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167-495: When Nader Shah was a general, he was responsible for putting down an uprising in the district, where the locals had rebelled against the Amir due to heavy taxation and robbery. On 2 January 1879, General Roberts entered Matun from Hazir Pir in the Kurram valley, with a small armed contingent. The intent was to pacify the district, which was described as "an unsophisticated country where

334-522: A decisive victory for Temüjin. Toghrul and Senggum were both forced to flee, and while the latter escaped to Tibet , Toghrul was killed by a Naiman who did not recognise him. Temüjin sealed his victory by absorbing the Kereit elite into his own tribe: he took the princess Ibaqa as a wife, and married her sister Sorghaghtani and niece Doquz to his youngest son Tolui. The ranks of the Naimans had swelled due to

501-557: A phobia of dogs , the Secret History also recounts taboo events such as his fratricide and the possibility of his son Jochi's illegitimacy. Multiple chronicles in Persian have also survived, which display a mix of positive and negative attitudes towards Genghis Khan and the Mongols. Both Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani and Ata-Malik Juvayni completed their respective histories in 1260. Juzjani

668-570: A Jin princess, and massive amounts of gold and silk, before lifting the siege and setting off homewards in May 1214. As the northern Jin lands had been ravaged by plague and war, Xuanzong moved the capital and imperial court 600 kilometres (370 mi) southwards to Kaifeng . Interpreting this as an attempt to regroup in the south and then restart the war, Genghis concluded the terms of the peace treaty had been broken. He immediately prepared to return and capture Zhongdu. According to Christopher Atwood, it

835-449: A captive named Temüchin-uge, after whom he named the newborn in celebration of his victory, while later traditions highlight the root temür (meaning 'iron') and connect to theories that "Temüjin" means 'blacksmith'. Several legends surround Temüjin's birth. The most prominent is that he was born clutching a blood clot in his hand, a motif in Asian folklore indicating the child would be

1002-566: A challenge from the shaman Kokechu, whose father Münglig had been allowed to marry Hö'elün after he defected to Temüjin. Kokechu, who had proclaimed Temüjin as Genghis Khan and taken the Tengrist title "Teb Tenggeri" ( lit. "Wholly Heavenly") on account of his sorcery, was very influential among the Mongol commoners and sought to divide the imperial family. Genghis's brother Qasar was the first of Kokechu's targets—always distrusted by his brother, Qasar

1169-509: A clear defeat. Later chroniclers including Rashid al-Din instead state that he was victorious but their accounts contradict themselves and each other. Modern historians such as Ratchnevsky and Timothy May consider it very likely that Temüjin spent a large portion of the decade following the clash at Dalan Baljut as a servant of the Jurchen Jin dynasty in North China . Zhao Hong recorded that

1336-516: A close friendship with Jamukha , another boy of aristocratic descent; the Secret History notes that they exchanged knucklebones and arrows as gifts and swore the anda pact—the traditional oath of Mongol blood brothers –at eleven. As the family lacked allies, Temüjin was taken prisoner on multiple occasions. Captured by the Tayichiuds, he escaped during a feast and hid first in the Onon and then in

1503-408: A controversial figure. He was generous and intensely loyal to his followers, but ruthless towards his enemies. He welcomed advice from diverse sources in his quest for world domination, for which he believed the shamanic supreme deity Tengri had destined him. The Mongol army under Genghis killed millions of people, yet his conquests also facilitated unprecedented commercial and cultural exchange over

1670-610: A coup in Zhongdu, killing Yongji and installing his own puppet ruler, Xuanzong . This governmental breakdown was fortunate for Genghis's forces; emboldened by their victories, they had seriously overreached and lost the initiative. Unable to do more than camp before Zhongdu's fortifications while his army suffered from an epidemic and famine—they resorted to cannibalism according to Carpini , who may have been exaggerating—Genghis opened peace negotiations despite his commanders' militance. He secured tribute, including 3,000 horses, 500 slaves,

1837-594: A cryptic remark made by Jamukha on the subject of camping; in any case, Temüjin followed the advice of Hö'elün and Börte and began to build an independent following. The major tribal rulers remained with Jamukha, but forty-one leaders gave their support to Temüjin along with many commoners: these included Subutai and others of the Uriankhai , the Barulas , the Olkhonuds, and many more. Many were attracted by Temüjin's reputation as

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2004-531: A dialect of the Southern Oghuz group or a dialect of Azerbaijani . As he was growing up, he must have swiftly learned Persian, which was the language of the cities and high culture . But unless he was speaking to someone who spoke only Persian, he always preferred to communicate in Turkic. His knowledge of Arabic is not documented, but it seems doubtful given his lack of interest in literature and theology. Nader

2171-451: A fair and generous lord who could offer better lives, while his shamans prophesied that heaven had allocated him a great destiny. Temüjin was soon acclaimed by his close followers as khan of the Mongols. Toghrul was pleased at his vassal's elevation but Jamukha was resentful. Tensions escalated into open hostility, and in around 1187 the two leaders clashed in battle at Dalan Baljut : the two forces were evenly matched but Temüjin suffered

2338-493: A fifth school ( madhhab ) of Sunni Islam and that the Ottomans would allow its adherents to go on the hajj , or pilgrimage, to Mecca , which was within their territory. In the subsequent peace negotiations, the Ottomans refused to acknowledge Ja'farism as a fifth mazhab but they did allow Iranian pilgrims to go on the hajj . Nader was interested in gaining rights for Iranians to go on the hajj in part because of revenues from

2505-418: A figure of national importance. When Nader discovered that Fath Ali Khan was in treacherous correspondence with Malek Mahmud and revealed this to the shah, Tahmasp executed him and made Nader the chief of his army instead. Nader subsequently took on the title Tahmasp Qoli (Servant of Tahmasp). In late 1726, Nader recaptured Mashhad . Nader chose not to march directly on Isfahan. First, in May 1729, he defeated

2672-419: A following, as nökod such as Jelme entered into his service. Temüjin and Börte had their first child, a daughter named Qojin, around this time. Soon afterwards, seeking revenge for Yesügei's abduction of Hö'elün, around 300 Merkits raided Temüjin's camp. While Temüjin and his brothers were able to hide on Burkhan Khaldun mountain , Börte and Sochigel were abducted. In accordance with levirate law, Börte

2839-645: A form of Shia Islam he called "Ja'fari", in honour of the sixth Shia imam Ja'far al-Sadiq . He banned certain Shia practices which were particularly offensive to Sunni Muslims , such as the cursing of the first three caliphs of Islam. Personally, Nader is said to have been indifferent towards religion and the French Jesuit who served as his personal physician reported that it was difficult to know which religion he followed and that many who knew him best said that he had none. Nader hoped that "Ja'farism" would be accepted as

3006-569: A large-scale raid into the neighbouring Western Xia , who agreed to Mongol terms the following year. He then launched a campaign against the Jin dynasty , which lasted for four years and ended in 1215 with the capture of the Jin capital Zhongdu . His general Jebe annexed the Central Asian state of Qara Khitai in 1218. Genghis was provoked to invade the Khwarazmian Empire the following year by

3173-479: A leading warrior. Temüjin called in every possible ally and swore a famous oath of loyalty , later known as the Baljuna Covenant , to his faithful followers, which subsequently granted them great prestige. The oath-takers of Baljuna were a very heterogeneous group—men from nine different tribes who included Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists, united only by loyalty to Temüjin and to each other. This group became

3340-543: A man named Qorchi as governor of the subdued Hoi-yin Irgen tribes in Siberia. Appointed not for his talents but for prior services rendered, Qorchi's tendency to abduct women as concubines for his harem caused the tribes to rebel and take him prisoner in early 1216. The following year, they ambushed and killed Boroqul , one of Genghis's highest-ranking nökod . The khan was livid at the loss of his close friend and prepared to lead

