Battle of Parwan

Genghis Khan invaded the Khrarezmian Empire to avenge the murder of a Mongol trade caravan by the government of Otrar and the subsequent refusal of Shah Ala ad-Din Muhammad II to bring the guilty governor of Otrar to task because of his crime. [6] Genghis Khan commanded a skilled, disciplined, combat proven army of 150,000 to 200,000 soldiers, [7] made mostly of Mongols and other allied tribes who were well drilled in their method of warfare.[8][9] The also contained a corps of Chinese siege engineers for attacking besieged cities with siege engines.[10] Genghis Khan was a charismatic, inelegant and experienced leader, his sons Jochi, Chagatai, Ogedei and Tolui were also competent generals, and he was also served by brilliant generals like Jebe and Subadai, who were adept in employing flexible and innovative tactics. [11][12]

The Shah may have been able to mobilize a mercenary army numbering 200,000 to 400,000 men, [13] but his Turkish soldiers were undisciplined, unity was lacking between the Turks, Iranians, Arabs and Afghans in the army, [14] and the mistrust the Shah had for his Qanqli Turk troops and commanders [15][8] meant he could only offer battle under favorable conditions with superior numbers. He adopted a defense in depth strategy based on fortified cities, [16][7][17][18] Muhammad II stationed garrisons at various cities including Otrar, Bukhara, Benekat and Samarkand with his veteran soldiers, trusting the Mongol inexperience with siege craft[19] and their unfamiliarity with the terrain delay their progress to give the chance to offer battle a his own initiative. He planned to raise a new army beyond the Amy Daria near Kelif,[20] and then strike the Mongols in Transoxania, or defend the Amu Darya barrier by preventing any Mongol crossing of the river, and if needed retreat to Ghazni and then to India.[18][lower-alpha 1]

Genghis Khan invested Otrar with his entire field army in September 1219. after some time he divided his army, sending a detachment under his eldest son Jochi down the Syr Darya, another division marched to attack Banakat. Leaving Chagatai and Ogedei to maintain the siege of Otrar, Genghis Khan and Tolui crossed the Kizil Kum desert to attack Bukhara, which fell on February 1220, and Samarkand, which was taken on March 1220 [21]Banakat was also occupied, Otrar fell in April 1220 and the Mongols armies from Banakat and Otrar joined Genghis Khan near Nasaf, spending the Summer of 1220 resting his army and horses.[22] Jochi had taken all the towns along Syr Daria, including Sighnaq and Jend by April 1220, then camped on the Kipchak steppes.[23]Several Mongol armies had invaded Tocharistan, Guzgan and Ghachiristan during the last eight months of 1220, collecting a rich booty in cattle and slaves.[24] }} Genghis Khan sent a 30,000 - 40,000 men strong Mongol army led by Jebe and Subutai and his own son in law Toghachar to hunt down the Shah.[25][26]

This rapid fall of Transoxania further unnerved Shah Muhammad II, and he began to retreat west along with Jalal al-Din.[27] He had halted for a while at Nishapur,[28] but when a Mongol army under Jebe and Subutai crossed the Amy Daria, the Shah moved across Persia, then eluded the Mongols by pretending to make for Bagdad, eventually found refuge in a Caspian sea island, where he died in December 1220, naming Jalal ad-Din his heir.[29] The Mongol army had sacked several cities, including Zaveh, Quchan, Tus, Qazvin and Ardabil [30][22] and then had wintered in the Mughan steppes.[31]

Jalal al-Din needed an army to confront the Mongols. The Sultan went to Gurganj, a city reportedly housing 90,000 troops, but the city officials preferred his brother Uzlaq Shah as the Sultan. after discovering a plot against his life, The Sultan with 300 cavalry crossed the Karakum desert in 16 days, defeated a Mongol detachment near Nasa [32] to reach Nishapur. Jalal al-Din intended to raise and army at Nishapur, but he abandoned the city when Mongols arrived unexpectedly. [33] The Mongols chased the Sultan across Khuistan, however, Jalal al-Din managed to elude his enemies to reach Bost. [34] Here an army of 10,000 Turks commanded by his maternal uncle Amin Malik joined him, and the Sultan reached Ghazni after driving off a Mongol army from Qanhahar after a three day battle. [35]<

Jalal al-Din spent the summer of 1221 in Ghazni and assembled a coalition of Afghan and Turkic warriors. From there, he went first to Valiyan, which was under siege of the Mongols, defeated their two armies, under the leaderships of Tekejik and Molger, and seized Valiyan back.[36] Jalal ad-Din advanced into Parwan and defeated the Mongol detachment near Parwan.[37] A week later, Genghis Khan sent his chief justice Shigi Qutuqu to hunt down Jalal al-Din, but only gave the inexperienced general 30,000 – 50,000 troops.[lower-alpha 2]

Modern scholarship differ on the strength of both armies while the medieval scholarship differ on the strengths of the Mongol army. Ata Malik Juvayni reports Shigi Qutuqu's strengths as 30,000, Juzjani reports it as 45,000 whereas Ibn Abd Allah al-Umari gives his strength as 70,000. Juzjani, Nasawi, Juvayni, Ibn al-Athir and Handmir all report the Khwarezmian strength as 60,000.[38]

Modern scholarship differ on the strength of both sides. The lowest estimate for Jalal al-Din's strength is 30,000[39] while the highest is 120,000. At the Harper's Military Encyclopedia, N. Trevor and Ernest Dupuy gives Jalal al-Din's force as 120,000.[lower-alpha 3][1] Spencer C. Tucker similarly gives Jalal's strength as 120,000.[lower-alpha 4][41]

