Mongol Savagery on Muslims
Shodiyor Doniyorov (Uzbekistan)
[Fall of Bukhara]
Together with his sons Tuluy, Jeba Noyan, and Subutoy, Genghis Khan continued his military campaign along the Kyzylqum desert. They captured small towns like Zarnuq and Nuri Bukhara and took several hundred young people captive. After that, on February 7, 1220, the invading herds settled on the threshold of Bukhara city and started the war. During these times, Bukhara gained fame as a prosperous and developed city, and received the high praise of “Islam Dome”. People of Bukhara fought with all their might to preserve independence and freedom. The defenders of the homeland protected the city under the leadership of commanders such as Ikhtiyoriddin Kushnu, Inanchkhan Ugil Khajib, Hamid Pura, Suyunchkhan and Gurkhan.
Many people were killed on both sides. In the evening, under the command of Kok Khan, Hamid and Sevinch Khan, three thousand soldiers came out of the city and clashed with the enemy. After fierce battles, the enemy entered the city victoriously. The influential people of the city gathered and agreed to surrender because many soldiers and people were killed, it was impossible to continue the war. The Mongols beat the inhabitants of the city and raped the women, using unheard means of tortures. They looted mosques and houses and threw the Holy Quran under the feet of their horses.
The religious leaders Rukyaddin Imamzada and his son, Qazi Sadriddin Khan and Sadr Majiddin, who could not stand it, died fighting with the Mongols. Genghis Khan himself gave instructions to plunder the wealth of the city and turn it into ruins. He ordered: “There is no need to bring anything that is visible in the city. It is necessary for you to hand over confidential information to us”. “In response to this,” — wrote Mirzo Ulugbek, — “rich people and officials made an alliance and bought their heads for gold. All the statesmen of Bukhara bought their lives from Genghis Khan by giving their wealth and gold to the Tatar (Mongol) army. They didn’t find anything else. Those of Khorezmshah’s soldiers who did not stay in their houses and went out of the city found nothing but anger. Under the orders of Genghis Khan, the Mongols committed strange murders in Bukhara. Khaqan (Genghis Khan)’s anger boiled over and he was furious. The inhabitants of the city were burned by his fury. In one day, the wet and dry burned up: neither inanimate nor living remained. Not a single soldier remained in the city. They were replaced by black smoke.
After the city was completely burned down, they gathered the people living in the surrounding area, drove them to the base of the castle, and made them bury the unfilled parts of the castle moat. They quickly captured the fortress and set it on fire. Its governor along with the people of that fortress were massacred. They razed Hisar to the ground. Noone could find a cure for such pain”. After being soaked to the bone, the inhabitants of the city were taken out of the city with only their clothes on. The able-bodied men were captured, and the women were divided among the Mongol soldiers. Soldiers and townspeople entered the fortress after the enemy invaded and continued to fight. They were also crushed and killed without sparing a single soul. So, Bukhara was destroyed by the invaders to an unprecedented extent and lay in ruins for a long time.
“This city,” wrote a living witness, “was once the largest of the cities on the coast of Jayhun.” The cursed Mongol Tengiz (Genghis) ruined it so much that mosques, madrassahs, and bazaars are almost all in ruins. Now there is no one among them who is aware of or interested in science.”
This information belongs to Ibn Battuta, who was personally in Bukhara in the first half of the 14th century. According to him, Bukhara was so badly destroyed by the Mongols that even after more than 100 years, it still hadn`t been recovered. However, before the invasion of the Mongols, Bukhara was considered to be the most prosperous city that was enviable. Allama (Scholar) Yaqut al-Khamavi wrote in this regard: “It is undoubtedly a very ancient city, there are many gardens and all kinds of fruits. When I went there, the fruits of Bukhara were sold after eighteen days’ journey to Marv and fifteen days’ journey to Khorezm.
The author of “Kitab al-suwar” wrote: “As for the beauty of the lands of Mawarannahr, (it must be said) I have not seen a city more beautiful than Bukhara in any of the Islamic countries. If you go to its Arc, you will see the blue sky around. In the lands of Mawarannahr and Khorasan, there are no people who take care of their land as well as the Bukhara people. Bukhara is a city and buildings located on flat lands. All residences, fortresses, gardens, stores, stone arches and innumerable neighboring neighborhoods are surrounded by a wall where all those fortresses and houses are located. You won’t see any empty space or any ruins. In addition to the wall there is another wall attached to it, which surrounds the houses, palaces, shops and gardens of the city where the winter and summer residents live. There is no dense and crowded city like Bukhara in the entire Mawarannahr.” But the Mongols turned Bukhara into a “kultepa”-ash hill.