3507-490: A model for the later empire, termed a "proto-government of a proto-nation" by historian John Man . The Baljuna Covenant was omitted from the Secret History —as the group was predominantly non-Mongol, the author presumably wished to downplay the role of other tribes. A ruse de guerre involving Qasar allowed the Mongols to ambush the Kereit at the Jej'er Heights, but though the ensuing battle still lasted three days, it ended in

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3674-405: A move to prepare for an improbable conquest of distant Kashgaria . Such a campaign did not materialize, but Nader frequently sent funds and engineers to Merv trying to restore its prosperity and rebuild its ill-fated dam. Merv, however, did not become prosperous. Nader now decided to punish Dagestan for the death of his brother Ebrahim Qoli on a campaign a few years earlier. In 1741, while Nader

3841-510: A much harsher life. Taking up a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, they collected roots and nuts, hunted for small animals, and caught fish. Tensions developed as the children grew older. Both Temüjin and Behter had claims to be their father's heir: although Temüjin was the child of Yesügei's chief wife, Behter was at least two years his senior. There was even the possibility that, as permitted under levirate law, Behter could marry Hö'elün upon attaining his majority and become Temüjin's stepfather. As

4008-464: A patron, Temüjin chose to regift the cloak to Toghrul , khan (ruler) of the Kerait tribe, who had fought alongside Yesügei and sworn the anda pact with him. Toghrul ruled a vast territory in central Mongolia but distrusted many of his followers. In need of loyal replacements, he was delighted with the valuable gift and welcomed Temüjin into his protection. The two grew close, and Temüjin began to build

4175-482: A puppet ruler of his lineage. Genghis's senior nökod were appointed to the highest ranks and received the greatest honours. Bo'orchu and Muqali were each given ten thousand men to lead as commanders of the right and left wings of the army respectively. The other nökod were each given commands of one of the ninety-five minkad . In a display of Genghis' meritocratic ideals, many of these men were born to low social status: Ratchnevsky cited Jelme and Subutai,

4342-470: A result of his illness and his desire to extort more and more tax money to pay for his military campaigns. New revolts broke out and Nader crushed them ruthlessly, building towers from his victims' skulls in imitation of his hero Timur. In 1747, Nader set off for Khorasan, where he intended to punish Kurdish rebels . Some of his officers and courtiers feared he was about to execute them and plotted against him, including two of his relatives: Muhammad Quli Khan,

4509-553: A retaliatory campaign; eventually dissuaded from this course, he dispatched his eldest son Jochi and a Dörbet commander. They managed to surprise and defeat the rebels, securing control over this economically important region. Kuchlug , the Naiman prince who had been defeated in 1204, had usurped the throne of the Central Asian Qara Khitai dynasty between 1211 and 1213. He was a greedy and arbitrary ruler who probably earned

4676-468: A reverse against a Xia army. After a two-month stalemate, Genghis broke the deadlock with a feigned retreat ; the Xia forces were deceived out of their defensive positions and overpowered. Although Zhongxing was now mostly undefended, the Mongols lacked any siege equipment better than crude battering rams and were unable to progress the siege. The Xia requested aid from the Jin, but Emperor Zhangzong rejected

4843-504: A reward, the Jin awarded him the honorific cha-ut kuri , the meaning of which probably approximated "commander of hundreds" in Jurchen . At around the same time, he assisted Toghrul with reclaiming the lordship of the Kereit, which had been usurped by one of Toghrul's relatives with the support of the powerful Naiman tribe . The actions of 1196 fundamentally changed Temüjin's position in the steppe—although nominally still Toghrul's vassal, he

5010-440: A roar. 'Where is my sword? Bring me my weapons!' The assassins were struck with fear by these words and wanted to escape, but ran straight into the two chiefs of the murder-conspiracy, who allayed their fears and made them go into the tent again. Nader Shah had not yet had time to get dressed; Muhammad Quli Khan ran in first and struck him with a great blow of his sword which felled him to the ground; two or three others followed suit;

5177-558: A rumour broke out that Nader had been assassinated, some Indians attacked and killed Iranian troops; by midday 900 Iranian soldiers had been killed. Nader, furious, reacted by ordering his soldiers to sack the city . During the course of one day (22 March) 20,000 to 30,000 Indians were killed by the Iranian troops and as many as 10,000 women and children were taken as slaves, forcing Mohammad Shah to beg Nader for mercy. In response, Nader Shah agreed to withdraw, but Mohammad Shah paid

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5344-500: A series of defections, the most prominent of which led directly to Muqali's victory at the Battle of Huan'erzhui in autumn 1211. The campaign was halted in 1212 when Genghis was wounded by an arrow during the unsuccessful siege of Xijing (modern Datong ). Following this failure, Genghis set up a corps of siege engineers , which recruited 500 Jin experts over the next two years. The defences of Juyong Pass had been strongly reinforced by

5511-662: A vast geographical area. He is remembered as a backwards, savage tyrant in Russia and the Arab world , while recent Western scholarship has begun to reassess its previous view of him as a barbarian warlord. He was posthumously deified in Mongolia ; modern Mongolians recognise him as the founding father of their nation. There is no universal romanisation system used for Mongolian ; as a result, modern spellings of Mongolian names vary greatly and may result in considerably different pronunciations from

5678-432: A warrior. Others claimed that Hö'elün was impregnated by a ray of light which announced the child's destiny, a legend which echoed that of the mythical Borjigin ancestor Alan Gua . Yesügei and Hö'elün had three younger sons after Temüjin: Qasar , Hachiun , and Temüge , as well as one daughter, Temülün . Temüjin also had two half-brothers, Behter and Belgutei , from Yesügei's secondary wife Sochigel , whose identity

5845-450: A year and a half, during which their leaders reforged their anda pact and slept together under one blanket, according to the Secret History . The source presents this period as close friends bonding, but Ratchnevsky questioned if Temüjin actually entered into Jamukha's service in return for the assistance with the Merkits. Tensions arose and the two leaders parted, ostensibly on account of

6012-506: Is known to have acquired reading and writing skills at some point in his life, probably later on. Approximately three million people or more were nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists in Iran in the beginning of the 18th-century, accounting for one-third of the country's population. Strong ties of kinship as well as customs of helping each other out with fights and finances kept their tribal groups united. Despite being partially or fully absorbed into

6179-399: Is narrated in the Secret History and contrasts with Rashid al-Din's account, which protects the family's reputation by removing any hint of illegitimacy. Over the next decade and a half, Temüjin and Börte had three more sons ( Chagatai , Ögedei , and Tolui ) and four more daughters ( Checheyigen , Alaqa , Tümelün, and Al-Altan ). The followers of Temüjin and Jamukha camped together for

6346-655: Is now part of or includes Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Oman, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, the North Caucasus , and the Persian Gulf , but his military spending had a ruinous effect on the Iranian economy. Nader idolized Genghis Khan and Timur , the previous conquerors from Central Asia. He imitated their military prowess and—especially later in his reign—their cruelty. His victories during his campaigns briefly made him West Asia 's most powerful sovereign, ruling over what

6513-572: Is the date accepted by most historians; the historian Paul Ratchnevsky noted that Temüjin himself may not have known the truth. The location of Temüjin's birth, which the Secret History records as Delüün Boldog on the Onon River , is similarly debated: it has been placed at either Dadal in Khentii Province or in southern Agin-Buryat Okrug , Russia. Temüjin was born into the Borjigin clan of

6680-439: Is uncertain. The siblings grew up at Yesugei's main camp on the banks of the Onon, where they learned how to ride a horse and shoot a bow. When Temüjin was eight years old, his father decided to betroth him to a suitable girl. Yesügei took his heir to the pastures of Hö'elün's prestigious Onggirat tribe, which had intermarried with the Mongols on many previous occasions. There, he arranged a betrothal between Temüjin and Börte ,

6847-450: The keshig nevertheless received special privileges and direct access to the khan, whom they served and who in return evaluated their capabilities and their potential to govern or command. Commanders such as Subutai, Chormaqan , and Baiju all started out in the keshig , before being given command of their own force. From 1204 to 1209, Genghis Khan was predominantly focused on consolidating and maintaining his new nation. He faced

