Battle of Indus
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Indus was fought at the river Indus
in today's Pakistan
in the year 1221 between Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
, the sultan
of the Khwarezmid Empire and his only remaining forces of five thousand, and the Mongolian horde of Genghis Khan
.
with his men together with thousands of refugees from Persia, following the Mongol sacking of several cities, including Bukhara
and Samarkand
, the latter being the Khwarezmian capital. After having won the Battle of Parwan
, near the city Ghazna (Ghazni
) in eastern Persia
, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu headed for India to seek refuge together with his army of some fifty thousand men and several thousand refugees. However, the horde of Genghis Khan caught up with him when he was about to cross the river Indus. The sultan posted most of his men in the way of the Mongols to let him and the refugees pass the river in safety. When the army who awaited the enemy was busy fighting the Mongolian vanguard, Genghis Khan led the main force towards the sultan who was trapped between the Mongols and the river.
. Only a few of the refugees and probably none of the soldiers made it to the other side alive.
Indus River
The Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
in today's Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
in the year 1221 between Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, also known as Mengübirti or Manguberdi or Minkburny in the east was the last ruler of the Khwarezmid Empire...
, the sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
of the Khwarezmid Empire and his only remaining forces of five thousand, and the Mongolian horde of Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
.
Background
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu was fleeing to IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
with his men together with thousands of refugees from Persia, following the Mongol sacking of several cities, including Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
and Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
, the latter being the Khwarezmian capital. After having won the Battle of Parwan
Battle of Parwan
The Battle of Parwan was fought between sultan Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu of the Khwarezmid Empire and the Mongols in 1221.Following the Mongol invasion of Khwarezm Jalal ad-Din was forced to flee towards the Hindukush, where he began to muster additional troops to face the Mongols...
, near the city Ghazna (Ghazni
Ghazni
For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
) in eastern Persia
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu headed for India to seek refuge together with his army of some fifty thousand men and several thousand refugees. However, the horde of Genghis Khan caught up with him when he was about to cross the river Indus. The sultan posted most of his men in the way of the Mongols to let him and the refugees pass the river in safety. When the army who awaited the enemy was busy fighting the Mongolian vanguard, Genghis Khan led the main force towards the sultan who was trapped between the Mongols and the river.
Prelude and description
The sultan engaged the Mongols with his fifty thousand men against the Mongols' over thirty thousand. This attempt failed however and the soldiers were soon separated from the refugees who were brutally slaughtered. When the sultan realized he was doomed, he and his closest followers crossed the Indus River at HundHund
Hund is a small village in Swabi district, situated on the right bank of the Indus River about 15 km upstream of Attock Fort and at a distance of about 80 km to the east of Peshawar in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, of Pakistan...
. Only a few of the refugees and probably none of the soldiers made it to the other side alive.