[Fall of Samarqand]
Genghis Khan placed several thousand prisoners taken from Bukhara in front of his army and headed towards Samarkand. This city was one of the greenest and most prosperous places in the East. 110 thousand soldiers of Sultan Muhammad were preparing for a fight here. In addition, a large part of the population was involved in defense. At the top of the army stood Togaykhan, Alp Erkhan, Shaikhkhan, Bolakhan and other commanders. In a city besieged by the enemy, everyone’s thoughts, whether soldiers or ordinary people, were focused on preserving independence and freedom. There were enough opportunities and military forces to achieve this. However, they did not find a leader to guide them with knowledge.
First of all, the commanders made a mistake in the field of military tactics and strategy. Genghis Khan threw a small part of his army into an attack, and put a large part in an ambush. Considering that the number of the enemy’s forces was small, the commanders went outside the gate with a large army and started the battle. Then the Mongols in ambush surrounded them and killed them. This tragic defeat made the inhabitants of the city devastated. A group of influential people turned to Genghis Khan with an offer to surrender, as if to save the people from mass destruction. This offer was accepted and the invaders entered the city during prayer. On that day and night, they destroyed the city and drove all the people — women and men from the city to the desert. The army, whose people were plundered, engaged in looting and plundering the city.
They executed whoever they found in the corners of every street and house. When it got dark, the Mongol army left the city. The people of the castle were terrified, their hearts were broken, they neither raised their heads nor looked at the ground. At the dawn of the next day, Olashjan, one of Sultan Muhammad Khorezmshah’s commanders showed courage by attacking the Mongolian army with a thousand men. All of them perished.
The next day, the Mongol army headed towards the fortress of Samarkand. They destroyed the wall and pipes and captured the gate. They entered the city. They executed the Emir, who was one of the commanders of Sultan Muhammad Khorezmshah`s 20000 soldires, along with all his troops. Genghis Khan separated thirty thousand men from the people of Samarkand and distributed them to his children and relatives.”
It is clear that when the Mongol soldiers entered the city for the first time, the soldiers of Sultan Muhammad were in the fortress. The Mongols were afraid of their attack at night and had to leave the city. Early the next morning, they entered the city again and attacked the soldiers in the fortress.
In this battle, the defenders of the homeland, especially 20 thousand people, continued to fight until they were completely killed. Once again, the Mongols destroyed Samarkand, claimed the wealth of the people, and established their rule. This terrible event happened on March 17, 1220. Before that there lived 100,000 families in Samarkand and after the invasion, only a quarter of it remained. Famine and hunger reigned in the ruined city.
Undoubtedly, many people lost their lives after the war. Sultan Muhammad panicked and fled the land of Turkestan when such extremely terrible and tragic conditions arised and when the defenders of the homeland suffered great losses. However, he personally had to be at the top of the fight against the enemy. When he heard that Bukhara had been conquered by the Mongols, he set off with a large amount of gold and other valuable treasures. But these goods sank in the water while crossing Amudarya. Genghis Khan sent 20,000 soldiers under the leadership of Jeba and Subutai to catch Sultan Muhammad. Hearing this, Sultan Muhammad went to Nishapor and then to a place called Bisam. Continuing the path here, they finally settled on the island of Ashur in the Caspian Sea. Here he fell seriously ill and died in December 1220.
Before his death, he announced his son Jalaliddin as the heir to the throne. In March 1220, Sultan Muhammad’s mother Turkon Khatun, who was harassing the state of Khorezmshahs, left Khorezm with 22 wives and young children of Sultan Muhammad, as well as treasures. She ordered to kill all her relatives, old and young, and drown them in the Amudarya River. Apparently, they were executed in order not to fall into the hands of the enemy.
Turkon Khotun traveled and settled in the Hal fortress in Mazandaran. Here she was captured by the Mongols and sent to Mongolia to Genghis Khan. Here, in 1233, Turkon Khotun died in poverty after eating leftovers from Genghis Khan`s table.