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7014-558: The Georgian Chronicles , and works by European travellers such as Carpini and Marco Polo . The year of Temüjin's birth is disputed, as historians favour different dates: 1155, 1162 or 1167. Some traditions place his birth in the Year of the Pig , which was either 1155 or 1167. While a dating to 1155 is supported by the writings of both Zhao Hong and Rashid al-Din, other major sources such as

7181-767: The Napoleon of Persia , the Sword of Persia , or the Second Alexander . Nader belonged to the Turkoman Afshars , one of the seven Qizilbash tribes that helped the Safavid dynasty establish their power in Iran . Nader rose to power during a period of chaos in Iran after a rebellion by the Hotaki Afghans had overthrown the weak Shah Soltan Hoseyn ( r.  1694–1722 ), while

7348-550: The Shengwu qinzheng lu ( Campaigns of Genghis Khan ). The History of Yuan , while poorly edited, provides a large amount of detail on individual campaigns and people; the Shengwu is more disciplined in its chronology, but does not criticise Genghis and occasionally contains errors. The Secret History survived through being transliterated into Chinese characters during the 14th and 15th centuries. Its historicity has been disputed:

7515-888: The Abdali Afghans near Herat . Many of the Abdali Afghans subsequently joined his army. The new shah of the Ghilzai Afghans, Ashraf , decided to move against Nader but in September 1729, Nader defeated him at the Battle of Damghan and again decisively in November at Murchakhort. Ashraf fled and Nader finally entered Isfahan, handing it over to Tahmasp in December. The citizens' rejoicing was cut short when Nader plundered them to pay his army. Tahmasp made Nader governor over many eastern provinces, including his native Khorasan, and Tahmasp's sister

7682-556: The Chenab valley, and seized a large amount of the booty and freed most of the slaves in captivity. The Persians, however, were unable to pursue the Sikhs, because they were overloaded with the remaining plunder and overwhelmed by the terrible heat of that May. Traveling with an advance guard, Nader Shah stopped at Lahore where he learned of his losses. He traveled back to his forces, accompanied by Governor Zakariya Khan . Upon learning about

7849-516: The History of Yuan and the Shengwu favour the year 1162. The 1167 dating, favoured by the sinologist Paul Pelliot , is derived from a minor source—a text of the Yuan artist Yang Weizhen —but is more compatible with the events of Genghis Khan's life than a 1155 placement, which implies that he did not have children until after the age of thirty and continued actively campaigning into his seventh decade. 1162

8016-575: The Khanate of Khiva . After the Iranians had forced the Uzbek Khanate of Bukhara to submit, Nader wanted Reza to marry the khan's elder daughter because she was a descendant of his hero Genghis Khan, but Reza flatly refused and Nader married the girl himself. With regard to Central Asia, Nader viewed Merv (present-day Bayramali , Turkmenistan ) vital to his north-eastern defenses. He also tried to secure

8183-552: The Mongol tribe to Yesügei , a chieftain who claimed descent from the legendary warlord Bodonchar Munkhag , and his principal wife Hö'elün , originally of the Olkhonud clan, whom Yesügei had abducted from her Merkit bridegroom Chiledu. The origin of his birth name is contested: the earliest traditions hold that his father had just returned from a successful campaign against the Tatars with

8350-534: The North Caucasus , South Caucasus , as well as in northern mainland Iran. This included mainly, but was not limited to, the losses of Dagestan (including its principal city of Derbent ), Baku , Gilan , Mazandaran , and Astrabad . The regions to the west of that, mainly Iranian territories in Georgia , Iranian Azerbaijan , and Armenia , were taken by the Ottomans. The newly gained Russian and Turkish possessions were confirmed and further divided amongst themselves in

8517-644: The Ottoman Empire regained the lost territories in Western Armenia and Mesopotamia . Finally, Karim Khan founded the Zand dynasty and became ruler of Iran by 1760. Erekle II and Teimuraz II , who, in 1744, had been made the kings of Kakheti and Kartli respectively by Nader himself for their loyal service, capitalized on the eruption of instability, and declared de facto independence. Erekle II assumed control over Kartli after Teimuraz II's death, thus unifying

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8684-503: The Ottoman Empire , as well as the campaigns in the North Caucasus . Nader also secured one of the Mughal emperor's daughters, Jahan Afruz Banu Begum, as a bride for his youngest son. The Indian campaign was the zenith of Nader's career. Afterwards he became increasingly despotic as his health declined markedly. Nader had left his son Reza Qoli Mirza to rule Iran in his absence. Reza had behaved highhandedly and somewhat cruelly but he had kept

8851-520: The Ottoman Empire . He believed that Safavid Shia Islam had intensified the conflict with the Sunni Ottoman Empire. His army was a mix of Shia and Sunni Muslims (with a notable minority of Christians and Kurds ) and included his own Qizilbash as well as Uzbeks , Afghans , Christian Georgians , and Armenians , and others. He wanted Iran to adopt a form of religion that would be more acceptable to Sunni Muslims and suggested that Iran adopt

9018-605: The Pamir Mountains , but was captured by local hunters. Jebe had him beheaded and paraded his corpse through Qara Khitai, proclaiming the end of religious persecution in the region. Genghis had now attained complete control of the eastern portion of the Silk Road , and his territory bordered that of the Khwarazmian Empire , which ruled over much of Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan . Merchants from both sides were eager to restart trading, which had halted during Kuchlug's rule;

9185-738: The Qajar tribe , who offered to back him. Meanwhile, Iran's imperial neighboring rivals, the Ottomans and the Russians , took advantage of the chaos in the country to seize and divide territory for themselves. In 1722, Russia, led by Peter the Great and further aided by some of the most notable Caucasian regents of the disintegrating Safavid Empire, such as Vakhtang VI , launched the Russo-Iranian War (1722–1723) in which Russia captured swaths of Iran's territories in

9352-415: The Secret History , are indicative of the emphasis its author put on Genghis' personal charisma. Temüjin returned to Dei Sechen to marry Börte when he reached the age of majority at fifteen. Delighted to see the son-in-law he feared had died, Dei Sechen consented to the marriage and accompanied the newlyweds back to Temüjin's camp; his wife Čotan presented Hö'elün with an expensive sable cloak. Seeking

9519-399: The Shengwu however imply that Yesügei's brothers stood by the widow. It is possible that Hö'elün may have refused to join in levirate marriage with one, resulting in later tensions, or that the author of the Secret History dramatised the situation. All the sources agree that most of Yesügei's people renounced his family in favour of the Tayichiuds and that Hö'elün's family were reduced to

9686-613: The Treaty of Constantinople (1724) . During the chaos, Nader cut a deal with Mahmud Hotaki to rule Kalat in the north of Iran. However, when Mahmud Hotaki began minting coins in his name and asked for everyone's allegiance, Nader refused. Tahmasp and the Qajar leader Fath Ali Khan (the ancestor of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ) contacted Nader and asked him to join their cause and drive the Ghilzai Afghans out of Khorasan. He agreed and thus became

9853-669: The Turkoman Afshar tribe , which was one of the seven tribes of the Qizilbash who helped the Safavid dynasty establish their power in Iran. The Afshar tribe had originally lived in the Turkestan region, but during the 13th-century they moved to the Azerbaijan region in northwestern Iran as a result of the expansion of the Mongol Empire . Nader was from the semi-nomadic Qirqlu clan of

10020-602: The Yuan dynasty in 1271, he bestowed the temple name Taizu ( 太祖 , meaning 'Supreme Progenitor') and the posthumous name Shengwu Huangdi ( 聖 武 皇帝 , meaning 'Holy-Martial Emperor') upon his grandfather. Kublai's great-grandson Külüg Khan later expanded this title into Fatian Qiyun Shengwu Huangdi ( 法 天 啟 運 聖 武 皇帝 , meaning 'Interpreter of the Heavenly Law, Initiator of the Good Fortune, Holy-Martial Emperor'). As

