Mongol conquest of Western Xia
Mongol conquest of Western Xia | |
---|---|
Part of the Northwest China, Tibetan Plateau, Mongolian Plateau | |
Result | Mongol victory |
Territorial changes | Western Xia lands absorbed into Mongol Empire |
Between 1205 and 1227, the
The Mongols began a siege of the Western Xia capital
Background
The Western Xia dynasty emerged in 1038—also called "Xi Xia", the "
Upon the death of its fourth ruler,
Preliminary raids
Using his rival Nilga Senggum's temporary refuge in Western Xia as a pretext, Temüjin launched a raid against the state in 1205 in the
First invasion (1209–1210)
In 1209, Genghis undertook his campaign to actually conquer Western Xia. Emperor Xiangzong requested aid from the Jin dynasty, but the new Jin emperor Wanyan Yongji refused to send aid, stating that "It is to our advantage when our enemies attack each other. Wherein lies the danger to us?"[13] After defeating a force led by Gao Lianghui outside Wulahai, Genghis captured the city and pushed up along the Yellow River, defeating several cities as he went, until he reached the fortress Kiemen which guarded the only pass through the Helan Mountains to the capital, Yinchuan.[4][13][14] Containing an army of up to 70,000, plus 50,000 reinforcements, the fortress proved too difficult to capture, and after a two-month stand-off the Mongols feinted a retreat, luring the garrison, led by Weiming Linggong, out onto the field where it was easily destroyed.[13][14] His path now open, Genghis advanced to the capital. Well fortified, Yinchuan held about 150,000 soldiers, nearly twice the size of the Mongol army.[15] One of their first endeavors at siege warfare, the Mongols lacked the proper equipment and experience to take the city. They arrived at the city in May, but by October were still unsuccessful at breaking through.[4] Genghis attempted to flood the capital by diverting the river and its network of irrigation canals into the city, and by January 1210 the walls of Yinchuan were nearly breached. However, the dike used to divert the river broke, and the ensuing flood wiped out the Mongol camp, forcing the Mongols to take the higher ground.[4] Despite this setback, the Mongols still posed a threat to Western Xia, and with the state's crops destroyed and no relief coming from the Jin, Emperor Xiangzong agreed to submit to Mongol rule, demonstrating his loyalty by giving a daughter, Chaka, in marriage to Genghis and paying a tribute of camels, falcons, and textiles.[16]
Mongol vassalage (1210–1224)
In 1210, Western Xia attacked the Jin dynasty as punishment for their refusal to aid them against the Mongols.
However, despite aiding the Mongols against Jin, in 1217 when Genghis Khan requested help for his
Second invasion (1225–1227)
In August 1226, Genghis escaped the heat by residing in the Qilian Mountains while his troops approached
Upon reaching Yinchuan in 1227 and setting siege to the city, Genghis prepared to invade the Jin dynasty in order to neutralize any threat of them sending relief troops to Western Xia as well as setting the stage for a final conquest of the Jin empire. Genghis sent a force under his son Ögedei Khan and commander Chagaan toward the southern border, and they pushed into Jin territories along the Wei River and south Shaanxi, even sending some troops over the Qinling to threaten the Jin capital at Kaifeng. Genghis himself rejoined with Subutai and headed southwest to slice across an approximately 150 kilometer-wide territory mainly in present-day Ningxia and Gansu. Subutai crossed the northern parts of the Liupan mountain range, zigzagging from town to town throughout February and March, and conquered the Tao River valley and Lanzhou region. Meanwhile, Genghis went due south, following the Qing Shui river.[29][30]
Back in Western Xia, Yinchuan lay besieged for about six months, and Genghis, himself busy directing a siege of Longde, sent Chagaan to negotiate terms.Chagaan reported that the emperor agreed to capitulate, but wanted a month to prepare suitable gifts. Genghis agreed, though secretly planned to kill the emperor. During the peace negotiations, Genghis continued his military operations around the Liupan mountains near Guyuan, rejected an offer of peace from the Jin, and prepared to invade them near their border with the Song.[31][32] However, in August 1227, Genghis died of a historically uncertain cause, and, in order not to jeopardize the ongoing campaign, his death was kept a secret.[33][34] In September 1227, Emperor Mozhu surrendered to the Mongols and was promptly executed.[35] The Mongols then mercilessly pillaged Yinchuan, slaughtered the city's population, plundered the imperial tombs west of the city, and completed the effective annihilation of the Western Xia state.[21][36][37][38]
Death of Genghis Khan
In August 1227, during the fall of Yinchuan, Genghis Khan died. The exact cause of his death remains a mystery, and is variously attributed to being killed in action by Western Xia, falling from his horse, illness, or wounds sustained in hunting or battle.[22][33][38][39][40] The Galician–Volhynian Chronicle alleges he was killed by the Western Xia in battle, while Marco Polo wrote that he died after the infection of an arrow wound he received during his final campaign.[33] Later Mongol chronicles connect Genghis' death with a Western Xia princess taken as war booty. One chronicle from the early 17th century even relates the legend that the princess hid a small dagger and stabbed him, though some Mongol authors have doubted this version and suspected it to be an invention by the rival Oirats.[41]
Aftermath
The destruction of Western Xia during the second campaign was near total. According to John Man, Western Xia is little known to anyone other than experts in the field precisely because of Genghis Khan's policy calling for their complete eradication. He states that "There is a case to be made that this was the first ever recorded example of attempted genocide, it was certainly very successful ethnocide."[42]
However, some members of the Western Xia royal clan emigrated to western Sichuan, northern Tibet, even possibly northeast India, in some instances becoming local rulers.[43] A small Western Xia state was established in Tibet along the upper reaches of the Yalong River, while other Western Xia populations settled in what are now the modern provinces of Henan and Hebei. In China, remnants of the Western Xia persisted into the middle of the Ming dynasty.[44]
Despite the death of Genghis, the Mongol Empire was at last successful in defeating Western Xia. Now, Genghis Khan's successors concentrated on unifying the rest of China. The
References
Citations
- ^ Wang 1993
- ^ Bian 2005
- ^ Western Xia constructed the long wall, so-called "Chinggis Khan's wall", and fortresses on the borderline with Outer Mongolia. These remains are reported by archaeologists:The northern border of the Tangut state, XiXia: According to the archaeological evidence and written sources(Kovalev A. A.& Erdenebaatar D),http://doi.org/10.24517/00064491, Distribution and historical transition of fortresses with a side length of 130 meters on the borderline through Mongolia, HeXi corridor and LouLan: Using satellite images and GIS(Moriya K),http://doi.org/10.24517/00064490
- ^ a b c d e f g May 2012, pg. 1211
- ^ Atwood, pg. 590
- ^ a b de Hartog 2004, p. 59.
