Khwarazmian army between 1231 and 1246
The Khwarazmian army, also called the Khwarazmiyya, maintained itself as a force of freebooters and mercenaries between 1231 and 1246, following the
In 1231, the Khwarazmians were briefly in the service of the Ayyubid governors around
The Khwarazmians made an alliance with the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt in 1243. In 1244, they invaded Palestine, sacked Jerusalem and defeated the anti-Egyptian alliance at the Battle of Forbie. Thus they permanently ended Crusader rule in Jerusalem. In 1245, they helped the Egyptians conquer Damascus. Dissatisfied with their rewards, they rebelled in 1246 and besieged Damascus. They suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of an alliance led by Aleppo, and disintegrated as a unified force.
Background
The Khwarazmian army was routed by the Mongols at the
Jalal al-Din spent the next several years terrorizing his Christian and Muslim neighbours rather than fighting the Mongols.
Composition of the Khwarazmian army
About 12,000–15,000 soldiers of Jalal al-Din's army in Diyar Bakr hired themselves out as mercenaries.[9] Bar Hebraeus puts the figure that entered Seljukid service at 10,000 and scholarly estimates have ranged from 4,000 to 25,000. If the numbers given by the sources refer to fighting strength, then the total complement of Khwarazmians must have been more than 50,000 around a core of 12,000 soldiers.[10]
Known by the collective term Khwarazmiyya in the
The emirs of the army elected Husam al-Din Kirkhan Malik as their leader. The historian al-Nasawi described him as undistinguished and "negligent".[15] The other emirs named by Ibn Bibi were Husam al-Din Berke-Khan, Yilan-Bughu, Saru-Khan, Khanberdi, Sayf al-Din Sadiq-Khan, Atlas-Khan and Nasir al-Din Kushlu-Khan.[19]
Seljukid service
Under Kirkhan, the Khwarazmians first entered the service of the Ayyubid rulers Ghazi of Mayyafariqin and
Not long after, a group of 4,000 Khwarazmians trying to return to
In 1232, the Ayyubid sultan
When Kayqubad died in 1237, his succession was disputed between his eldest son,
Invasions of Syria, Palestine and Transjordan
1240 invasion
In 1239, al-Salih Ayyub was captured and imprisoned in
The invading Khwarazmian force numbered about 12,000. On 2 November 1240, it routed 1,500 cavalry led by al-Mu'azzam Turanshah from Aleppo and, on 9 November, burned Manbij. Learning of the Aleppan defeat, the Emir al-Mansur Ibrahim of Homs brought his forces to Aleppo, entering the city on 11 November. He had 1,000 cavalry raised from Homs and Damascus, with which he intended to confront the Barons' Crusade.[39] Before the end of the year, the Khwarazmians retreated back across the Euphrates.[40]
1241 invasion
After the Khwarazmian retreat,
In January 1241, the Khwarazmians returned. They pillaged
Interlude
In 'Ana, the Khwarazmians entered the service of the Abbasids. Later in 1241, they attached themselves to Badr al-Din Lu'lu' of Mosul and then al-Muzaffar Ghazi of Mayyafariqin.[41] They exhibited little loyalty to any of these nominal overlords and continued to raid Syria.[42] Aleppo sent a punitive expedition against the Khwarazmians at Safar in July–August 1241. In August 1242, a second expedition to Safar, led by al-Mansur Ibrahim, defeated them.[43]
In 1243, according to Ibn Wasil, al-Salih Ayyub, now ruler of Egypt, wrote to the Khwarazmians urging them to invade Syria, in exchange for extensive iqta's in Egypt.[44] This caused the peace recently concluded between the Egyptian and Syrian Ayyubids to collapse.[45] In the late winter or early spring of 1244, the Syrian Ayyubids allied with the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem against the Egyptian–Khwarazmian alliance. The city of Jerusalem, in Muslim hands since 1239, was returned to the Christians.[46]
1244 invasion
In 1244, according to the contemporary historian Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Khazraji, al-Salih Ayyub gave the Khwarazmians the entire province of Damascus (except Nablus) as an iqta'. At the same time, the Kurdish tribe of the Qaymariyya entered his service. These two contingents were to form the core of al-Salih Ayyub's army in the coming wars for Syria and Palestine.[48]
The Khwarazmians crossed the Euphrates early in the summer of 1244.[46] The timing of their movement has been attributed to a thrust into northern Syria by the Mongol noyan Yasa'ur.[49] They numbered 10,000 troops, including the Kurdish contingent. Dividing into two groups, they advanced into Palestine through the Biqa' and the Ghuta. At their approach, the allied forces that had been arrayed against Egypt retreated. Al-Salih Isma'il withdrew from Gaza while al-Nasir Da'ud withdrew to Kerak.[50] The Franks (Crusaders) were left to face them alone.[51]
As a result of the moves, the Khwarazmians were relatively unopposed in Palestine, although they mostly avoided major population centres. On 11 July 1244, however, they appeared before Jerusalem.