10187-469: The "Great Mongol State", and to commanders who had gained their rank through merit and loyalty to the khan. This particular reform proved extremely effective—even after the division of the Mongol Empire , fragmentation never happened along tribal lines. Instead, the descendants of Genghis continued to reign unchallenged, in some cases until as late as the 1700s, and even powerful non-imperial dynasts such as Timur and Edigu were compelled to rule from behind

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10354-513: The 1732 Treaty of Resht yet, resulting in the reestablishment of Iranian rule over all of the Caucasus and northern mainland Iran again. Nader suggested to his closest intimates, after a great hunting party on the Moghan plains (presently split between Azerbaijan and Iran), that he should be proclaimed the new king ( shah ) in place of the young Abbas III. The small group of close intimates, Nader's friends, included Tahmasp Khan Jalayer and Hasan-Ali Beg Bestami . Following Nader's suggestion,

10521-462: The 20th-century sinologist Arthur Waley considered it a literary work with no historiographical value, but more recent historians have given the work much more credence. Although it is clear that the work's chronology is suspect and that some passages were removed or modified for better narration, the Secret History is valued highly because the anonymous author is often critical of Genghis Khan: in addition to presenting him as indecisive and as having

10688-421: The Afshars, which lived in the Khorasan region of northeastern Iran. They had either settled there during the reign of the first Safavid Shah Ismail I ( r.  1501–1524 ), or had been resettled by Shah Abbas I ( r.  1588–1629 ) to fend off Uzbek attacks. Regardless, Afshars moving to Khorasan was already taking place by start of the 16th-century. The Afshar dialect is categorized either as

10855-405: The Arabs. In 1743, he conquered Oman and its main capital Muscat . In 1743, Nader started another war against the Ottoman Empire . Despite having a huge army at his disposal, in this campaign Nader showed little of his former military brilliance. It ended in 1746 with the signing of a peace treaty, the Treaty of Kerden , in which the Ottomans agreed to let Nader occupy Najaf . Nader changed

11022-402: The Iranian coinage system. He minted silver coins, called Naderi , that were equal to the Mughal rupee . Nader discontinued the policy of paying soldiers based on land tenure. Like the late Safavids he resettled tribes. Nader Shah transformed the Shahsevan , a nomadic group living around Azerbaijan whose name literally means "shah lover", into a tribal confederacy which defended Iran against

11189-416: The Iranians could make little headway against them. Though Nader managed to take most of Dagestan during his campaign, the effective guerrilla warfare as deployed by the Lezgins, but also the Avars and Laks made the Iranian re-conquest of the particular North Caucasian region a short lived one; several years later, Nader was forced to withdraw . During the same period, Nader accused his son of being behind

11356-427: The Jin throne in 1209. He had previously served on the steppe frontier and Genghis greatly disliked him. When asked to submit and pay the annual tribute to Yongji in 1210, Genghis instead mocked the emperor, spat, and rode away from the Jin envoy—a challenge that meant war. Despite the possibility of being outnumbered eight-to-one by 600,000 Jin soldiers, Genghis had prepared to invade the Jin since learning in 1206 that

11523-424: The Khwarazmian border town of Otrar , decided to massacre the merchants on grounds of espionage and seize the goods; Muhammad had grown suspicious of Genghis's intentions and either supported Inalchuq or turned a blind eye. A Mongol ambassador was sent with two companions to avert war, but Muhammad killed him and humiliated his companions. The killing of an envoy infuriated Genghis, who resolved to leave Muqali with

11690-401: The Khwarazmian ruler Muhammad II dispatched an envoy shortly after the Mongol capture of Zhongdu, while Genghis instructed his merchants to obtain the high-quality textiles and steel of Central and Western Asia. Many members of the altan uruq invested in one particular caravan of 450 merchants which set off to Khwarazmia in 1218 with a large quantity of wares. Inalchuq , the governor of

11857-469: The Mongol social hierarchy in his favour. The highest tier was occupied solely by his and his brothers' families, who became known as the altan uruq ( lit. 'Golden Family') or chaghan yasun ( lit. 'white bone'); underneath them came the qara yasun ( lit. 'black bone'; sometimes qarachu ), composed of the surviving pre-empire aristocracy and the most important of the new families. To break any concept of tribal loyalty, Mongol society

12024-516: The Mongols, although their neutrality and reliability are often suspect. Additional Chinese sources include the chronicles of the dynasties conquered by the Mongols, and the Song diplomat Zhao Hong , who visited the Mongols in 1221. Arabic sources include a contemporary biography of the Khwarazmian prince Jalal al-Din by his companion al-Nasawi . There are also several later Christian chronicles, including

12191-483: The Mongols. The Mongols had started raiding the border settlements of the Tangut -led Western Xia kingdom in 1205, ostensibly in retaliation for allowing Senggum, Toghrul's son, refuge. More prosaic explanations include rejuvenating the depleted Mongol economy with an influx of fresh goods and livestock , or simply subjugating a semi-hostile state to protect the nascent Mongol nation. Most Xia troops were stationed along

12358-485: The Naimans at Chakirmaut, was betrayed to Temüjin by companions who were executed for their lack of loyalty. According to the Secret History , Jamukha convinced his childhood anda to execute him honourably; other accounts state that he was killed by dismemberment . Now sole ruler of the steppe, Temüjin held a large assembly called a kurultai at the source of the Onon River in 1206. Here, he formally adopted

12525-614: The Ottoman ambassador Ali Pasha. He cut a deal with notables and the clergy that he would only assume the position of Shah if they promised to refrain from cursing Omar and Uthman , avoid beating themselves to draw blood at the Ashura festival, accept Sunni practices as legitimate, and to obey Nader's children and relatives after his death, thereby setting up a dynasty in his name. He was effectively realigning Persia with Sunni Islam. The notables accepted. The Safavids had forced Shia Islam as

12692-537: The Ottomans and Mughals more closely than the Safavids had been, Nader Shah started creating new concepts. One of these was a focus on a shared Turkmen descent, by having several official documents evoke how Nader Shah, the Ottomans, Uzbeks, and Mughals all had a shared Turkmen background. In a broad sense, this concept mirrored the origin fables of 15th century Anatolian Turkmen dynasties . The Ottomans, however, were left unimpressed with Nader Shah's new concept. According to

12859-521: The Ottomans and Mughals. He may have perceived a need to unite disparate components of the ummah against the expanding power of Europe at that time, however his view of Muslim unity was different from later concepts of it. He proposed a peace treaty with the Ottomans , in it, he proclaimed the Persians wanted the Ja'fari Maddhab to be incorporated as a Madhhab of Islam. While only a nominal claim, Nader's army

13026-414: The Ottomans, and signed a treaty ceding Georgia and Armenia in exchange for Tabriz . Nader, furious, saw that the moment had come to ease Tahmasp from power. He denounced the treaty, seeking popular support for a war against the Ottomans. In Isfahan, Nader got Tahmasp drunk then showed him to the courtiers asking if a man in such a state was fit to rule. In 1732 he forced Tahmasp to abdicate in favour of

13193-500: The Shah's baby son, Abbas III, to whom Nader became regent . Nader decided, as he continued the 1730–1735 war, that he could win back the territory in Armenia and Georgia by seizing Ottoman Baghdad and then offering it in exchange for the lost provinces, but his plan went badly amiss when his army was routed by the Ottoman general Topal Osman Pasha near the city in 1733. the soldiers under

13360-547: The Sikhs, he told Khan that these rebels would one day rule the land. Still, the remaining plunder his forces had seized from India was so much that Nader was able to stop taxation in Iran for three years following his return. Many historians believe that Nader attacked the Mughal Empire to give his country some breathing space after previous turmoil. His successful campaign and replenishment of funds meant that he could continue his wars against Iran's archrival and neighbour,

13527-709: The Tarikh-e-Jahangoshay-e-Naderi ( History of Nader Shah's Wars ). Finished translations were presented to Nāder Shah in Qazvīn in June 1741, who, however, was not impressed. Nader diverted money going to Shia mullahs and redirected it to his army instead. In 1738, Nader Shah conquered Kandahar, the last outpost of the Hotaki dynasty . His thoughts now turned to the Mughal Empire of India. This once powerful Muslim state to

