| Battle of Andkhud | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Khwarazmian-Ghurid wars | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Ghurid Empire |
Khwarazmian Empire Qara Khitai Kara-Khanid Khanate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Muhammad of Ghor (WIA) Husain ibn Kharmil Aybek Yogi Aybek Beg |
Alauddin Khwarazm Tayangu Uthman ibn Ibrahim Taj al-Din Bilge Khan | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 20,000 | 40,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Heavy | Unknown | ||||||||
The Battle of Andkhud, also spelt as Battle of Andkhui was fought in 1204 on the bank of river Oxus in present-day Afghanistan. It was fought between the Ghurid forces of Muhammad of Ghor against the Qara Khitai forces (as aid of Khwarazmian Empire) led by Tayangu of Taraz. The battle ended in a complete rout of the Ghurids, although Mu'izz al-Din managed to escape the debacle after the intervention by Uthman of Qarakhanid.
The Ghurids, soon after the death of Tekish of Khwarezm, invaded and annexed most of the Khorasan amidst the civil war among the successors of Tekish for the throne. However, the Ghurids conquests were recaptured by Alauddin Shah who made diplomatic overtures to make peace with the Ghurids. Although, the Ghurids turned down his overtures. Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad at this point, died in Herat (1203) and was succeeded by his brother Muhammad of Ghor. Alauddin soon displaced the Ghurid governor from Herat and relieved the city which lead to a full-scale invasion from Mu'izz al-Din who besieged Alauddin's capital of Gurganz. However, the Ghurids failed to press upon the siege and were forced to retreat when a large contingent of Qara Khitai and Qarakhanid forces come in aid of the Khwarazmians.
The Ghurids were chased in their retreat and in a decisive battle fought near the river of Oxus, in Andkhud, Mu'izz al-Din's forces were completely routed by Qara Khitais who further chased him in his retreat as well. Mu'izz al-Din was allowed to retreat safely to Ghazna after paying heavy ransom to Tayangu.
The Catastrophe of Andhkhud lead to the loss of most of the Khurasan for the Ghurids and a number of their slave generals rebelled in the core Ghurid domain as well. Mu'izz al-din, however successfully dealt with these rebellions and made preparations to avenge his defeat but was assassinated at Damyak on 15 March 1206. His successor was forced to acknowledge the suzerainty of Khwarazmians who overthrew the Ghurids by 1215 but were themselves uprooted by Changez Khan in 1221.
Background[]
By close of the twelfth century, the Ghurids under the rule of Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad (c. 1163–1203) and Muhammad of Ghor (c. 1173–1206) reached apogee of its glory. Muhammad of Ghor after uprooting the Ghaznavids in 1186, achieved a landscape victory in 1192, against a coalition of Rajput rulers under Prithviraja III in Taraori which opened the whole of Ganga valley which Mu'izz al-Din and his slave generals pressed upon in subsequent years and reached as far as east in Lakhawati in Bengal.[1][2] After their conquests in Indian subcontinent, the Ghurids embarked upon the struggle with Khwarazm Empire for the supremacy of Khorasan.[3]
Meanwhile, Tekish died in 1200 and was succeeded by his son Alauddin Shah. Taking advantage of the civil war between Alauddin and his nephew Hindu Khan for the throne, Ghurids successfully captured Nishapur, Merv, Tus and reached right up to Gorgan and Bisṭām. Further, In Merv, the Ghurids stationed Alauddin's rival Hindu Khan on the throne. Thus, the Ghurids for a short while swept away most of the Khorasan for the first time.[1][4] However, Alauddin soon ascended to the throne in August 1200 and recaptured his territories from the Ghurids after a series of incursion which began from September 1201 and recaptured Nishapur and other Ghurid conquests including Herat.[4] Despite this success, Alauddin tried to make cordial relations with the Ghurids (possibly to get rid from Qara Khitai supremacy) and wrote a letter to them to treat him as his son and offered to marry his mother Turkan Khatun to Mu'izz al-Din.[5] However, the overtures by Alauddin were turned down by the Ghurids and they continue to carry raids in Khorasan.[5]