From Jerusalem, the Khwarazmians marched to Gaza, whence they informed al-Salih Ayyub of their arrival.[52] As he forbade them to enter Egypt, they awaited the sultan's army.[57] The combined army under Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Salihi roundly defeated the Syro-Frankish forces at the battle of Forbie on 17 October.[52] It was the worst Crusader defeat since the battle of Hattin in 1187.[58] The Khwarazmians were the dominant contingent in the victorious army.[59] They swept through much of the coastal territory of the kingdom of Jerusalem, but did not attack the fortified places and so did not take permanent control.[60]
After Forbie, the Khwarazmians joined the army of the Egyptian vizier
Rebellion, defeat and disintegration
After the fall of Damascus in October 1245, Mu'in al-Din granted the Khwarazmians iqta's in Syria (around al-Sahil) and Palestine, but the mercenaries did not consider these commensurate with the promises made by the sultan.[62] Still encamped about Damascus, the Khwarazmians launched a raid on the village of Darayya. In preparation for a full rebellion, they allied with al-Salih Isma'il, al-Nasir Da'ud and 'Izz al-Din Aybeg al-Mu'azzami. They even wrote to their former commander, Rukn al-Din, who was in command of the troops remaining at Gaza.[63] Rukn al-Din was immediately accused of conspiring with the Khawarazmians, recalled to Egypt and imprisoned.[64]
In late March 1246, the Khawarazmians
When the Khawarazmians learned that al-Mansur Ibrahim and
The Khwarazmians were scattered by this defeat. A small contingent remained with al-Salih Isma'il and received asylum from al-Nasir Yusuf in Aleppo.
Although 1246 marks the effective disappearance of the Khwarazmians from the Arabic sources, they re-appear in the work of the historian
Notes
- ^ Lewis 1987, p. 289.
- ^ Jackson 1990, pp. 45 & 50; Jackson 2017, pp. 80–81.
- ^ Boyle 1979, p. 127; Buniyatov 2015, p. 130.
- ^ Runciman 1954, p. 249; Jackson 2017, pp. 81–82.
- ^ Jackson 2017, pp. 81–82. The period between his flight to India and his death is covered in detail in Boyle 1968, pp. 322–335 For his sack of Tbilisi, see p. 328.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 219 (9 August 1230 [25 Ramadan 627]); Cahen 1968, p. 130 (29 July 1231 [25 Ramadan 628]).
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 220.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 220; Richards 2008, p. 310 n18.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 233 (12,000); Muratbaevich Abdirimov 2021, p. 51 (12,000); Jackson 2017, p. 82 (15,000).
- ^ Muratbaevich Abdirimov 2021, p. 51.
- ^ a b Griffel 2021, pp. 60–61.
- ^ Ayalon 2002; Satō 1986, p. 94.
- ^ Franchini 2007, p. 92.
- ^ Hillenbrand 2006, p. 125.
- ^ a b Buniyatov 2015, p. 153.
