermath

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Meanwhile, Genghis Khan marched on to Karman and Sanquran.[11] By early spring, he was encamped in Kabul and sent detachments throughout Afghanistan to subdue the rebel pockets that had begun to reemerge.[12] The chronicle of Alugh Beg Mirza mentions that Ögedei destroyed several cities in the Indus basin after Ghazni.[13]

Ogedei was in central Afghanistan and wanted to advance on Sistan, but his father forbade it and ordered him to send his lieutenants to Firuzkoh, Ashiyar, Sistan, and Herat. In the first half of 1222, the first city fell unexpectedly and was completely destroyed; the band that controlled the citadel fled, having been at odds with the population. Abkah (Guo Baoyu), where Muhammad al-Marghani had entrenched himself, was sent to the second city, and during the siege, the Mongol troops took the opportunity to capture other forts in the Gharjistan region.[14] They also besieged numerous fortresses located in the mountains between Kabul and Herat. They were unable to capture any, although they starved thousands of defenders. However, part of the local defensive strategy was to abandon the valleys and take refuge in the mountains.[15] The task of subduing these fortresses took fifteen months.[16]

The campaign against Herat was prepared under the command of the generals Alcidai (Eljigidei) and Söyiketü.[17] Ögedei retreated north through Garmsir (Gurmseer), Herat and Mawurunneher[18] (Buya Kartur) until he rejoined his father near Balkh, probably in early spring of 1222.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Juwaynī, Alaʾ Ad‑Dīn Ata Malik (1958). The History of the World‑Conqueror; being the chronicle of Ālâ‑ad‑Dîn Khân. Vol. I. Cambridge,MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 133–135.
  2. ^ Juwaynī, Alaʾ Ad-Dīn Ata Malik (1958). The History of the World-Conqueror; being the chronicle of Ālâ-ad-Dîn Khân. Vol. I. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 135.
  3. ^ Juwaynī, Alaʾ Ad-Dīn Ata Malik (1958). The History of the World-Conqueror; being the chronicle of Ālâ-ad-Dîn Khân. Vol. I. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 135-136.
  4. ^ Richards, D. S. (2016). The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh. The Years 589-629/1193-1231: The Ayyubids after Saladin and the Mongol Menace III. London: Routledge. p. 230.
  5. ^ Batur, Ahsen (2014). Türkler Hakkında Gördüklerim ve Duyduklarım (Mesâliku'l-Ebsâr) (in Turkish). Istanbul: Selenge yay. p. 351.
  6. ^ Juzjānī, Menhāj‑al‑Dīn (1864). Ṭabaqāt‑i Nāṣirī. Calcutta: The College Press. p. 1042-1043. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  7. ^ Arends, Alfred Kárlovich (1946). Сборник летописей (Книга 2) I. Moscow: Institut vostokovedenii︠a︡ (Akademii︠a︡ nauk SSSR). p. 225.
  8. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (2021). Afghanistan: A Military History from the Ancient Empires to the Great Game. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-7006-3263-3.
  9. ^ Curtin, Jeremiah (2008). The Mongols: A History. New York: Cosimo. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-60520-136-8.
  10. ^ Sverdrup, Carl Fredrik (2017). The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sübe'etei. Amherst: Helion & Company. p. 167.
  11. ^ Juwaynī, Alaʾ Ad-Dīn Ata Malik (1958). The History of the World-Conqueror; being the chronicle of Ālâ-ad-Dîn Khân. Vol. I. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 136.
  12. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (2021). Afghanistan: A Military History from the Ancient Empires to the Great Game. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-7006-3263-3.
  13. ^ Carnac, James R. (1838). The Shajrat Ul Atrak, or Genealogical Tree of the Turks and Tatars (PDF). London: WMH Allen & Co. p. 187. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  14. ^ Sverdrup, Carl Fredrik (2017). The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sübe'etei. Amherst: Helion & Company. p. 167.
  15. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (2021). Afghanistan: A Military History from the Ancient Empires to the Great Game. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-7006-3263-3.
  16. ^ McLynn, Frank (2015). Genghis Khan: his conquests, his empire, his legacy. Boston MA: Da Capo Press. pp. 313–314. ISBN 978-0-306-82395-4.
  17. ^ Sverdrup, Carl Fredrik (2017). The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sübe'etei. Amherst: Helion & Company. p. 167.
  18. ^ Carnac, James R. (1838). The Shajrat Ul Atrak, or Genealogical Tree of the Turks and Tatars (PDF). London: WMH Allen & Co. p. 187. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  19. ^ Sverdrup, Carl Fredrik (2017). The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sübe'etei. Amherst: Helion & Company. p. 167.

{{Draft categories| Ghazni Ghazni