Estimates for Shigi Qutuqu's strength range between 30,000[42] and 70,000.[38] Mclynn Frank estimates the Mongol forces were around 45 - 50,000 whereas he estimates Jalal had 60,000-70,000, he further adds that while the numbers are exaggerated, the proportion of Jalal's army's numerical superiority is probably accurate.[43] Carl Sverdrup on the other hand assesses that Jalal al-Din probably had 15,000 men in total whereas Shigi Qutuqu commanded as many as 10,000 men.[44] Khwarezmian army was ill-equipped and majority of them was consisted of infantries whereas the entire army of Shigi Qutuqu was well equipped cavalry.[37]

Shigi Qutuqu was overconfident after the continuous Mongol successes, and he quickly found himself on the back foot against the more numerous Khwarezmian force. The battle took place in a narrow valley, which was unsuitable for the Mongol cavalry.

Jalal al-Din had mounted archers, whom he ordered to dismount and fire on the Mongols. Jalal al-Din gave Saif al-Din Igrakh the command of the left flank and Malik Khan the right flank, consisted of 10,000 soldiers. On the first day of the battle, Malik Khan's division pushed the Mongol left into their base. Because of the narrow terrain, the Mongols could not use their normal tactics. On the second day of the battle, to deceive the Khwarezmians, Shigi Qutuqu mounted straw warriors on spare remounts, which may have spared him from a killing stroke, but Jalal al-Din was not fooled by the ruse. On the third day, the Mongol right flank charged on Igrakh's division, Ighraq's division responded by shooting arrows on foot to which the Mongols feigned flight. Ighraq's men charged but the Mongols suddenly counter-attacked and killed 500 men of Ighraq. Seeing this, Jalal al-Din personally attacked the Mongols and forced them to flight. Large number of the Mongols were captured alive, the Khwarezmians killed them by nailing stakes into their ears.[37] Shigi Qutuqu was driven off in defeat, losing over half his army.[45]

According to Ibn Al-Athir's account, after the battle of Parwan was won, Jalal al-Din sent a message to Genghis Khan, stating "In which locality do you want the battle to be, so that we may make our way to it?" On the evening the of the day the battle ended, a dispute over division of Spoils after the battle, specifically a Mongolian white horse led to the desertion of the Afghan contingent after the battle. Amin Malik, leader of the Turks and the Sultan's father in law, struck Saif al-Din Ighrak, leader of the Afghans, with a whip. Sultan Jalal ad-Din refused to discipline Amin Malik,[46]^: 551 and Ighraq reproached the Sultan, and he along with the Khalaj, Afghan and some of the Qanqli troops, deserted after nightfall and camped in.[47][42][48]

Jalal ad-Din left Parwan for the Punjab with only 30,000 men after the Afghans abandoned him.[42] When Genghis Khan heard of the news of the defeats, he immediately made forced marches to catch Jalal al Din before he escaped into India. Genghis marched with Shigi Qutugu and instructed him on where he had gone wrong at the battleground. The Shah attempted to cross Indus river to the area north of the present city of Kalabagh, Pakistan. However, the Mongols caught up with him on the banks of the Indus and defeated him what in now referred to as the Battle of Indus.[49]

The Battle of Parwan is considered a significant battle as it is considered the resurrection of Khwarezmians. The Battle of Parwan is considered the first serious defeat of the Mongols against the Khwarezmians. Medieval contemporary Muslim accounts all hailed this victory.[50][38] According to Rashid al-Din Hamadani's account, Genghis Khan personally visited the fallen Mongol soldiers and the field the battle took place in and addressing Shigi Qutuqu Temuchin said the following:[51]

You did not know the place of battle, and you were both at fault.

The Khwarezmians started an insurgency after the news of Shigi Qutuqu's defeat at the battle of Parwan spread throughout the empire. Inspired by Jalal al-Din's several back-to-back victories against the invader Mongol army, Kush Tegin Pahlawan lead a revolt in Merv and seized it successfully. After capturing the city of Merv back, Kush Tegin Pahlawan made a successful attack on Bukhara, too. People in Herat also rebelled and disposed the Mongol vassal leadership. An insurgency leader named Muhammad the Marghani twice attacked the camp Genghis Khan accommodated at Baghlan and returned with some loots. As a response, Genghis Khan sent a large army under the leadership of Oghedei khan back to Ghazni.[52] The Battle of Parwan had grave repercussions in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Iran since the illusion of Mongol invincibility had been broken. Cities that had peacefully surrendered rose up in arms, which forced Genghis and his son Tolui to spend extra months to subdue the revolts.[53] Genghis Khan appointed Yelü Ahai to restore Mongol sovereignty order in Samarqand and Bukhara, Yelu Ahai managed to restore the order in the cities only in 1223.[52]

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• McLynn, Frank (2015). Genghis Khan: The Man Who Conquered the World. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4464-4929-5. A violent dispute arose between Ighrak and Temur Melik over the distribution of the booty and, in particular, over possession of a treasured white horse...
• Tanner, Stephen (2009). Afghanistan - A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War Against the Taliban. Da Capo Press. p. 94.
• Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2010). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Vol. I. ABC-CLIO.
• Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2015). Wars That Changed History: 50 of the World's Greatest Conflicts. Santa Bárbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 117. ISBN 9781610697866.
• Saunders, J. J. (2001). The History of the Mongol Conquests. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1766-7. He actually succeeded in routing a Mongol detachment at Parwan near Kabul in Afghanistan , 39 an event which raised many false hopes and led to fatal uprisings against Mongol rule in Mery , Herat and elsewhere in the autumn of 1221 .