- ^ Griffel 2021, p. 60; Jackson 2017, p. 82.
- ^ Muratbaevich Abdirimov 2021, p. 50.
- ^ Buniyatov 2015, p. 153; Humphreys 1977, p. 270.
- ^ Buniyatov 2015, p. 153; Muratbaevich Abdirimov 2021, p. 51.
- ^ Hillenbrand 2010, p. 118, note 10.
- ^ Cahen 1968, p. 131; Cahen 2001, pp. 62–63.
- ^ Buniyatov 2015, p. 153, dates their change of allegiance to August 1231. Muratbaevich Abdirimov 2021, p. 51, places it in 1232.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 233; Cahen 1968, p. 131.
- ^ a b Cahen 1968, p. 131; Cahen 2001, pp. 62–63; Muratbaevich Abdirimov 2021, p. 51.
- ^ Cahen 1968, p. 131; Cahen 2001, pp. 62–63.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 223.
- ^ Cahen 2001, p. 63.
- ^ Cahen 1968, p. 132.
- ^ Cahen 2001, p. 64; Cahen 1940, p. 646.
- ^ Cahen 2001, p. 64.
- ^ Cahen 1968, p. 133.
- ^ Cahen 1968, p. 133, writes "chief", but Humphreys 1977, p. 233, writes "chiefs".
- ^ Cahen 1968, p. 133, writes that "the Khwārizmians, thrusting aside the Seljukid armies, retreated across the Euphrates." Humphreys 1977, p. 233, writes that Kaykhusrau "forced them to flee".
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 233–234; Cahen 1968, pp. 133–134.
- ^ Cahen 1968, p. 134.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 262.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 269.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 269, suggests that "it may have been purposeless marauding, inspired by this people's essential rootlessness".
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 269–270, 311.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 270, writes that late in the year "the invaders retreated back across the Euphrates unopposed," but Cahen 1968, p. 134, writes of "the victory that was gained over the Khwarizmians" in November 1240
- ^ a b c Humphreys 1977, p. 270.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 270–271.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 271.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 273, 284.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 273.
- ^ a b Humphreys 1977, p. 274.
- ^ The letter is cited in Marshall 1987, p. 37.
- ^ a b Satō 1997, pp. 51–52.
- ^ a b Jackson 2017, p. 84.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 274–275.
- ^ Jackson 1987, p. 56.
- ^ a b c Humphreys 1977, p. 275.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 275; Jackson 2007, p. 17 (who dates the sack to 11 August)
- ^ Schein 2006, p. 660; May 2012, pp. 157–158.
- ^ Schein 2006, p. 660.
- ^ Satō 1986, p. 94; Satō 1997, p. 99.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 275, 284.
- ^ Burgtorf 2006; May 2012, pp. 157–158.
- ^ According to Marshall 1987, p. 201, citing the Estoire d'Eracles, there were 20,000 Khwarazmians as against 7,000 others.
- ^ Marshall 1987, p. 296.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 276–277.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 284–285; Satō 1986, p. 94.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 284–285.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 285, considers it hard to credit the rumour of Rukn al-Din's involvement, since he could not have gained much from an alliance with the Khawarazmians.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 285.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 286–287.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 287.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, pp. 289–290.
- ^ a b c Buniyatov 2015, pp. 158–159.
Bibliography
- Ayalon, David (1951). "The Wafidiya in the Mamluk Kingdom". Islamic Culture. 25: 91–104.
- Ayalon, David (2002). "Wāfidiyya". In ISBN 978-90-04-12756-2.
- Boyle, John Andrew (1968). "Dynastic and Political History of the Īl-Khāns". In J. A. Boyle (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods. Cambridge University Press. pp. 303–421.
- Boyle, John Andrew (1979). "Jalal al-Din Khwarazm-Shah in the Indus Valley". Sind Quarterly. 7 (3): 28–32.
- Buniyatov, Z. M. (2015) [1999]. A History of the Khorezmian State Under the Anushteginids, 1097–1231. Translated by Ali Efendiyev. International Institute for Central Asian Studies.
