#mongol conquest

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

SIEGE OF ZHONGDU, 1213-1214

Zhongdu, modern day Beijing and the capital of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, was a massive and well defended city which held out against the Mongols for months until starvation and disease brought both sides to negotiation. By the start of the siege the Mongolian siege ability had improved greatly from their siege of the Tangut capital in 1209/1210. From defectors and captured engineers the Mongols now had catapults and other siege equipment, as well as numerous prisoners to drive against the walls to fill moats, man equipment and be arrow fodder. Before the assault began citizens were driven from outside communities into the city to overburden its food resources. Despite two breakthroughs into the city, the Mongols were unable to take it by force. However, after the negotiations the Jin Emperor fled Zhongdu to his southern capital, Kaifeng. This show of bad faith led the Mongols to reinvest the city, and in May 1215 Zhongdu fell to the sword. To learn more about Mongolian operations against the Jin Empire, check out my latest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aaM7trAWGg

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

Here’s an image of Chinggis I put together some weeks ago. See, I had liked this, and scanned it and everything before it occured to me: why am I drawing him with this cape? After a bit of looking around I was unable to find any thirteenth/fourteenth century images (and we have a lot of Persian and Chinese images of the Mongols) that depict anything even remotely like this style of cape on Mongols. Yet, modern depictions almost as rule depict Chinggis wearing a cape of similar fashion to this (see for example, Sergei Bodrov’s ‘Mongol’ (2007)). The only discernible reason appears to be ‘rule of cool.’ It’s very much taking western notions of royalty and throwing them onto other cultures. The closest I could find was Ilkhanate depictions of the Ilkhans wearing their overcoats/Kaftans (I am unsure if they have specific names, I have never seen any) draped over their shoulders with their arms not in their sleeves. Otherwise, I have seen little resembling billowing capes draped over the shoulders of Asian monarchs. I’ve seen images of Chinese soldiers and generals from various periods wearing capes and cloaks, but not of this particular style seen here, which is much more reminiscent of Darth Vader than anything I’ve seen historically. Now capes and cloaks were common in history (they’re a great way to keep warm, protect your body from sun/wind/sand and rain) but, as I just said, I’ve never seen medieval examples in this particular style. 

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

This heavy cavalryman I had uploaded before, but just recently found out how to resize certain proportions I had been unhappy with, and redid the horse's legs (I have spent my entire life around horses but by God do I struggle to draw how they move). It was fun putting these two seperate images together, and this will certainly be a technique I will make good use of. 

The Tangut officer also present in the picture is... not going to have a good day. 

Note the (rather smaller than it should be) quiver on the Mongolian cavalry. Even the heaviest Mongol cavalryman would be armed with a bow (much more common across Asian cavalry than European). In popular culture (in North America at least) it is often assumed every member of the Mongol Horde was primarily a  lightly armoured horse archer. While most would be, their heavily cavalry was just as much to be feared.   This image I made for my video on the Mongol Invasion of the Tangut Kingdom in 1209: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScgDJUf6GVA  

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

The three of these together from my video “the Mongol Conquest of Siberia and First Battle with the Khwarezmians.” I really liked how they all turned out.

The Tumed were one of the tribes of the forests of Siberia just north of Mongolia (known as hoi-yin irgen to the Mongols, literally 'forest peoples,') who were brought under Mongol rule between 1205-1210. Tribes of hunters and reindeer herders, the furs they brought south were valued by the Mongols, who life herding horses, sheep, goat, yak and camel on the open steppe separated them from the forest dwellers. Culturally distinct and resenting domination by the southerners, Chinggis Khan war in China against the Jurchen Jin from 1211-1215 kept him absent from the steppe, creating a situation ripe for revolt. Things were set off when one of Chinggis' lieutenants, Qorchi of the Ba'arin, traveled to the Tumed to take what Chinggis had promised: 30 women to take as wives. Qorchi had, during Chinggis' rise to power, had a vision predicting Chinggis Khan's eventual victory, and for this the Tumed women were to be his reward. When Qorchi traveled north to claim his thirty women, the Tumed erupted in fury, now led by the widow of the chief, Bodoqui Tarkhan. The Tumed were now in open revolt, and Qorchi was captured. An effort to get his release by the Oirat chief Quduqa Beki resulted in his own capture by the Tumed. Angered, Chinggis Khan sent an army north under the command of his longtime friend, Boroqul of the Hashin. As you might tell from the image, things did not go well for Boroqul. Unprepared for the thick forest, Boroqul rode ahead of his main force with two others, scouting the route. From the trees came Tumed scouts, who surrounded and killed him.