Thus, Sultan Muhammad and his mother Turkon Khotun together abandoned the Khorezmshah`s state, which was recently shaking the eastern world, to the feet of the enemy due to their ignorance. The blood of hundreds of thousands of people was shed in their castle, and the cities were turned into ruins. In this regard, the city of Kokhna Urganch was not left out. Chaos and arbitrariness reigned in abandoned Khorezm and no mature person was found to manage the government.
In the meantime, Jalaliddin’s brothers, together with Uzlig Shah and Akshakh, returned to Khorezm after burying their father. Turkon Khatun’s relatives — Emirs, did not recognize Jalaliddin’s succession to the throne, and declared Turkon Khatun’s brother Khumar Tegin Sultan-ruler and began to organize an assassination attempt against Jalaliddin. Therefore, Jalaliddin and Temur Malik were forced to leave the capital together with 300 soldiers. The above-mentioned brothers of Jaloliddin, who went after them, were killed by the Mongols.
[Seven Month Seige of Urganch and Mongol Savagery]
Genghis Khan’s sons, Ugaday and Chigatoy, led by soldiers, began the occupation of Kokhna Urganch. After many people were killed in fierce battles, the Mongols managed to break into the city. Then the enemy kept the city under siege for seven months, the life of the inhabitants became very difficult. Nevertheless, the masses of the people continued to fight against the invaders. According to Abulgazi’s work, when a group of Mongols stood in front of the city gate, 100,000 defenders of the homeland came out and chased them.
Encountering a large number of enemy soldiers in a park a mile from the capital, there was such a fierce battle that out of 100,000 people, five to ten survived and fled to the city.
The same thing happened here in Samarkand. From there, the Mongol commanders brought a small number of their soldiers near the wall and thereby invited their opponents to fight, and were attacked by a large number of their soldiers in ambush. It seems that the killing of 100,000 defenders of the homeland by the enemy made the inhabitants of the city very frightened. However, they did not back down. “Mongols,” said Abulgazi. — sent an envoy to Urganch. They said that if you submit to us, you will be safe, and your son and servant will not be prey and captives. The people of Urganch did not accept it and did not obey. After that, the army of Khorezm fought from morning to night for seven months and days.
The Mongols used to cut the mulberry trunks and put them in the manjanik (stone-throwing machine) around Urganch. At that time, the Mongols wanted to dam Jayhun so that water would not reach Urganch. Three thousand Mongols came to the land to bind Jayhun. The people of Urganch became aware of this, and they surrounded three thousand Mongols and fought in the middle. Not a single one of those three thousand Mongols escaped, and the Mongols could not take Urganch. The Mongols faced the army against the Khorezms and fought fiercely. Eventually, the Mongols took Urganch, set fire to every neighborhood and drove the entire people into the desert. One hundred thousand and fifty people were taken as skilled workers. Young women and young men were taken as slaves. Then they served in the army of another nation. Each Mongol killed twenty-four people. The Mongols destroyed everything.”
In addition to killing tens of thousands of people in battles, the Mongols captured thousands of artisans and other professionals in order to use their services. They treated women like animals by raping them and dividing them among themselves. 24 defenders of the homeland were attached to each Mongolian soldier with the condition of killing. All of them were killed.
Uzbek women showed courage and bravery in the struggle for Urganch. In this regard, the well-known scientist Ziya Buniyadov wrote: “The Mongols entered the outer wall of Gurganj through the Kabylon Gate. But they faced such resistance, organized by the inhabitants of the city — men and women, in addition to the soldiers, that in the evening they were completely driven out of the city, despite the fact that they reached the neighborhood of Tanur. The next day, the Mongols again tried to break into the city through the same damaged Cabylon Gate, but they were thrown back by the soldiers of the Guri group”.
So, Uzbek women mastered the use of military weapons and were capable of fighting with invaders on the battlefield. Their loyalty to the motherland and heroism angered the Mongolian parasites. For example, in December 1220, after 7 months of fighting, they stormed the city and took revenge on the women, and used unheard methods of punishment. They ordered the captive women of Urganch to strip naked and divided them into two groups and gave the following order: “The women of your city are very good fist fighters. Therefore, we order: let the women of both groups fight each other.” Amused by this disgraceful spectacle, the Mongols killed all the women.