13694-514: The Tatars left three military powers in the steppe: the Naimans in the west, the Mongols in the east, and the Kereit in between. Seeking to cement his position, Temüjin proposed that his son Jochi marry one of Toghrul's daughters. Led by Toghrul's son Senggum, the Kereit elite believed the proposal to be an attempt to gain control over their tribe, while the doubts over Jochi's parentage would have offended them further. In addition, Jamukha drew attention to

13861-545: The advent of the Zands and Qajars, its rulers had various forms of autonomy, but stayed vassals and subjects to the Iranian king. In the far east, Ahmad Shah Durrani had already proclaimed independence, marking the foundation of modern Afghanistan . Iran finally lost Bahrain to House of Khalifa during Invasion of Bani Utbah in 1783. Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin ; c.  1162  – August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan ,

14028-490: The arch-enemy of the Safavids, the Ottomans , as well as the Russians had seized Iranian territory for themselves. Nader reunited the Iranian realm and removed the invaders. He became so powerful that he decided to depose the last members of the Safavid dynasty, which had ruled Iran for over 200 years, and become Shah himself in 1736. His numerous campaigns created a great empire that, at its maximum extent, briefly encompassed what

14195-555: The arrival of Jamukha and others defeated by the Mongols, and they prepared for war. Temüjin was informed of these events by Alaqush , the sympathetic ruler of the Ongud tribe. In May 1204, at the Battle of Chakirmaut in the Altai Mountains , the Naimans were decisively defeated: their leader Tayang Khan was killed, and his son Kuchlug was forced to flee west. The Merkits were decimated later that year, while Jamukha, who had abandoned

14362-533: The assassination attempt in Mazanderan. Reza Qoli angrily protested his innocence, but Nader had him blinded as punishment, and ordered his eyes to be brought to him on a platter. When his orders had been carried out, however, Nader instantly regretted it, crying out to his courtiers, "What is a father? What is a son?" Soon afterwards, Nader started executing the nobles who had witnessed his son's blinding. In his last years, Nader became increasingly paranoid , ordering

14529-509: The assassination of large numbers of suspected enemies. Following the orders of Nadir Shah, his soldiers executed 150 monks at Monastery of Saint Elijah after they refused to convert to Islam . With the wealth he gained, Nader started to build an Iranian navy . With lumber from Mazandaran , he built ships in Bushehr . He also purchased thirty ships in India. He recaptured the island of Bahrain from

14696-573: The beginning of May 1739, but before they left, he ceded back to Muhammad Shah all territories to the east of the Indus which he had overrun. The booty they had collected was loaded on 700 elephants, 4,000 camels, and 12,000 horses. Nader Shah left the area via the mountains in Northern Punjab . Learning of his planned route, the Sikhs started gathering light cavalry bands, and planned an attack to capture his plunder. The Sikhs fell upon Nadir's army in

14863-479: The border and invade the militarily weak but still extremely wealthy far eastern empire, and in a brilliant campaign against the governor of Peshawar he took a small contingent of his forces on a daunting flank march through nearly impassable mountain passes and took the enemy forces positioned at the mouth of the Khyber Pass completely by surprise, utterly beating them despite being outnumbered two-to-one. This led to

15030-428: The capital, Isfahan . After the Shah failed to escape or to rally a relief force elsewhere, the city was starved into submission and Soltan Husayn abdicated, handing power to Mahmud. In Khorasan, Nader at first submitted to the local Afghan governor of Mashhad , Malek Mahmud, but then rebelled and built up his own small army. Soltan Husayn's son had declared himself Shah Tahmasp II , but found little support and fled to

15197-449: The captain of the guards, and Salah Khan, the overseer of Nader's household. Nader Shah was assassinated on 20 June 1747, at Quchan in Khorasan . He was surprised in his sleep by around fifteen conspirators, and stabbed to death. Nader was able to kill two of the assassins before he died. The most detailed account of Nader's assassination comes from Père Louis Bazin, Nader's physician at

15364-409: The capture of Ghazni , Kabul , Peshawar , Sindh , and Lahore . As he moved into the Mughal territories, he was loyally accompanied by his Georgian subject and future king of eastern Georgia , Erekle II , who led a Georgian contingent as a military commander as part of Nader's force. Following the prior defeat of Mughal forces, he then advanced deeper into India, crossing the river Indus before

15531-446: The command of Mohammad Khan Baloch to besiege finally, after hours of fighting, Nader's troops were defeated and retreated. This was the only time that he was ever defeated in battle. Nader decided he needed to regain the initiative as soon as possible to save his position because revolts were already breaking out in Iran. He faced Topal again with a larger force and defeated and killed him. He then besieged Baghdad, as well as Ganja in

15698-621: The consequence in handing over the keys of his royal treasury, and losing even the fabled Peacock Throne to the Iranian emperor. The Peacock Throne, thereafter, served as a symbol of Iranian imperial might. It is estimated that Nader took away with him treasures worth as much as seven hundred million rupees. Among a trove of other fabulous jewels, Nader also looted the Koh-i-Noor (meaning "Mountain of Light" in Persian) and Darya-ye Noor (meaning "Sea of Light") diamonds . The Iranian troops left Delhi at

15865-420: The daughter of an Onggirat chieftain named Dei Sechen . As the betrothal meant Yesügei would gain a powerful ally and as Börte commanded a high bride price , Dei Sechen held the stronger negotiating position, and demanded that Temüjin remain in his household to work off his future debt. Accepting this condition, Yesügei requested a meal from a band of Tatars he encountered while riding homewards alone, relying on

16032-494: The disobedient Jurkin tribe that had previously offended him at a feast and refused to participate in the Tatar campaign. After executing their leaders, he had Belgutei symbolically break a leading Jurkin's back in a staged wrestling match in retribution. This latter incident, which contravened Mongol customs of justice, was only noted by the author of the Secret History , who openly disapproved. These events occurred c. 1197. During

16199-580: The east was falling apart as the nobles became increasingly disobedient and local opponents such as the Sikhs and Hindu Marathas of the Maratha Empire were expanding upon its territory. Its ruler Muhammad Shah was powerless to reverse this disintegration. Nader asked for the Afghan rebels to be handed over, but the Mughal emperor refused. Nader used the pretext of his Afghan enemies taking refuge in India to cross

16366-576: The end of year. The news of the Iranian army's swift and decisive successes against the northern vassal states of the Mughal empire caused much consternation in Delhi, prompting the Mughal ruler, Muhammad Shah , to raise an army of some 300,000 men and march to confront Nader Shah. Despite being outnumbered by six to one, Nader Shah crushed the Mughal army in less than three hours at the huge Battle of Karnal on 13 February 1739. After this spectacular victory, Nader captured Mohammad Shah and entered Delhi . When

16533-409: The enmity of the native Islamic populace whom he attempted to forcibly convert to Buddhism . Genghis reckoned that Kuchlug could be a threat to his empire, and Jebe was sent with an army of 20,000 cavalry to the city of Kashgar ; he undermined Kuchlug's rule by emphasising the Mongol policies of religious tolerance and gained the loyalty of the local elite. Kuchlug was forced to flee southwards to

16700-419: The execution of his envoys; the campaign toppled the Khwarazmian state and devastated the regions of Transoxiana and Khorasan , while Jebe and his colleague Subutai led an expedition that reached Georgia and Kievan Rus' . In 1227, Genghis died while subduing the rebellious Western Xia; following a two-year interregnum , his third son and heir Ögedei acceded to the throne in 1229. Genghis Khan remains

16867-498: The first four caliphs of Islam . Alternatively, it has also been recorded that the four peaks symbolised the territories of Persia , India , Turkestan , and Khwarezm . In 1741, eight Muslim scholars and three European and five Armenian priests translated the Koran and the Gospels . The commission was supervised by Mīrzā Moḥammad Mahdī Khan Monšī , the court historiographer and author of