- ^ Bor, pg. 204
- ^ Man 2004, p. 212.
- ^ Man 2004, p. 213.
- ^ Rossabi 2009, p. 156.
- ^ a b c Kohn 2007, p. 205.
- ^ Man 2004, p. 130.
- ^ a b c Man 2004, p. 131.
- ^ a b Peers 2006, p. 135.
- ^ Weatherford, pg. 85
- ^ Man 2004, p. 133.
- ^ Kessler 2012, p. 91.
- ^ Dunnell 1996, p. xxv.
- ^ Sinor, Shimin & Kychanov 1998, p. 213.
- ^ Man 2004, p. 160.
- ^ a b c Ebrey 2012, p. 199.
- ^ a b Emmons 2012, p. 139.
- ^ Mote 1999, pp. 255–256.
- ^ Man 2004, p. 212–213.
- ^ de Hartog 2004, pp. 134–135.
- ^ de Hartog 2004, p. 134.
- ^ Tucker 2010, p. 276.
- ^ Man 2004, p. 213–214.
- ^ Man 2004, p. 215–217.
- ^ de Hartog 2004, p. 135.
- ^ Man 2004, pp. 219–220.
- ^ de Hartog 2004, pp. 135–137.
- ^ a b c Lange 2003, p. 71.
- ^ Man 2004, p. 238.
- ^ Sinor, Shimin & Kychanov 1998, p. 214.
- ^ de Hartog 2004, p. 137.
- ^ Mote 1999, p. 256.
- ^ a b Boland-Crewe & Lea 2002, p. 215.
- ^ Hart-Davis 2007, p. 165.
- ^ Man 2004, pp. 239–240.
- ^ Heissig 1964, p. 124.
- ^ Man 2004, pp. 116–117.
- ^ Franke & Twitchett 1995, p. 214.
- ^ Mote 1999, pp. 256–257.
Sources
- Atwood, C. P. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire.
- Bianren [边人] (2005). 《西夏: 消逝在历史记忆中的国度》[Western Xia: the kingdom lost in historical memories]. Beijing: Foreign Language Press [外文出版社].
- Boland-Crewe, Tara; Lea, David, eds. (2002). The Territories of the People's Republic of China. London: Europa Publications. ISBN 9780203403112.
- Bor, J. Mongol hiigeed Eurasiin diplomat shashtir, vol. II.
- de Hartog, Leo (2004). Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the World. New York City: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1860649726.
- Dunnell, Ruth W. (1996). The Great State of White and High: Buddhism and State Formation in Eleventh-Century Xia. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 0824817192.
- Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (2012). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History (3rd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. ISBN 9781133606475.
- Emmons, James B. (2012). "Genghis Khan". China at War: An Encyclopedia. ISBN 9781598844153.
- Franke, Herbert; Twitchett, Denis, eds. (2007) [1995]. The Cambridge history of China: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907–1368. Vol. 6. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24331-5.
- Haenisch, Erich (1948). Die Geheime Geschichte der Mongolen. Leipzig.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISBN 978-1405318099.
- Heissig, Walther (1964). Die Mongolen. Ein Volk sucht seine Geschichte (in German). Düsseldorf.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Kessler, Adam T. (2012). Song Blue and White Porcelain on the Silk Road. ISBN 9789004218598.
- Kohn, George C. (2007). Dictionary of Wars (3rd ed.). New York City: Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9781438129167.
- Lange, Brenda (2003). Genghis Khan. New York: Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9780791072226.
- ISBN 9780312366247.
- May, Timothy (2012). The Mongol Conquests in World History. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 9781861899712.
- ISBN 0674012127.
- Peers, Chris (2006). Soldiers of the Dragon: Chinese Armies 1500 BC-AD 1840. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1846030986.
- Sinor, D.; Shimin, Geng; ISBN 9231034677.
- Rossabi, William (2009). Genghis Khan and the Mongol empire. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-9622178359.
- Tucker, Spencer C. (2010). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1851096725.
- Wang, Tianshun [王天顺] (1993). 《西夏战史》[The Battle History of Western Xia]. Yinchuan [银川]: Ningxia People's Press [宁夏人民出版社].
- Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.