After that, the Mongol executioners drowned Urganch which contained luxurious buildings, prosperous streets, and rare works of art with the water of the Amudarya River and destroyed the library. They ruined everything. Recently, the famous city of Urganch, which was a shining star of the East, was turned into a ruin. Tens of thousands of its inhabitants were killed, captured and looted.
[Sheikh Najmuddeen Kubra]
The bravery and heroism of the well-known religious leader, Allama (Scholar) Sheikh Najmiddin Kubro in the battles in Urganch became an epic in languages. He was born in the city of Khiva in 1145 and faithfully served his motherland until the end of his life. He enhanced his knowledge and experience by going to countries such as Iran, Egypt, Syria and Iraq in his youth. He is considered the founder of the Kubraviya order, and his order and teachings embody such virtues as honesty, purity, humanity, kindness and patriotism. He is the author of a number of works. Genghis Khan informs that he will leave the siege of the city voluntarily, taking into account the reputation of the Sheikh, and will not harm him in any way. But in the mind and heart of the Sheikh, love and loyalty to the motherland and its people shone to such an extent that he refused the offer.
He also said that he sacrificed his life for the country. “The voice of Hazrat Sheikh Najmuddin Kubra,” says Abulghazi, “was famous throughout the world.” That is why the princes (sons of Genghis Khan) sent a message to His Highness the Sheikh: “Let the Sheikh not be trampled, let the son and his servants leave the castle together.” Hazrat Sheikh told “I am not alone. I have relatives and servants”. The princes said that ten people should come together. The sheikhs said that ten people should come. The princes said that a hundred people should come together. The sheikh said, there are more than a hundred. The princes said, let a thousand people come together. Hazrat Shaykh said that on a good day, I became an acquaintance and friend of this nation. Now, on a bad day, I can’t go.” The Mongols of that neighborhood flocked to Hazrat Sheikh’s neighborhood. Hazrat Shaykh immediately sent several Mongols to hell together with their own hands, and they became martyrs”
Therefore, in his answer, the Sheikh put the interests of the country above his personal interests, meaning that he was one body and soul with the people. Surely he could have survived if he had thought about his life. But he fought against the enemy with no conscience of betraying his people when bad times befell them.
The great statesman and scientist Ulugbek highly appreciated the patriotism and courage of Sheikh Najmuddin Kubro. He wrote: “Murshid A’zam sacrificed his life by the order of Sheikh Najmuddin Kubro. When handing over his head, the murderer stuck to his hand. Ten young men could not remove the Yalov (Mongol flag) from the hand of the king of religion and climate. The intellectuals who were surprised to see the flag of the infidels in the hands of the Sheikh of Saids commented on this situation: The Sheikh held the tip of the flag and told the story that the date of his death is “Shakhi Shahido” (“King of the Martyrs”). Such bravery and heroism of Sheikh Najmuddin Kubro is a shining example of patriotism.
[Atrocities in Tirmiz, Balkh and Marw]
Genghis Khan showed his brutality in Termiz and other places. When he came to Termez with his army, the locals fought fiercely. But in the end, the enemy won and put many people to the sword. Meanwhile, the Mongols brought a woman to be killed. The woman said: “Don’t kill me. I will give you a precious pearl.” They said: “Where is the pearl?” The woman said: “I swallowed the pearl. It`s in my stomach.” The Mongols cut open the belly of the old woman and took it. Because of that, no dead was left, they all had their bellies ripped open.
It can be seen that the aggressors dismembered many women under the pretext of one pearl. After destroying Termiz and killing many people, they went to Balkh and razed the prosperous and beautiful city to the ground. They also acted like animals in conquering the city of Marv. When the chieftain Tulikhan entered the city, the Mongols demanded riches as usual. They drove the inhabitants out of the city, looted the property, and then massacred the people. Each soldier was tasked with killing 40–50 people. This task was completed immediately. Genghis Khan gave his son the task of conquering Khurasan and putting all the people from infancy to 100 years old to the sword. Mongols killed 130,000 people in its capital, Marv.
(Taken from: Khamid Ziyoyev. Asarlar to`plami. Toshkent. Ma`naviyat. 2008.)