17034-473: The following month. These border fortifications were guarded by Alaqush's Ongud, who allowed the Mongols to pass without difficulty. The three-pronged chevauchée aimed both to plunder and burn a vast area of Jin territory to deprive them of supplies and popular legitimacy, and to secure the mountain passes which allowed access to the North China Plain . The Jin lost numerous towns and were hindered by

17201-683: The following years, Temüjin and Toghrul campaigned against the Merkits, the Naimans, and the Tatars; sometimes separately and sometimes together. In around 1201, a collection of dissatisfied tribes including the Onggirat, the Tayichiud, and the Tatars swore to break the domination of the Borjigin-Kereit alliance, electing Jamukha as their leader and gurkhan ( lit.   ' "khan of the tribes" ' ). After some initial successes, Temüjin and Toghrul routed this loose confederation at Yedi Qunan , and Jamukha

17368-471: The fortress of Dastgerd in the northern valleys of Khorasan , a province in the northeast of the Iranian Empire. His father, Emam Qoli, was a herdsman who may also have been a coatmaker. His family lived a nomadic way of life. Nader was a long-waited son in his family. At the age of 13, his father died and Nader had to find a way to support himself and his mother. He had no source of income other than

17535-401: The foundations for larger states and had been the downfall of previous steppe confederations. Genghis thus began a series of administrative reforms designed to suppress the power of tribal affiliations and to replace them with unconditional loyalty to the khan and the ruling family. As most of the traditional tribal leaders had been killed during his rise to power, Genghis was able to reconstruct

17702-482: The friction, exacerbated by frequent disputes over the division of hunting spoils, intensified, Temüjin and his younger brother Qasar ambushed and killed Behter. This taboo act was omitted from the official chronicles but not from the Secret History , which recounts that Hö'elün angrily reprimanded her sons. Behter's younger full-brother Belgutei did not seek vengeance, and became one of Temüjin's highest-ranking followers alongside Qasar. Around this time, Temüjin developed

17869-513: The future Genghis Khan spent several years as a slave of the Jin. Formerly seen as an expression of nationalistic arrogance, the statement is now thought to be based in fact, especially as no other source convincingly explains Temüjin's activities between Dalan Baljut and c.  1195 . Taking refuge across the border was a common practice both for disaffected steppe leaders and disgraced Chinese officials. Temüjin's reemergence having retained significant power indicates that he probably profited in

18036-412: The future. Nader returned to the province of Khorasan in 1708. At the age of 15, he enlisted as a musketeer for a governor. He rose the ranks and became the governor's right-hand man. Nader grew up during the final years of the Safavid dynasty which had ruled Iran since 1502. At its peak, under such figures as Abbas the Great , Safavid Iran had been a powerful empire, but by the early 18th century

18203-469: The group did not "demur", and Hasan-Ali remained silent. When Nader asked him why he remained silent, Hasan-Ali replied that the best thing for Nader to do would be assembling all leading men of the state, in order to receive their agreement in "a signed and sealed document of consent". Nader approved with the proposal, and the writers of the chancellery, which included the court historian Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi , were instructed with sending out orders to

18370-535: The military, clergy and nobility of the nation to summon at the plains. The summonses for the people to attend had gone out in November 1735, and they began arriving in January 1736. In the same month of January 1736, Nader held a qoroltai (a grand meeting in the tradition of Genghis Khan and Timur ) on the Moghan plains. The Moghan plain was specifically chosen for its size and "abundance of fodder ". Everyone agreed to

18537-468: The modern historian Ernest Tucker, comparing this concept to an early version of " pan-Turkism " would be "anachronistic and misleading." He adds that this was part of unpolished drafts of concepts that would get polished throughout the 11 years of Nader Shah's reign, and would include wide political and religious aspects. Nader's concepts regarding the Ja'farism and common Turkmen descent were directed primarily at

18704-504: The more progressive, urbanized Persian culture, many of them nevertheless identified culturally with the Turco-Mongol heritage that had been passed down from the era of Timur and Genghis Khan . The settled population was seen by the semi-nomads and nomads as inferior. Nader was part of this heritage, which the British academic Michael Axworthy calls "paradoxical". Nader Shah was born in

18871-483: The name as J̌ingiz , while Syriac authors used Šīngīz . In addition to "Genghis", introduced into English during the 18th century based on a misreading of Persian sources, modern English spellings include "Chinggis", "Chingis", "Jinghis", and "Jengiz". His birth name "Temüjin" ( ᠲᠡᠮᠦᠵᠢᠨ ; 鐵木真 Tiěmùzhēn ) is sometimes also spelled "Temuchin" in English. When Genghis's grandson Kublai Khan established

19038-420: The neighbouring Ottomans and Russians . In addition, he increased the number of soldiers under his command and reduced the number of soldiers under tribal and provincial control. His reforms may have strengthened the country, but they did little to improve Iran's suffering economy. He also always paid his troops on time, no matter what. In order to construct a broad political framework that could link him to

19205-454: The northern provinces, earning a Russian alliance against the Ottomans. Nader scored a great victory over a superior Ottoman force at Baghavard and by the summer of 1735, Iranian Armenia and Georgia were his again. In March 1735, he signed a treaty with the Russians in Ganja by which the latter agreed to withdraw all of their troops from Iranian territory, those which had not been ceded back by

19372-405: The official Soviet news agency. Nader Shah Khorasan Campaign Afghan Campaigns Safavid restoration First Ottoman War Indian Campaign Central Asian Campaign Dagestan Campaign Persian Gulf Campaign Second Ottoman War Rebellions & Civil War Nader Shah Afshar ( Persian : نادر شاه افشار ; 6 August 1698 – 20 June 1747)

19539-517: The order of Genghis's descendant Ghazan in the early 14th century. Ghazan allowed Rashid privileged access to both confidential Mongol sources such as the Altan Debter and to experts on the Mongol oral tradition, including Kublai Khan's ambassador Bolad Chingsang . As he was writing an official chronicle, Rashid censored inconvenient or taboo details. There are many other contemporary histories which include additional information on Genghis Khan and

19706-462: The original. The honorific most commonly rendered as "Genghis" ultimately derives from the Mongolian ᠴᠢᠩᠭᠢᠰ , which may be romanised as Činggis . This was adapted into Chinese as 成吉思 Chéngjísī , and into Persian as چنگیز Čəngīz . As Arabic lacks a sound similar to [ tʃ ] , represented in the Mongolian and Persian romanisations by ⟨ č ⟩, writers transcribed

19873-521: The peace in Iran. Having heard rumours that his father had died, he had made preparations for assuming the crown. These included the murder of the former shah Tahmasp and his family, including the nine-year-old Abbas III. On hearing the news, Reza's wife, who was Tahmasp's sister, committed suicide. Nader was not impressed with his son's waywardness and reprimanded him, but he took him on his expedition to conquer territory in Transoxiana . In 1740, he conquered

20040-419: The pilgrimage trade. Nader's other primary aim in his religious reforms was to weaken the Safavids further since Shia Islam had always been a major element in support for the dynasty. He had a Shia mullah of Iran strangled after he was heard expressing support for the Safavids. Among his reforms was the introduction of what came to be known as the kolah-e Naderi . This was a hat with four peaks which symbolised

20207-556: The plea. Genghis's attempt to redirect the Yellow River into the city with a dam initially worked, but the poorly-constructed earthworks broke—possibly breached by the Xia—in January 1210 and the Mongol camp was flooded, forcing them to retreat. A peace treaty was soon formalised: the Xia emperor Xiangzong submitted and handed over tribute, including his daughter Chaka, in exchange for the Mongol withdrawal. Wanyan Yongji usurped

20374-443: The poor. Throughout his career, he was only interested in his own advancement. Legend has it that in 1704, when he was about 17, a band of marauding Uzbeks invaded the province of Khorasan, where Nader lived with his mother. They killed many peasants. Nader and his mother were among those who were carried off into slavery. His mother died in captivity. According to another story, Nader managed to convince Turkmens by promising help in