- Burgtorf, Jochen (2006). "Forbie, Battle of (1244)". In Alan V. Murray (ed.). The Crusades: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 2: D–J. ABC-CLIO. p. 449.
- ISBN 9782351594186.
- Cahen, Claude (1968). Pre-Ottoman Turkey: A General Survey of the Material and Spiritual Culture and History, c. 1071–1330. Translated by J. Jones-Williams. Taplinger.
- Cahen, Claude (1969). "The Turks in Iran and Anatolia Before the Mongol Invasions" (PDF). In R. L. Wolff; H. W. Hazard (eds.). A History of the Crusades. Vol. 2: The Later Crusades, 1189–1311. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 660–692.
- Cahen, Claude (2001) [1988]. The Formation of Turkey: The Seljukid Sultanate of Rūm: Eleventh to Fourteenth Century. Translated by Peter Malcolm Holt. Longman.
- Franchini, Enzo (2007). "¡Ay, Iherusalem!: Ediciones paleográfica y experimental". Incipit. 27: 69–111.
- Gibb, H. A. R. (1969). "The Aiyūbids" (PDF). In R. L. Wolff; H. W. Hazard (eds.). A History of the Crusades. Vol. 2: The Later Crusades, 1189–1311. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 693–714.
- Griffel, Frank (2021). The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in Islam. Oxford University Press.
- Hillenbrand, Carole (2006). "Ayyūbids". In Alan V. Murray (ed.). The Crusades: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1: A–C. ABC-CLIO. pp. 123–128.
- Hillenbrand, Robert (1 January 2010). "The Schefer Ḥarīrī: A Study in Islamic Frontispiece Design". Arab Painting: 117–134. .
- Humphreys, R. Stephen (1977). From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260. State University of New York Press.
- S2CID 161747361.
- Jackson, Peter (1990). "Jalāl al-Dīn, the Mongols, and the Khwarazmian Conquest of the Panjāb and Sind". Iran. 28: 45–54. JSTOR 4299834.
- Jackson, Peter, ed. (2007). The Seventh Crusade, 1244–1254: Sources and Documents. Ashgate.
- Jackson, Peter (2017). The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion. Yale University Press.
- Lewis, Suzanne (1987). The Art of Matthew Paris in the Chronica Majora. University of California Press.
- Marshall, Christopher John (1987). Warfare in the Latin East, 1192–1291 (PhD diss.). University of London. ProQuest 10090132
- May, Timothy (2012). The Mongol Conquests in World History. Reaktion Books.
- Muratbaevich Abdirimov, Bekzod (2021). "Fate of Khwarazmians Who Remained in Anatolia After the Death of Khwarazmshah Jalal-al-Din Mengübirti". International Journal of Humanities and Education. 7 (15): 48–68.
- Richards, Donald S. (1995). "al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ ʿImād al-Dīn". In ISBN 978-90-04-09834-3.
- Richards, Donald S. (1995). "al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Nadjm al-Dīn Ayyūb". In ISBN 978-90-04-09834-3.
- Richards, Donald S., ed. (2008). The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athīr for the Crusading Period from al-Kāmil fīʾl-taʾrīkh, Part 3: The Years 589–629/1193–1231: The Ayyübids after Saladin and the Mongol Menace. Crusade Texts in Translation, 17. Ashgate.
- Runciman, Steven (1954). A History of the Crusades. Vol. 3: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. Cambridge University Press.
- Satō, Tsugitaka (1986). "Iqṭāʿ Policy of Sultan Baybars I". Orient. 22: 85–104. .
- Satō, Tsugitaka (1997). State and Rural Society in Medieval Islam: Sultans, Muqtaʿs and Fallahun. E. J. Brill.
- Schein, Sylvia (2006). "Jerusalem, City of". In Alan V. Murray (ed.). The Crusades: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 2: D–J. ABC-CLIO. pp. 656–661.