The History of Kazakhstan from the Earliest Period to the Present time. Volume I. Zhanat Kundakbayeva
warriors and a soldiers fighting as a part of a group – something rarely achieved before contemporary militaries. The Mongol army soon became the most disciplined, experienced, and fear less force the world had yet to see.
Genghis Khan invasion
Throughout history of the steppes have always been stages for continuous struggle between various nomadic groups. As time passed certain groups were able to rise and gain mastery over the others. However, few have ever been able to create a lasting empire. In the late XIIth century, various Turkish and Mongol-Tungusic tribes roamed the steppes of Mongolia. The Naimans and Kereyids' tribes controlled western Mongolia, the Oirats controlled the north areas, the Merkids controlled the south of Lake Baikal, and the Tartars the east of the River Kerulen. The Mongols were located between the Tartars and the Merkids. These groups are referred to as Tribes. Within these tribes are divisions called clans. Note that the clans within a tribe are not always united, as with the case of the Mongols during the rise of Genghis Khan.
It must also be noted that the common phrase saying that Genghis Khan "united the Mongol tribes" is a misleading statement. This error comes from the lack of distinguishment between Mongols and non-Mongols and between "tribes" and "clans". He united both the Mongol Clans (that used to be a united tribe) and other "non-Mongol" tribes such as the Naimans, (whose clans were united, unlike the Mongols). The nomadic nobility supported the khan only under a condition if war – a constant source of profit would not only stop but on the contrary, would extend. Therefore Genghis – khan became on a way of external conquests.
He had a plan – invasion of the whole Eurasia, to the last sea where the Mongolian horses's hoofs would reach.
In 1207-1211 people of Siberia and Easten Turkestan were subdued by the Mongols. They were – the Yakuts, the Oirats, the Byruats, The Kirgiz, The Uigurs. In that period the Mongols undertook a campaign against The Tangut's State Xī Xià, which was finally defeated in 1227. In 1211 the Mongols began attacking the Jurchens's State – The Jīn Dynasty, which was situated on the Northern Part of China. Here the Mongols destroyed more than 90 cities and in 1215 siezed Beijing. As a result by the 1217– all the territories to the North from the Hanher river had been conquered by the Mongols.
The Mongols in their aggressive policy which was successfully realized during the XIIIth centure had a plan of a campaign to Kazakstan and Central Asia. It would open them the way to Eastern Europe and Fore Asia. It was the reason why Genghis Khan paid great attentions on that campaign and prepared carefully.
After conquering Eastern Turkestan and Semirechye the way to Southern Kazakhstan and Central Asia was opened. The formal casus belli was the events of so-called ‘Utar cathastrophe’. Genghis lost interest in the war in China and instead, turned his attention towards the west. In 1218 he sent his general Chepe westward and conquered the Kara Khitai Empire. But the real issue was with the huge Kwarazmian Empire in Perisa. Hostilities broke out when the Kwarazm Shah attacked a Mongol caravan and humiliated Genghis’s ambassadors by burning their beards. Since Genghis sent the ambassadors for the purpose of making peace, he was outraged. Genghis prepared for the largest operation, he had yet performed and assembled a force that totaled around 90-110,000 men. The total numerical strength of the Kwarazm shah was two to three times greater, but Genghis ' army was better disciplined, and most of all, better led.
The campaign began in September 1219 from the banks of the Irtysh. Accoding to the sources Genghis led his army from the Irtysh to the Syr-Darya across the Semirechye. Approaching Utar Genghis Khan divided his Army. One part headed by Chagatai and Ugedei was left for the siege of Otrar. The second part headed by Juji he sent to the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, the third troops subjugated the towns in upper reaches of the Syr Darya. The main forces of the Mongols headed by him went towards Buhara.