Around the same time, Ghiyath al-Din died in 1203 due to illness in Herat and Mu'izz al-din succeeded him as the sole ruler of Ghurid dynasty.[5] Taking advantage of Mu'izz absence from Herat, amidst death of his brother, Alauddin defeated the Ghurid garrison in Herat and recaptured the city.[1] However, Mu'izz drove back him from Merv and decisively defeated him east of his capital in Gurganz.[3] Mu'izz al-Din in order to give a decisive blow to the Khwazmians, besieged their capital Gurganz; possibly to completely annex their empire.[4] Alauddin retreated, and requested aid from the Qara Khitai rulers who were themselves in hostile relations with the Ghurids after their invasion of Balkh. Thus, Qara Khitai's sent a large contingent of 40,000 soldiers under the command of Tayangu of Talas along with Qarakhanid ruler Uthman ibn Ibrahim of Samarkand and his cousion Taj al-Din Bilge Khan.[3][2]
Battle[]
Due to the hostile environment in Gurganz and on the encroachment of the Qara Khitai and Qarakhanid contingents, the Ghurids were forced to relieve the siege and start their retreat to Ghazna.[1] The Qara Khitai troops albeit, stationed themselves near the river Oxus to overtake the Ghurids in their retreat.[5]
Mu'izz was chased by the forces of Alauddin until Saifabad (Alauddin inflicted significant losses on the Ghurids in Hazar Saf)[lower-alpha 1], before the aiding contingent of Khwarazm marching from Transoxania surrounded them. The Ghurids exhausted in their long march from Gurgānj started the battle with Mu'izz in the rear of his army with 20,000 cavalry soldiers. Many of the Ghurid soldiers start retreating although, Mu'izz continue to lead the vanguard. However, he got seriously wounded by an arrow and was taken by his slave general Aibak Yogi to safety inside a castle between Merv and Balkh. A large number of Ghurid soldiers were slained who covered his retreat to the castle. According to Hasan Nizami; "Only a few person from the army of Islam were left".[6] The numerically superior forces of Qara Khitais and Qarakhanids eventually routed the Ghurids completely.[5][3]
They victorious army advanced further and successfully breached the wall of the castle in which Mu'izz al-Din took shelter. At this time, Uthman who according to Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani don't want the "Sultan of Islam" to be captured by the infidels, intervened and asked Mu'izz al-Din to negotiate and surrender his possessions to escape alive.[2][5] Mu'izz al-Din agreed for the negotiations and paid heavy ransom to Tayangu. Thus, Mu'izz routed completely was allowed to return to his capital safely.[3]
Aftermath[]
The defeat in Andkhud turned out to be a disaster for prestige of the Ghurids, who lost their control over most of the Khorasan except Herat and Balkh.[2] Further, Mu'izz al-Din was forced to conclude a peace treaty with Alauddin and Khwazmian Empire.[3][4]
The Catastrophe of Andkhud, lead to a number of rebellions in the Ghurid empire. Aibak Beg, his general during the battle deserted him and seized Multan after exceuting Mu'izz's governor of Multan Amir Dad Hasan.[6] Hussain Kharmil as per Minhaj, also deserted him.[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3][7] Notwithstanding, within a year or so, Mu'izz curbed these rebellions and restored his empire to stability. He build boat bridge across the river Oxus to launch a full-scale invasion of Transoxania to avenge his rout at Andhkhud. The Ghurid governor of Bamiyan was ordered to prepare for a "holy war against the infidels of Turkistan".[6]
However, another rebellion occurred in his empire in Punjab by the Hindu Khokhars who disrupted Mu'izz al-Din's communication between Lahore and Ghazni which forced him to move towards India again. The Khokhars were defeated after a hotly contested battle. Subsequently, a general masscare of Khokhars was ordered after the battle and many were enslaved. On his way back, Mu'izz was assassinated near the Indus by Shia Muslims on 15 March 1206 whom he persecuted during his lifetime.[8][lower-alpha 4]
After his death, his successor Ghiyath al-Din Mahmud was forced to acknowledge the suzerinty of Alauddin Shah. The Khwarazmian empire within a deacde or so, reached up to the Indus and captured the Western frontier of Ghurids as well which included Ghazni, Qandhar and Kabul . However, The Khwazmian empire, soon was swept away by the Mongol conqueror Changez Khan in 1221.[8]
Footnotes[]
