Siege of Bamyan (1221)
The 1221 siege of Bamyan by the Mongol Empire under the leadership of Genghis Khan[2] occurred in what is now the town of Bamyan in Afghanistan.
| 1221 Siege of Bamyan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Mongol invasion of Central Asia | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Mongol Empire | Khwarezmian Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Genghis Khan | Unknown | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 30,000 men[1] | unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | all killed | ||||||||
Background
The siege occurred while the Mongols were pursuing Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the last ruler of the Khwarezmian Empire, and his newly raised forces in Afghanistan.[3]
Siege
Mutukan (Mö'etüken), son of Chagatai Khan and favourite grandson of Genghis Khan, was killed in battle by an arrow from the besieged walls.[4][5][6] This death, compounded by the heavy casualties sustained by his forces during the siege and the realization of his own mortality, angered Genghis to the extent that once he captured Bamyan he completely destroyed it and massacred the population of the city and its surrounding region. The destruction was so complete that even the Mongols referred to Bamyan as "the City of Sorrows" (i.e. "City of Woe"[6]). Another title was "City of Noise (or Screams)," in reference to the cries of its murdered victims.[2][3]
Aftermath
Following the siege, Genghis Khan continued his pursuit of Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu into India.[3]
A common belief, also held among many Hazara,[7] is that after the local Afghan population was wiped out, Genghis repopulated the area with some of his Mongol troops and their slave women, in order to guard the region while he continued his campaign. These settlers would become the ancestors of the Hazara people - with the word “Hazara” most likely derived from the Persian word “yak hazar” (“one thousand”), for the Mongol military unit of 1000 soldiers.[8]
See also
References
- Trevor N. Dupuy and R. Ernest Dupuy, The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History, (Harper Collins Publishers, 1993), 366.
- A Historical Atlas of Afghanistan, by Amy Romano, p.25.
- Dictionary of Wars, by George C. Kohn, p.55.
- Jack Weatherford (2005). Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Crown/Archetype. p. 117. ISBN 9780307237811.
- Brendan Cassar; Sara Noshadi (2015). Keeping history alive: safeguarding cultural heritage in post-conflict Afghanistan. UNESCO Publishing. p. 244. ISBN 9789231000645.
- Anwarul Haque Haqqi, Chingiz Khan: The Life and Legacy of an Empire Builder, (Primus Books, 2010), 152.
- James B. Minahan (10 Feb 2014). Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 99. ISBN 9781610690188.
Many Hazara believe that their ancestors who entered the region as part of the armies of Genghis Khan in the 13th century were Mongol soldiers and their slave women who settled to garrison the highlands in central Afghanistan following the 1221 siege of the city of Bamiyan.
- Ratchnevsky, Paul. Genghis Khan His Life and Legacy. Cambridge and Oxford U.K.: Blackwell, 1991, p.164.