The siege of Samarkand (1220) took place in 1220 A.D. after Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, had launched a multi-pronged invasion of the

Khwarazmian Empire The Khwarazmian or Khwarezmian Empire) or the Khwarazmshahs ( fa, خوارزمشاهیان, Khwārazmshāhiyān) () was a Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire that ruled large parts of present-day Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran in the app ...

, ruled by Shah Muhammad II. The Mongols had laid siege to the border town of

Otrar Otrar or Utrar ( kk, Отырар, ''Otyrar'', otəˈɾɑɾ otk, 𐰚𐰭𐱃𐰺𐰢𐰣, Keŋü Tarman), also called Farab, is a Central Asian ghost town that was a city located along the Silk Road in Kazakhstan. Otrar was an important town ...

, but finding its defences obdurate, a large force commanded by Genghis and his youngest son

Tolui Tolui (also Toluy, Tului; , meaning: "the mirror"; – 1232) was a Mongol khan, the fourth son of Genghis Khan by his chief khatun, Börte. At his father's death in 1227, his ''ulus'', or territorial inheritance, was the Mongol homelands on t ...

detached from the vanguard and set off southwards, towards

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

. Samarkand was the Shah's capital and the pivot of his defence — the city's garrison was large and its battlements were one of the strongest in the empire. Genghis, however, managed to isolate it by capturing and destroying Bukhara in a surprise manoeuvre, and then laying waste to the nearby Transoxianan towns. After repelling relief forces, the Mongol army, now reinforced after the capture of

, ambushed and massacred a sortie by the town's defenders. The citizens of the city soon surrendered at the instigation of the Muslim clergy; most were however enslaved or conscripted in traditional Mongol fashion. A small force held out in the citadel for around one month, after which around half managed to break through the Mongol lines and escape over the

Amu Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

. Although the city was then comprehensively looted and pillaged, it revived slowly under the

Pax Mongolica The ''Pax Mongolica'' (Latin for "Mongol Peace"), less often known as ''Pax Tatarica'' ("Tatar Peace"), is a historiographical term modelled after the original phrase ''Pax Romana'' which describes the stabilizing effects of the conquests of the ...

, and then, in the late 14th-century, returned to worldwide prominence as the capital of the

Timurid Empire The Timurid Empire ( chg, , fa, ), self-designated as Gurkani (Chagatai language, Chagatai: کورگن, ''Küregen''; fa, , ''Gūrkāniyān''), was a PersianateB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006 Tu ...

Background

Forces

While medieval chroniclers have attributed huge forces to both sides, modern historians are more conservative in their estimates, but precise numbers are still widely disputed; the only certainty is that the total Mongol force was larger than the Shah's army. The Shah, who distrusted his commanders and had not yet implemented his desired methods of administration, decided on a strategy of distributing troops inside his major cities, such as Samarkand, Balkh and

. It is likely that he expected only a "normal-sized" Mongol raid, which would devastate the countryside but leave the cities unharmed. The Khwarazmids would only previously have fought nomads such as the

Kangly The Kangly (康曷利; pinyin: Kānghélì; Middle Chinese ( ZS): /kʰɑŋ-ɦɑt̚-liɪH/ or 康里 pinyin: ''Kānglĭ'' < MC-ZS: /kʰɑŋ-lɨ^X/;

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...

who were skilled in siege warfare came as a great shock. In any event, estimates for the city's garrison vary widely.

Prelude

The first attack on the

made by the

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

was at the town of

, whose governor had made the grievous mistake of insulting the Khan. This border city, however, was able to hold out for a surprising length of time, and so Genghis made the decision to split his forces to try to outmanoeuvre the Shah. He had learnt of the strength of Samarkand's defences at

, and thus made the decision to march through the Kizil Kum desert to Bukhara. The city was stunned by the Mongol approach, which had been through an area previously thought impassable, and, after a sortie was annihilated along the

, the lower town surrendered and was promptly pillaged. The inner citadel held out for less than two weeks, but after the Mongols breached the walls, all inside were massacred. Unlike during later campaigns, the Mongols were comparatively lenient with the citizens of Bukhara; however, a large number were conscripted to be used in the following sieges.

Events

By capturing Bukhara, Genghis Khan had split the forces of the Khan, which were located at Samarkand, Balkh, and

Urgench Urgench ( uz, Urganch//, ; russian: Ургенч, Urgench; fa, گرگانج, ''Gorgånch/Gorgānč/Gorgânc/Gurganj'') is a district-level city in western Uzbekistan. It is the capital of Xorazm Region. The estimated population of Urgench in ...

. The Mongols, having encircled the city, were engaged by the Turko-Iranian defenders. The sortie, which consisted of twenty war-elephants and a large body of cavalry, was ambushed and driven back. A sizeable section of the Samarkand garrison surrendered shortly afterwards, and were promptly executed, but the citadel, as in Bukhara, had to be taken by force. It held out for one month, before a small force managed to cut their way through the Mongol lines and escape over the Amu Darya. The Mongols released the elephants, which had survived, into the surrounding countryside, where they quickly died due to lack of food.

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

would restore the city after he made it his capital in 1370. He rebuilt the palaces and the city walls, which were still in ruins, and commissioned numerous mosques, gardens and pavilions to re-establish Samarkand's importance on an international level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samarkand, Siege of Samarkand 1220 in the Mongol Empire Samarkand Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire Sieges involving the Mongol Empire