View source for Mongol conquest of the Qara Khitai

{{good article}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Mongol conquest of the Qara Khitai
|partof=the [[Mongol invasion of Central Asia]]
|image=[[File:KaraKhitaiAD1200.png|300px]]
|caption=Qara Khitai in Asia, c. 1200 AD.
|date=1216–1218
|place=[[Central Asia]], [[Afghanistan]], [[China]]
|territory=Territories of the Qara Khitai added to Mongol Empire
|result=Decisive Mongol victory, dissolution of the Qara Khitai
|combatant1=[[Mongol Empire]]
:[[Kingdom of Qocho|Uyghurs]]
:[[Karluks]]
{{nowrap|[[Badakhshan]]i hunters}}
|combatant2=[[Qara Khitai]]
|commander1=[[Jebe]]
|commander2=[[Kuchlug]] {{Executed}}
|units1= Two [[Tumen (unit)|tumen]]s
|units2= unknown
|strength1= 20,000
|strength2= total unknown, over 30,000
|casualties1= minimal
|casualties2= unknown
}}
{{Campaignbox Mongol conquests}}

The [[Mongol Empire]] conquered the [[Qara Khitai]] in the years 1216–1218 AD. Prior to the invasion, war with the [[Khwarazmian dynasty]] and the usurpation of power by the [[Naimans|Naiman]] prince [[Kuchlug]] had weakened the Qara Khitai. When Kuchlug besieged [[Almaliq, Xinjiang|Almaliq]], a city belonging to the [[Karluks]], vassals of the Mongol Empire, [[Genghis Khan]] dispatched a force under command of [[Jebe]] to pursue Kuchlug. After his force of 30,000 was defeated by Jebe at the Khitan capital [[Balasagun]], Kuchlug faced rebellions over his unpopular rule, forcing him to flee to modern [[Afghanistan]], where he was captured by hunters in 1218. The hunters turned Kuchlug over to the Mongols, who beheaded him. Upon defeating the Qara Khitai, the Mongols now had a direct border with the [[Khwarazmian dynasty|Khwarazmian Empire]], which they would soon [[Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran|invade in 1219]].

==Background==
{{Main|Qara Khitai|Kuchlug}}
After [[Genghis Khan]] defeated the [[Naimans]] in 1204, Naiman prince [[Kuchlug]] fled his homeland to take refuge among the Qara Khitai. The [[Gurkhan]] Yelü Zhilugu welcomed Kuchlug into his empire, and Kuchlug became an advisor and military commander, eventually marrying one of the daughters of Zhilugu. However, during a war with the bordering Khawarzmian dynasty, Kuchlug initiated a [[coup|coup d'état]] against Zhilegu. After Kuchlug took power, he allowed Zhilegu to rule the Qara Khitai in name only.{{sfn|Golden|2011|p=82}} When the Gurkhan died in 1213, Kuchlug took direct control of the khanate.{{sfn|Golden|2011|p=82}} Originally a [[Nestorianism|Nestorian]], once among the Khitai Kuchlug converted to [[Buddhism]] and began persecuting the [[Muslim]] majority, forcing them to convert to either Buddhism or Christianity, a move which alienated Kuchlug from most of the population.{{sfn|Morgan|2007|p=54}}{{sfn|Golden|2011|p=82}} When Kuchlug besieged the [[Karluks|Karluk]] city of [[Almaliq, Xinjiang|Almaliq]], the Karluks, vassals of the Mongol Empire, requested aid from Genghis Khan.{{sfn|Soucek|2000|loc=Chapter 6 – Seljukids and Ghazvanids}}

==Invasion==
In 1216, after requesting Muhammad II of Khwarazm not to aid Kuchlug, Genghis Khan dispatched general Jebe with two [[tumen (unit)|tumen]]s (20,000 soldiers) to deal with the Qara Khitai threat, while sending Subutai with another two tumens on a simultaneous campaign against the Merkits.{{sfn|Lococo|2008|p=75}}{{sfn|Gabriel|2004|p=70}} The two armies traveled alongside each other through the [[Altai Mountains|Altai]] and [[Tarbagatai Mountains]] until arriving at Almaliq.{{sfn|Gabriel|2004|p=70}} At that point, Subutai turned southwest, destroying the Merkits and protecting Jebe's flank against any sudden attacks from Khwarazm.{{sfn|Lococo|2008|p=76}}{{sfn|Gabriel|2004|pp=70–71}} Jebe relieved Almaliq, then moved south of [[Lake Balkash]] into the lands of the Qara Khitai, where he besieged the capital of [[Balasagun]]. There, Jebe defeated an army of 30,000 troops and Kuchlug fled to [[Kashgar]]. Taking advantage of the unrest fomenting under Kuchlug's rule, Jebe gained support from the Muslim populace by announcing that Kuchlug's policy of religious persecution had ended. When Jebe's army arrived at Kashgar in 1217, the populace revolted and turned on Kuchlug, forcing him to flee for his life.{{sfn|Turnbull|2003|p=16}}{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|pp=187–188}} Jebe pursued Kuchlug across the [[Pamir Mountains]] into [[Badakhshan]] in modern [[Afghanistan]]. According to [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]], a group of hunters caught Kuchlug and handed him over to the Mongols, who promptly beheaded him.{{Sfnm|Juvayni|c. 1260|1pp=67–68|1ps= "When he drew near to Sarigh-Chopan, he mistook the road (as it was right that he should do) and entered a valley which had no egress. Some Badakhshani huntsmen were hunting in the neighbouring mountains. They caught sight of Küchlüg and his men and turned towards them; while the Mongols came up from the other side. As the valley was of a rugged nature and the going was difficult, the Mongols came to an agreement with the hunters. 'These men', they said, 'are Küchlüg and his followers, who have escaped from our grasp. If you capture Küchlüg and deliver him up to us, we shall ask nothing more of you.' These men accordingly surrounded Küchlüg and his followers, took him prisoner and handed him over to the Mongols; who cut off his head and bore it away with them."}}

