The First Mongol Expedition to the West, also known as the "Khwarazm War", was a war in which the Mongols destroyed the Central Asian hegemon Khwarazm. This war had a turning point in the history of the expansion of the Mongol Empire. Before the war, the eyes of the Mongol Empire were mainly on the Central Plains, and the Western Islamic world was to maintain peace and no yearning. But a series of actions by King Khwarazm eventually angered Genghis Khan, causing the Mongol iron hooves to spread throughout Central Asia and open the way to conquer the Western world.
One, the flower razor, how to dance on the brink of death
In the 13th century, the political map of the Eastern and Western worlds was undergoing tremendous changes. In 1206, the Mongol Khanate was established, and then launched wars against the Western Xia and Jin kingdoms, with the potential to enter the Central Plains. In the western region, the once-mighty Western Liao Empire collapsed, and the Uighurs of Gaochang and the Qarakhanids fell out of their control. In 1209, the Uighurs of Gaochang and the Halallus surrendered to the Mongols, and the Mongol sphere of influence entered the western regions.
In 1211, Qu Chulu, the son of the Sun Khan of the Naimanbu, seized power in the Western Liao. Since Temujin was busy fighting against Jin at the time, he temporarily resigned himself to the law of Qu Chu. By 1216, the Mongols had already defeated the Jin Dynasty. As a result, Genghis Khan was able to escape from the Central Plains and hand over the affairs of North China to Muhuali, while he himself focused on sweeping away the remnants of the Naimanbu. In 1218, Temujin sent Tetsubetsu on a western expedition, qu delu was executed, and the Western Liao eventually perished. Since then, the entire western region has been included in the Mongolian territory.
The hegemon of Central Asia at that time was the Khwarazm Khanate. Hua Lazimo was originally a vassal state of the Western Liao. In the late Western Liao Period, Khwarazm became independent and annexed vast areas such as Hezhong and the Iranian Plateau, becoming the leader of the Islamic world.
In 1215, Khwarazm sent a mission to Mongolia, and Temujin treated the Khwarazm mission kindly and recognized the Khwarazm king Mahmud as the ruler of the Western world. Temujin was very important in trade with West Asia, and he called this trade route the "Golden Rope". Temujin ordered that all trade teams from Khwarazm be issued vouchers.
In addition to the mission, another Khwarazm commercial group arrived in Mongolia, but this caravan demanded extortion. Temujin was furious and confiscated their goods and opened the treasury to show them the riches of the Mongols. The Khwarazm caravan was shocked, and they admitted their mistake and said that they had paid homage to Temujin, who turned angry and bought the goods at the market price.
In 1216, Temujin sent Subutai and Dekucha'er to lead an army of 20,000 to hunt down the remnants of the Qibu in Central Asia, all the way to Kangli. When Mahabharata learned that the beggar had fled to Kangli, he decided to take advantage of the fire. But on the way, he heard that the Mongols were behind him, so he gathered 60,000 people to sneak up on the Mongol camps. When Shuchi heard this, he quickly returned to the whip to explain the reason to Mahama, who did not listen to the explanation and continued to attack. The Mongol army began to counterattack, and the Khwarazm army was defeated, losing more than 20,000 people, and if it were not for the strength of his son Zalandin to break the siege, Mahabharata would have become a prisoner of the Mongols.
Mahabharata
In 1218, the Mongols destroyed the Western Liao, and Mahama also took the opportunity to seize part of the western Liao, so the two countries began to border. In order to show his friendship to Khwarazm, Temujin sent a large mission to Khwarazm that year, with a large number of 450 people, including merchants and officials. When Mahabharata learned that the Mongols had conquered the "Peach Blossom Stone", he reached a peace agreement with the Mongols.
When the Mongol mission left Samarkand and arrived at TheKhytar, the local governor, Hailkhan, was greedy for the mission's finances and detained it as a spy. Subsequently, Mahabharata ordered all the regiments to be killed, and only one escaped, and he told Temujin the news. Temujin was furious and went up the hill to pray and weep for three days. Subsequently, Temujin sent three emissaries to Khwaraz to interrogate Mahama, who in turn killed the envoy and released the deputy envoy by cutting off his hair.
Mahamad was clearly a provocation to Temujin. Temujin had never encountered such a deadly country since he had dominated the steppe, and this time he was completely enraged.
Second, the Khwarazm disintegrated, and Mahabharata ended in depression
In 1219, Genghis Khan held the Kuritai Assembly, which was specifically prepared to launch the Khwarazm War. The congress made a comprehensive deployment of the Western Expedition, militarily arranged the tasks of the four sons (Shuchi, Chagatai, Wokoutai, and Tuolei) and each of the 10,000 households and 1,000 households, and ordered the vassal states of Gaochang Uighur, Western Xia, and Halalulu to conscript, but the Western Xia refused. The total number of troops gathered this time reached 200,000, which was the first time that the Mongol army had reached such a size.
In order to prevent accidents in his western expedition, Temujin established his own heir, Wokoutai, before the expedition.
In order to enhance the army's siege ability, this time a large number of Han, Jurchen, and Khitan craftsmen from the Central Plains were mobilized, and many advanced siege equipment was brought, such as trebuchets, firearms, bridges, etc. Many Han Chinese also participated in the western expedition, while the Uighurs were responsible for leading the way, and they knew the geography of Huarazimo. The famous Khitan scholar Yelü Chucai set out as Temujin's advisors.