20541-401: The proposal of Nader becoming the new king, many—if not most—enthusiastically, the rest fearing Nader's anger if they showed support for the deposed Safavids. Nader was crowned Shah of Iran on 8 March 1736, a date his astrologers had chosen as being especially favorable, in attendance of an "exceptionally large assembly" composed of the military, religious and nobility of the nation, as well as

20708-626: The region's trade in grain and furs, as well as its gold mines . Mongol armies also rode westwards, defeating the Naiman-Merkit alliance on the River Irtysh in late 1208. Their khan was killed and Kuchlug fled into Central Asia . Led by Barchuk , the Uyghurs freed themselves from the suzerainty of the Qara Khitai and pledged themselves to Genghis in 1211 as the first sedentary society to submit to

20875-638: The revenue had hitherto been collected in copper." During the Soviet–Afghan War , the mujahideen guerrillas, blockaded Khost District, cutting off all lines of communication. The Soviets were forced to respond with Operation Magistral in 1987 to reopen the Khost–Gardez Road and bring relief to the District. Khost District was the scene of intense fighting in 1987, with over 1,500 guerrillas and one American adviser killed by DRA troops, according to Tass ,

21042-480: The ruler of Bukhara as his vassal, imitating previous great conquerors of Mongol - Timurid descent. According to a British scholar Peter Avery, Nader's attitude towards Bukhara was irredentist to an extent that he "may even have thought that, if only the Ottoman power in the west could be contained, he might make Bukhara a base for conquests further afield in Central Asia". Nader dispatched numerous artisans to Merv in

21209-482: The same time, the Abdali Afghans rebelled and besieged Mashhad, forcing Nader to suspend his campaign and save his brother, Ebrahim. It took Nader fourteen months to crush this uprising. Relations between Nader and the Shah had declined as the latter grew jealous of his general's military successes. While Nader was absent in the east, Tahmasp tried to assert himself by launching a foolhardy campaign to recapture Yerevan . He ended up losing all of Nader's recent gains to

21376-400: The service of the Jin. As he later overthrew that state, such an episode, detrimental to Mongol prestige, was omitted from all their sources. Zhao Hong was bound by no such taboos. The sources do not agree on the events of Temüjin's return to the steppe. In early summer 1196, he participated in a joint campaign with the Jin against the Tatars, who had begun to act contrary to Jin interests. As

21543-621: The shaman's position as the Mongols' highest spiritual authority. During these years, the Mongols imposed their control on surrounding areas. Genghis dispatched Jochi northwards in 1207 to subjugate the Hoi-yin Irgen  [ ja ] , a collection of tribes on the edge of the Siberian taiga . Having secured a marriage alliance with the Oirats and defeated the Yenisei Kyrgyz , he took control of

21710-452: The sole ruler on the Mongolian steppe. Temüjin formally adopted the title "Genghis Khan", the meaning of which is uncertain, at an assembly in 1206. Carrying out reforms designed to ensure long-term stability, he transformed the Mongols' tribal structure into an integrated meritocracy dedicated to the service of the ruling family. After thwarting a coup attempt from a powerful shaman , Genghis began to consolidate his power. In 1209, he led

21877-521: The sons of blacksmiths, in addition to a carpenter, a shepherd, and even the two herdsmen who had warned Temüjin of Toghrul's plans in 1203. As a special privilege, Genghis allowed certain loyal commanders to retain the tribal identities of their units. Alaqush of the Ongud was allowed to retain five thousand warriors of his tribe because his son had entered into an alliance pact with Genghis, marrying his daughter Alaqa. A key tool which underpinned these reforms

22044-566: The sources are written in more than a dozen languages from across Eurasia, modern historians have found it difficult to compile information on the life of Genghis Khan. All accounts of his adolescence and rise to power derive from two Mongolian-language sources—the Secret History of the Mongols , and the Altan Debter ( Golden Book ). The latter, now lost, served as inspiration for two Chinese chronicles—the 14th-century History of Yuan and

22211-541: The southern and eastern borders of the kingdom to guard against attacks from the Song and Jin dynasties respectively, while its northern border relied only on the Gobi desert for protection. After a raid in 1207 sacked the Xia fortress of Wulahai , Genghis decided to personally lead a full-scale invasion in 1209. Wulahai was captured again in May and the Mongols advanced on the capital Zhongxing (modern-day Yinchuan ) but suffered

22378-439: The state religion of Iran. Nader may have been brought up as a Shiite on the basis of his name and background but later replaced Shia law with a version that was more sympathetic and compatible with Sunni law he called the "Ja'fari school" in an effort to disassociate radical Shia Islam from the state in part to please his supporters and also to improve relationships with other Sunni powers. as he gained power and began to push into

22545-563: The state was in serious decline and the reigning shah, Soltan Hoseyn , was a weak ruler. When Soltan Husayn attempted to quell a rebellion by the Ghilzai Afghans in Kandahar , the governor he sent ( Gurgin Khan ) was killed. Under their leader Mahmud Hotaki , the rebellious Afghans moved westwards against the shah himself and in 1722 they defeated a force at the Battle of Gulnabad and then besieged

22712-520: The state was wracked by internal instabilities. Genghis had two aims: to take vengeance for past wrongs committed by the Jin, foremost among which was the death of Ambaghai Khan in the mid-12th century, and to win the vast amounts of plunder his troops and vassals expected. After calling for a kurultai in March 1211, Genghis launched his invasion of Jin China in May, reaching the outer ring of Jin defences

22879-493: The steppe tradition of hospitality to strangers. However, the Tatars recognised their old enemy and slipped poison into his food. Yesügei gradually sickened but managed to return home; close to death, he requested a trusted retainer called Münglig to retrieve Temüjin from the Onggirat. He died soon after. Yesügei's death shattered the unity of his people, which included members of the Borjigin, Tayichiud , and other clans. As Temüjin

23046-527: The sticks he gathered for firewood, which he transported to the market. Many years later, when he was returning in triumph from his conquest of Delhi , he led the army to his birthplace and made a speech to his generals about his early life of deprivation. He said, "You now see to what height it has pleased the Almighty to exalt me; from hence, learn not to despise men of low estate." Nader's early experiences did not, however, make him particularly compassionate toward

23213-541: The sweet and the bitter. If I break this word, may I be like the water of the River, drunk up by others." Among officers and men there was none who was not moved to tears. The History of Yuan , vol 120 (1370) Retreating southeast to Baljuna, an unidentified lake or river, Temüjin waited for his scattered forces to regroup: Bo'orchu had lost his horse and was forced to flee on foot, while Temüjin's badly wounded son Ögedei had been transported and tended to by Borokhula ,

23380-451: The tent of Sorkan-Shira , a man who had seen him in the river and not raised the alarm. Sorkan-Shira sheltered Temüjin for three days at great personal risk before helping him to escape. Temüjin was assisted on another occasion by Bo'orchu , an adolescent who aided him in retrieving stolen horses. Soon afterwards, Bo'orchu joined Temüjin's camp as his first nökor ('personal companion'; pl. nökod ). These incidents, related by

23547-543: The threat Temüjin posed to the traditional steppe aristocracy by his habit of promoting commoners to high positions, which subverted social norms. Yielding eventually to these demands, Toghrul attempted to lure his vassal into an ambush, but his plans were overheard by two herdsmen. Temüjin was able to gather some of his forces, but was soundly defeated at the Battle of Qalaqaljid Sands . "[Temüjin] raised his hands and looking up at Heaven swore, saying "If I am able to achieve my 'Great Work', I shall [always] share with you men

23714-514: The time of his death, who relied on the eyewitness testimony of Chuki, one of Nader's favourite concubines : Around fifteen of the conspirators were impatient or merely eager to distinguish themselves, and so turned up prematurely at the agreed meeting place. They entered the enclosure of the royal tent, pushing and smashing their way through any obstacles, and penetrated into the sleeping quarters of that ill-starred monarch. The noise they made on entering woke him up: 'Who goes there?' he shouted out in