==Aftermath==
With the death of Kuchlug, the Mongol Empire secured control over the Qara Khitai. Another segment of the Qara Khitai, from a dynasty founded by [[Buraq Hajib]], survived in [[Kerman Province|Kirman]] as vassals of the Mongols, but ceased to exist as an entity during the reign of the Mongol [[Ilkhanid]] ruler [[Öljaitü]].{{sfn|Biran|2005|p=87}} The Mongols now had a firm outpost in Central Asia directly bordering the Khwarazm Empire.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|pp=187–188}} Relations with the Khwarazms would quickly break down, leading to the [[Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran|Mongol invasion of that territory]].{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|pp=187–188}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|35em}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite book |last = Beckwith |first = Christopher I. |title = Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present |location = Princeton, New Jersey |publisher = [[Princeton University Press]] |year = 2009 |ISBN = 1-4008-2994-1 |ref = harv}}
* {{cite book |last = Biran |first = Michal |title = The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History: Between China and the Islamic World |location = [[Cambridge]] |publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] |year = 2005 |ISBN = 0-521-84226-3 |ref = harv}}
* {{cite book |last = Docherty |first = Paddy |title = The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion |location = New York City |publisher = [[Sterling Publishing|Union Square Press]] |year = 2008 |ISBN = 1-4027-5696-8 |ref = harv}}
* {{cite book |last = Gabriel |first = Richard A. |authorlink = Richard A. Gabriel |title = Genghis Khan's Greatest General: Subotai the Valiant |location = [[Norman, Oklahoma|Norman]] |publisher = [[University of Oklahoma Press]] |year = 2004 |ISBN = 0-8061-3734-7 |ref = harv}}
* {{cite book |last = Golden |first = Peter B. |title = Central Asia in World History |location = New York City |publisher = [[Oxford University Press]], United States|year = 2011 |ISBN = 0-19-533819-7 |ref = harv}}
* {{cite book |last = Juvayni |first = Ata-Malik |authorlink = Ata-Malik Juvayni |title = The History of The World Conqueror |url = https://archive.org/stream/historyoftheworl011691mbp#page/n117/mode/2up/ |publisher = Harvard University Press|year = c. 1260 |publication-date = 1958 |others = Translated by John Andrew Boyle from ''Tarīkh-i Jahān-gushā'', ed. [[Mohammad Ghazvini]] |ref = harv}}
* {{cite book |last = Lococo |first = Paul |title = Genghis Khan: History's Greatest Empire Builder |location = Washington, D.C. |publisher = [[Potomac Books]] |year = 2008 |ISBN = 1-61234-060-1 |ref = harv}}
* {{cite book |last = Morgan |first = David |title = The Mongols |edition = 2nd |location = [[Hoboken, New Jersey]] |publisher = [[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell Publishing]] |year = 2007 |ISBN = 1-4051-3539-5 |ref = harv}}
* {{cite book |last = Soucek |first = Svatopluk |title = A History of Inner Asia |location = [[Cambridge]] |publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] |year = 2000 |ISBN = 0-521-65704-0 |ref = harv}}
* {{cite book |last = Turnbull |first = Stephen |title = Genghis Khan & the Mongol Conquests 1190–1400 |location = Oxford |publisher = [[Osprey Publishing]] |year = 2003 |ISBN = 1-84176-523-6 |ref = harv}}

[[Category:Wars involving the Mongols]]
[[Category:High Middle Ages]]
[[Category:History of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Military history of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:History of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:History of Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category:Invasions by the Mongol Empire|Qara Khitai]]
[[Category:History of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Khitan history]]
[[Category:Military history of Mongolia]]
[[Category:1210s conflicts]]
[[Category:1216 in China]]
[[Category:1218 in China]]
[[Category:1217 in China]]
[[Category:1210s in the Mongol Empire]]
[[Category:13th century in Mongolia]]