In 1219, Genghis’s sons Chagatai and Ugedei set out to attack the city of Utar, located to the east of the Aral Sea. Meanwhile, Genghis' general Chebe, marched southwestward to protect the left flank during the operation. The main attack, however, was led by Genghis Khan himself, who together with general Subedei, marched through the Kizil Kum desert and outflanked the Kwarazmiam forces. The plan was that the Kizil Kum desert was considered impractical to cross, which made it a great opportunity to surprise the enemy. Genghis and his army disappeared into the desert and suddenly, out of nowhere, he appeared at the city of Bukhara. The city garrison was stunned, and was quickly defeated. Next Genghis marched towards Samarkand, the capital of the Khwarezmian Empire. The magnificent city was heavily fortified and had a garrison of 110,000 men, which vastly outnumbered Genghis ' besieging army. The city was expected to be able to hold out for months, but on March 19, 1220 its walls were breached in just ten days. After the fall of Samarkand, the Mongols overran much of the Empire. The destruction was profound. Cities were leveled and populations were massacred. At the Merv city, accounts described an execution of 700,000. At Samarkand, women were raped and sold into slavery. Devastation was so great that the Kwarazmian Empire itself was nearly wiped away from history. The conquest of the Kwarazm also created another remarkable event. After his defeat, the Khwarezm Shah fled to the west and Subedei followed in pursue with a force of 20,000 men. The Khwarezm Shah died, however, but Subedei went further. He brought his army to the north and defeated a heavily outnumbering Russian and Cuman army at the Khalka River. He went further and attacks the Volga Bulgars before returning back. As said by the famed history Gibbons, Subedei's expedition was one of the most daring expeditions in history, unlikely to be repeated ever again.
During the entire campaign, the Khwarezm Shah failed to assemble an army to fight the Mongols on the battlefield. The Khwarezm strategy relied on its extensive city garrisons that outnumbered the besieging Mongol armies. This of course, failed in every way. The only well organized resistance against the Mongols came from Jalal ad-Din, who after the fall of Samarkand, organized a resistance force on the territory of modern day Afghanistan. At Parwan, he defeated a Mongol force led by one of Ginghis' adopted son, making it the only Mongol defeat in the entire campaign. Genghis chases after Jalal ad-Din and destroyed his army at the Indus River. The defeat of Jalal ad-Din meant the consolidation of rule of Transoxania. However, the southern parts of the Khwarezmian Empire were left unconquered and later turned into a collection of Independent states. It is said that the Mongols decided not to advance when the sight of a unicorn demoralized their vanguard.
At the age approaching sixty, Genghis Khan' health was at a decline. He sought the legendary Daoist monk Changchun for the elixir to Immortality. His wish did not come true, as Changchun had no magical elixir, but Genghis praised his wisdom and the two became good friends. Following the meeting with the Daoist monk, Genghis returned to the administration side of his objectives. Unlike Attila the Hun and Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan realized the importance of a smooth succession after his death. Before he completed his conquest of the Khwarezmian Empire, he had already carefully chosen his son Ugedei to be his successor. After Genghis returned to Mongolia to finish establish the administration structure of his empire, all the matters were in good order, except for the Tanguts. The Tangut Xi Xia Empire had long been defeated by the Mongols, but became more of a tributary rather than being annexed. However, the Tanguts had stopped complying with terms while Genghis was away. In 1226, Genghis Khan led his army against Xi Xia and captured its capital.
In 1221 with subjugating of the Khwarezm the conquest of Central Asia was finished. By 1225 the main Mongolian forces had left for Mongolia. Only the30-thousand group of Zhebe and Subedeja continued the war in the west.
The Kazakh lands as a part of Mongolian uluses
Genghis Khan, according to Dzhuvejni, even in his lifetime distributed special territories named yurts, to each of his sons. In research literature the territories distributed among sons by Genghis Khan is accepted to name apanages or uluses.
The territory of Kazakhstan entered the structure of three Mongolian uluses:
The most part of steppe spaces of the north of the country and the areas from the upper reaches of the Irtysh to Alakul lake and farther to the West to Or and Syr Darya Rivers entered Juji's ulus.
Southern and Southeast Kazakhstan entered Chaghatai's ulus. Besides, outside of modern Kazakhstan that ulus included the following territories: East Turkestan and Maverannahr.
Northeast Kazakhstan was a part of Ugedeja's ulus, which included