In September 1219, the Mongol army led by Temujin slaughtered the city of Yandara, where 20,000 elite troops were garrisoned, grain and grass were plentiful, and with the help of the Halaza army, it was difficult for the Mongols to capture for a while. So Temujin re-formulated the strategy, and the soldiers were divided into four roads. Wokoutai and Chagatai were the First Route Army, with a total of 13,000 men, and remained behind to continue to besiege the city of Yudala; Shuchi led 10,000 Uighur soldiers, as the Second Route Army, responsible for attacking the lower reaches of the Syr Darya River; and the three generals of Arahei, Suge bald, and Dehai led 5,000 people to attack the upper reaches of the Syr Darya River for the Third Route Army. Temujin and Tore led a main force of 50,000 as the Fourth Route Army, mainly attacking the core area of Huarazimo.
Six months later, the city was razed to the ground and all its inhabitants were slaughtered. The Third Route Army also quickly won a victory and captured Finaket. After capturing the main city of the lower Syr Darya River, the Second Route Army continued to advance northward, entering the steppes of Eastern Europe. Subsequently, both the First Route Army and the Third Route Army, together with temujin's division, launched a general offensive.
The First Expedition to the West
The Mongol armies penetrated deep into the various parts of Khwarazm, and the surrendered cities remained, while the defenders were slaughtered. Of course, the craftsmen were protected, and they had to follow the Mongol army in attacking the city. The siege techniques brought by the Mongol army from the Han Dynasty surprised Hua Lazimo, and all the cities became almost vulnerable. By 1220, the Mongol army had conquered Buhuala, Samarkand, Jade Dragon Jechi, Khorasan, Afghanistan and other places, and Mahamad's rule collapsed. In that year, Mahama fled to a small island in the Caspian Sea and died of depression.
Samarkand
Later, Zalandin, the son of Mahabharata, succeeded to the throne, and he gathered the remaining 100,000 troops of Khwarazm to engage the Mongols, killing 30,000 Mongols. However, after Zalandin's great victory, it fell into division and the army disintegrated again. Eventually, he fled into India. Temujin led his army in pursuit of the Indus River, where he retreated because of the hot weather. In 1224, Zalandin returned to Persia in an attempt to make a comeback. In 1228, Wokoutai heard of the resurgence of Zalandin, so he once again led a large army to the west, Zalandin's army was defeated and fled, and finally killed in 1231, and the Khanate of Huarazm was finally destroyed.
Third, the Eastern and Western worlds after the Mongol Western Expedition
After the First Mongol Expedition to the West, a large number of officials were appointed in Central Asia, and Mongol rule over Central Asia began. The Western Expedition won a great victory, and the Mongols plundered a large amount of wealth, further accelerating the prosperity of the Mongolian steppe. However, the Western Expedition accelerated the division of The Mongols. Before the Western Expedition, Shuchi was not established as an heir because of doubts about his bloodline, which made Shuchi angry.
Surgical red
In the course of the Western Expedition, Shuchi continued to replenish his army in Central Asia, and his wings gradually grew, and he began to have ambitions for self-reliance. In 1223, Temujin returned to the east and ordered Shuchi to come to the meeting, but Shuchi refused. In 1224, Temujin divided the Chincha steppe into Shuchi, and later Shuchi's son Batu established the Khanate of Chincha here, becoming the first party to become independent from the khanate. Later, in the dispute over the imperial Khanate, the Shuchi clan also always supported the Torre clan and opposed the Chagatai clan and the Wokoutai clan.
For Central Asia, this war is undoubtedly a great disaster. Many famous cities were destroyed and large numbers of people were slaughtered. Central Asia, which used to be very prosperous, is now desolate. The Mongol conquest of Central Asia to the west kept Central Asia from recovering for hundreds of years. Later, the Wokoutai Khanate and the Chagatai Khanate, with Central Asia as the core, also fell apart due to lack of strength. The decline of Central Asia allowed later Russia to easily conquer the region.
The first western expedition also broadened the horizons of the Mongols. Zhebetsu and Subutai, who were pursuing Mahama, crossed the Caucasus Mountains and entered the plains of Eastern Europe. Here they defeated the Chincha divisions and defeated 8,000 allied troops. Later, the Mongols launched the Second Western Expedition, the purpose of which was to continue the conquest of the Rus' tribes, which was a follow-up to the First Western Expedition. In addition, in the course of the Western Expedition, the Mongols saw the wealth of the Two Rivers Valley, laying the groundwork for the third Western Expedition. It can be said that the first western expedition gave the Mongols a taste of sweetness, and also found out the strength of the Western world, opening a window for Mongolia to conquer Eurasia. In this way, Mahabharata is a sinner in the Western world.
Of course, this western expedition also opened up the road traffic between the east and the west, making commercial exchanges unimpeded. Later Marco Polo entered China from Central Asia. At the same time, a large number of Chinese craftsmen brought advanced inventions, such as gunpowder, stone throwers, etc., which later spread to Europe and promoted the transformation of Europe to modern civilization. At the same time, a large number of Central Asian craftsmen were captured to the East, and they brought Western production technology to China and promoted the progress of China's handicraft industry, such as porcelain manufacturing (blue and white porcelain), distillation technology (liquor industry), etc.
Many Central Asians emigrated to China as a result, and they scattered throughout China with the Mongol army, becoming hui and one of the main ethnic minorities in China today.
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