After the death of Boroqul of the Hashin, his long time friend, Chinggis Khan was so angered that he wanted to march an army himself against the Tumed. Mukhali and Bo'orchu talked Chinggis Khan out of it: if something happened to the Great Khan while fighting in Siberia, the fate of the Empire would be incredibly uncertain. The task fell to Dorbei Doqshin, the fierce chief of the Dorben Mongols. Taking greater care than Boroqul, he travelled through the forests of Siberia via deer trails, making their own roads when necessary, in order to avoid detection by the Tumed.

Boroqul's  march through the deer trails of the Siberian forests succeeded in keeping his forces hidden from the eyes of the Tumed. The Tumed tribe was having a great feast when suddenly Mongol horsemen burst through the trees. As the Secret History of the Mongols says, the cavalry came through as if 'through the smoke holes of their tents.' It was a complete victory, and the Tumed were routed. The Tumed chieftainess Bodoqui Tarkhun was captured, and given as wife to the Oirat chief Quduqa Beki. The hapless Qorchi of the Ba'arin was given his thirty  wives, (which had set off the revolt in the first place!). Chinggis Khan sacrificed 100 Tumed to the spirit of Boroqul, and took his fallen friend's children into his own care. The remainder of the Tumed people were dispersed as slaves, and Doorbei Doqshin and Chinggis' eldest son Jochi took the submission of the other forest tribes who had been in revolt, such as some of the Oirat and Kirghiz. To learn more about these conflicts, check out my video on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FJTnCCBcsE&feature=youtu.be

[brassmanticore]

They continued their march and stormed Bukhara, a town of academies, of men of learning; a town of villas and gardens. After a few days’ defiance by a garrison, 20,000 strong, the gates of the city were flung open. The city was full of Mongol soldiers who made stables of libraries and litter of the leaves of the Qur'an. They feasted and held high revel. Musicians and singers were summoned, while the nobles of the city were made to groom the horses. The most precious containers of the Qur'an were used as mangers, while the sacred books were flung anywhere on the ground and trodden under foot. According to Juwaini, one man escaped from Bukhara after its capture to Khurasan. Questioned about the fate of the city he replied, ‘They came, they sapped, they burnt, they slew, they plundered and they departed.’ Men of understanding who heard this description were all agreed that in the Persian language there could be nothing more concise than this speech. The populace was inconsolable; the wise men said it was necessary to suffer without murmuring, since it was the wind of God’s anger blowing upon them. The great city, which in the morning was one of the most beautiful cities in all Asia, was, on that fatal evening, a heap of cinder and ruin. The seat of arts and science where Avicenna once studied philosophy presented a dreary picture of desolation. Chingiz is reported to have described himself in a speech as ‘the scourge of God sent to men as a punishment for their sins.’ Ibn-ul-Athir, a contemporary authority, shudders at the narration of these horrors and wishes his mother had not borne him! From Bukhara, Chingiz followed the fertile valley of Zarafshan to Samarkand which was strongly garrisoned. Here 30,000 artificers were distributed among the Mongols while the rest of the inhabitants were mostly massacred and the city was set on fire. ‘Samarkand,’ says Abul-Fida, ‘where the sky is perpetually clear, has fine stone buildings and public marketing places, and has considerable commerce with Great Tartary, India and Persia, whence all sorts of merchandise are brought; and this city furnishes Hindustan with the best fruit, green and dried. The silk paper made here is the finest in the world. There is a famous academy of sciences.’ All this prosperity vanished with the visit of the Mongols, never to return.

Afzal Iqbal, The Life and Work of Jalal-ud-deen Rumi.

[teletubby-fan-theorist]

Tile with Image of Phoenix.

After the Mongol conquest of Persia in the thirteenth century, an extensive trade network opened from China to the Mediterranean, allowing goods to move more freely than in prior centuries. This image of a soaring phoenix with crested head and elaborate trailing plumage exemplifies the adaptation of Chinese imagery by Persian artists in this period. Ilkhanid-period artists readily adopted imagery from Chinese iconography—including lotus flowers, deer, dragons, and other mythical creatures.