- ↑ The Ghurid hordes during their retreat engaged in a pitched battle with Alauddin's forces who according to Ibn-al Athir chased them like a "ferocious tiger" and routed them decisively. Alauddin returned to Gurganz with enormous spoils and the disheartened army of Mu'izz al-Din reached Saifabad[6]
- ↑ A fourteenth century text Tarik-i guzida claimed that Muhammad of Ghor's trusted slave Yildiz even besieged his capital Ghazna on rumours of his death. This is repeated by later historians including Ferishta. However, this is not corroborated by earlier authorities. Further, Yildiz remained loyal to Muhammad till his murder in Dhamiak.[7]
- ↑ Conversely, Mohammad Habib states that the governor of Ghazna Yildiz indeed rebelled. However, it was not Taj al-Din Yildiz who was in charge of Kirman then.[6]
- ↑ Some later writers propogated that Muhammad of Ghor's assassins were sent by Alauddin. However, this is not attested by any contemporary evidence. Alauddin had no reason to murder the Ghurid Sultan whose Central Asia expansion was already halted after his rout at Andkhud. Muhammad of Ghor though laid siege to the fort controlled by the Heretics during his campaign of Khurasan. His assassins were possibly sent by the Imam of Alamut.[6]
Citations[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 K. A. Nizami 1998, p. 182. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "FOOTNOTEK. A. Nizami1998" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 C. E. Bosworth 1968, p. 166. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "FOOTNOTEC. E. Bosworth1968" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Michal Biran 2005, p. 65. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "FOOTNOTEMichal Biran2005" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 A. B. M. Habibullah 1957, p. 24. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "FOOTNOTEA. B. M. Habibullah1957" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Mohammad Habib 1970, p. 43. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "FOOTNOTEMohammad Habib1970" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Mohammad Habib 1981, p. 131. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "FOOTNOTEMohammad Habib1981" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 7.0 7.1 K. A. Nizami 1970, p. 172. Cite error: Invalid
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Bibliography[]
- A. B. M. Habibullah (1957). The Foundation of Muslim rule in India. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.199570/page/n71/mode/2up.
- C. E. Bosworth (1968). THE POLITICAL AND DYNASTIC HISTORY OF THE IRANIAN WORLD (A.D. 1000–1217). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-06936-6. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-iran/political-and-dynastic-history-of-the-iranian-world-ad-10001217/024AA8933D346C06170E0D72EA6D71A4.
- K. A. Nizami (1998). "The Ghurids" (in en). History of civilizations of central Asia: Volume IV THe age off achievement: A.D. 750 tothe end of the fifteenth century : ( part one ) The historical, social and economic setting. UNESCO. ISBN 978-92-3-103467-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=lHDBzgEACAAJ.
- K. A. Nizami (1970). "FOUNDATION OF THE DELHI SULTANAT". A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526). 5 (Second ed.). The Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House. OCLC 31870180. https://books.google.com/books?id=_9cmAQAAMAAJ.
- Mohammad Habib (1970). "THE ASIATIC ENVIRONMENT". A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526). 5 (Second ed.). The Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House. p. 44. OCLC 31870180. https://books.google.com/books?id=_9cmAQAAMAAJ.
- Mohammad Habib (1981). K. A. Nizami. ed (in en). Politics and Society During the Early Medieval Period: Collected Works of Professor Mohammad Habib. People's Publishing House. https://books.google.com/books?id=iQ1uAAAAMAAJ.
- Michal Biran (2005-09-15) (in en). The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History: Between China and the Islamic World. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-84226-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=B934LaVBaz8C.
- Satish Chandra (2007) (in en). History of Medieval India:800-1700. Orient Longman. ISBN 978-81-250-3226-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=qHnHHwAACAAJ.
The original article can be found at Battle of Andkhud and the edit history here.