Chagatai Khan
The Mongols marched southwards from Genghis's campaign headquarters in modern Inner Mongolia in November 1211: first they attacked the cities in the area between Hohhot and Datong, and then they followed the Taihang Mountains into Shanxi, where they pillaged and plundered in autumn 1213, capturing the pastures of their enemies' cavalry reserves.[15] During the 1219 invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire, Chagatai was charged with building bridges and maintaining roads to speed the Mongol advance and keep lines of communication open, in which capacity he was aided by his retainer Zhang Rong (1158–1230).[20] The siege was lengthy, lasting between four and seven months, and exceptionally fierce: the defiant Khwarazmian defenders forced the Mongol army to engage in bitter house-by-house urban warfare, with much of the city destroyed either by burning naphtha or flooding from collapsed dams.[23] The historian Christopher Atwood however argues that the narrative of fraternal conflicts was a later invention designed to buttress Ögedei's right to rule the empire and that Jochi in reality retained primacy throughout the siege.[26] He was later present at the defeat of the Khwarazmian prince Jalal al-Din at the Battle of the Indus in November 1221, and commanded the rearguard during his father's final campaign against the Western Xia state.[29] Although some Mongols argued that Chagatai's traits would make him an excellent successor to his father, Genghis thought that he was too strict and narrow-minded, indicating a degree of inflexibility that did not suit a ruler.[35] These territories, roughly encompassing modern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, southern Kazakhstan, and parts of Xinjiang in China, had been ruled by the Qara Khitai state during the late 1100s, and contained a mixture of nomadic and sedentary populations.Chagatai did not help and left the revolt to Ögedei, whose armies quickly suppressed the uprising; the population faced total slaughter but was spared after Mahmud argued that only a part had been involved.Ögedei's favourite wife Möge initially assumed control but Töregene, the mother of his presumptive heir Güyük, sought to become regent; she crucially persuaded Chagatai that she was suitable, and with his support attained the position.[42] Although Chagatai's loyalty to nomadic customs meant that he constructed no more than pools for waterfowl, storehouses, and small villages in his territories, he was a capable ruler who recruited both foreign educated experts and local Uighur officials to help administer his realm.Modern historians such as Michael Hope and Peter Jackson suggest this is likely far from the truth: they point to a number of powerful Muslim officials and nobles at Chagatai's court on whom he relied and whom he would have been unlikely to unnecessarily antagonise.
MongoliaKhan of the Chagatai KhanateQara HülëgüMutukanBaidarYesü MöngkeBorjiginGenghis KhanBörteMongol conquest of the Jin dynastyMongol invasion of the Khwarazmian EmpireOtrar CatastropheSiege of GurganjBattle of the IndusMongol conquest of Western XiaMongolianMongol EmpireMongol custom and lawlegitimacyÖgedei Khaninvasion of the Khwarazmian EmpireMahmud YalavachChagatai KhanateOnggiratGreater Khingan mountain rangeErgüne riverInner MongoliaMongolTemüjinMerkit tribeÖgedeiChecheyigenAl Altanhaving united the tribes of MongoliakurultaiAltai MountainsNaiman tribeJalayirBarlasSuldusDughlatYesu-MongkeShigi QutuquJuzjanithe 1211 invasionJin dynastyHohhotDatongTaihang MountainsShanxi1219 invasion of the Khwarazmian EmpireGurganjsiege of the city of OtrarInalchuqthe siege of Samarkandthe capitalKhwarazmian Empireurban warfarenaphthaTaliqanBamiyanJalal al-DinWestern XiaMarco PoloLivre des merveilles manuscriptbaptised into ChristianityTemügeGüyükBukharaSamarkandTransoxianaAlmaliqXinjiangformer Uighur territoriesAmu DaryaUzbekistanTajikistanKyrgyzstanKazakhstanQara KhitaiKörgüzKhorasanJami' al-tawarikhkingmakerTöregeneUighurQara HülegüwaterfowlIslamic Sharia lawanimal slaughterritual hygienepublic prayerOne contemporary Muslim writerPeter Jacksonconvert to IslamGolden HordeIlkhanateAllsen, Thomas T.de Rachewiltz, IgorWiesbadenHarrassowitz VerlagAtwood, Christopher P.Rossabi, MorrisLeidenBarthold, VasilyBosworth, Clifford E.Munshiram ManoharlalBatbayar, Bat-ErdeneYarshater, EhsanThe Cambridge History of Inner AsiaCambridge University PressKim, HodongBoyle, John AndrewThe Cambridge History of IranGreat BarringtonSanta BarbaraABC-CLIOAbingdonRoutledgeJackson, PeterEdinburgh University PressMorgan, DavidBlackwell PublishingThomas HainingTitlesKhagan