23881-460: The time the conflict resumed in 1213, but a Mongol detachment led by Jebe managed to infiltrate the pass and surprise the elite Jin defenders, opening the road to the Jin capital Zhongdu (modern-day Beijing ). The Jin administration began to disintegrate: after the Khitans , a tribe subject to the Jin, entered open rebellion, Hushahu, the commander of the forces at Xijing, abandoned his post and staged

24048-434: The title "Genghis Khan", the etymology and meaning of which have been much debated. Some commentators hold that the title had no meaning, simply representing Temüjin's eschewal of the traditional gurkhan title, which had been accorded to Jamukha and was thus of lesser worth. Another theory suggests that the word "Genghis" bears connotations of strength, firmness, hardness, or righteousness. A third hypothesis proposes that

24215-497: The title is related to the Turkic tängiz ('ocean'), the title "Genghis Khan" would mean "master of the ocean", and as the ocean was believed to surround the earth, the title thus ultimately implied "Universal Ruler". Having attained control over one million people, Genghis Khan began a "social revolution", in May's words. As traditional tribal systems had primarily evolved to benefit small clans and families, they were unsuitable as

24382-612: The two as the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti , becoming the first Georgian ruler in three centuries to preside over a politically unified eastern Georgia, and due to the frantic turn of events in mainland Iran he would be able to maintain its autonomy until the advent of the Iranian Qajar dynasty . The rest of the Iranian territories in the Caucasus, comprising modern-day Azerbaijan , Armenia , and Dagestan broke away into various khanates . Until

24549-484: The wretched monarch, covered in his own blood, attempted – but was too weak – to get up, and cried out, 'Why do you want to kill me? Spare my life and all I have shall be yours!' He was still pleading when Salah Khan ran up, sword in hand and severed his head, which he dropped into the hands of a waiting soldier. Thus perished the wealthiest monarch on earth. After his death, he was succeeded by his nephew Ali Qoli, who renamed himself Adel Shah ("righteous king"). Adel Shah

24716-444: Was badly defeated in c.  1187 , and may have spent the following years as a subject of the Jin dynasty ; upon reemerging in 1196, he swiftly began gaining power. Toghrul came to view Temüjin as a threat and launched a surprise attack on him in 1203. Temüjin retreated, then regrouped and overpowered Toghrul; after defeating the Naiman tribe and executing Jamukha, he was left as

24883-400: Was de facto an equal ally. Jamukha behaved cruelly following his victory at Dalan Baljut—he allegedly boiled seventy prisoners alive and humiliated the corpses of leaders who had opposed him. A number of disaffected followers, including Yesügei's follower Münglig and his sons, defected to Temüjin as a consequence; they were also probably attracted by his newfound wealth. Temüjin subdued

25050-475: Was abandoned by its tribe. Reduced to near-poverty, Temüjin killed his older half-brother to secure his familial position. His charismatic personality helped to attract his first followers and to form alliances with two prominent steppe leaders named Jamukha and Toghrul ; they worked together to retrieve Temüjin's newlywed wife Börte , who had been kidnapped by raiders. As his reputation grew, his relationship with Jamukha deteriorated into open warfare. Temüjin

25217-527: Was an eyewitness to the brutality of the Mongol conquests, and the hostility of his chronicle reflects his experiences. His contemporary Juvayni, who had travelled twice to Mongolia and attained a high position in the administration of a Mongol successor state , was more sympathetic; his account is the most reliable for Genghis Khan's western campaigns. The most important Persian source is the Jami' al-tawarikh ( Compendium of Chronicles ) compiled by Rashid al-Din on

25384-427: Was arguably the most powerful empire in the world. Following his assassination in 1747, his empire quickly disintegrated and Iran fell into a civil war. His grandson Shahrokh Shah was the last of his dynasty to rule, ultimately being deposed in 1796 by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar , who crowned himself shah the same year. Nader Shah has been described as "the last great Asiatic military conqueror". Nader belonged to

25551-496: Was forced to beg for Toghrul's clemency. Desiring complete supremacy in eastern Mongolia, Temüjin defeated first the Tayichiud and then, in 1202, the Tatars; after both campaigns, he executed the clan leaders and took the remaining warriors into his service. These included Sorkan-Shira, who had come to his aid previously, and a young warrior named Jebe , who, by killing Temüjin's horse and refusing to hide that fact, had displayed martial ability and personal courage. The absorption of

25718-409: Was given in marriage to Nader's son. Nader pursued and defeated Ashraf, who was murdered by his own followers. In 1738 Nader Shah besieged and destroyed the last Hotaki seat of power at Kandahar . He built a new city near Kandahar, which he named " Naderabad ". In the spring of 1730, Nader attacked Iran's archrival the Ottomans and regained most of the territory lost during the recent chaos. At

25885-572: Was given in marriage to the younger brother of the now-deceased Chiledu. Temüjin appealed for aid from Toghrul and his childhood anda Jamukha, who had risen to become chief of the Jadaran tribe. Both chiefs were willing to field armies of 20,000 warriors, and with Jamukha in command, the campaign was soon won. A now-pregnant Börte was recovered successfully and soon gave birth to a son, Jochi ; although Temüjin raised him as his own, questions over his true paternity followed Jochi throughout his life. This

26052-497: Was humiliated and almost imprisoned on false charges before Hö'elün intervened by publicly reprimanding Genghis. Nevertheless, Kokechu's power steadily increased, and he publicly shamed Temüge, Genghis's youngest brother, when he attempted to intervene. Börte saw that Kokechu was a threat to Genghis's power and warned her husband, who still superstitiously revered the shaman but now recognised the political threat he posed. Genghis allowed Temüge to arrange Kokechu's death, and then usurped

26219-562: Was increasingly drawing from Sunni Afghans, Kurds , Turkmens , Baloch , and others who were happy with a less sectarian Persia. Externally he presented Persia as completely sympathetic to Sunnis. He probably did this for political reasons in order to increase his legitimacy within the Muslim world; he would have never been accepted if he remained a radical Shia Muslim like the Safavid Shahs . Though as stated countless times before, internally, he

26386-411: Was not yet ten and Behter around two years older, neither was considered experienced enough to rule. The Tayichiud faction excluded Hö'elün from the ancestor worship ceremonies which followed a ruler's death and soon abandoned her camp. The Secret History relates that the entire Borjigin clan followed, despite Hö'elün's attempts to shame them into staying by appealing to their honour. Rashid al-Din and

26553-518: Was only at this juncture that Genghis decided to fully conquer northern China. Muqali captured numerous towns in Liaodong during winter 1214–15, and although the inhabitants of Zhongdu surrendered to Genghis on 31 May 1215, the city was sacked. When Genghis returned to Mongolia in early 1216, Muqali was left in command in China. He waged a brutal but effective campaign against the unstable Jin regime until his death in 1223. In 1207, Genghis had appointed

26720-566: Was passing through the forest of Mazanderan on his way to fight the Dagestanis, an assassin took a shot at him but Nader was only lightly wounded. He began to suspect his son was behind the attempt and confined him to Tehran . Nader's increasing ill health made his temper ever worse. Perhaps it was his illness that made Nader lose the initiative in his war against the Lezgin tribes of Dagestan. Frustratingly for him, they resorted to guerrilla warfare and

26887-415: Was probably agnostic. Whenever Nader laid siege to a city, he would construct a city of his own outside the walls. His encampment was filled with markets, mosques, bathhouses, coffeehouses, and stables. He did this to show the besieged his army would be there for the long haul, to prevent diseases from spreading within his troops' ranks, and to occupy his troops' time. Nader became increasingly cruel as

27054-467: Was probably involved in the assassination plot. Adel Shah was deposed within a year. During the struggle between Adel Shah, his brother Ibrahim Khan and Nader's grandson Shah Rukh and almost all provincial governors declared independence , established their own states, and the entire Empire of Nader Shah fell into anarchy . Oman and the Uzbek khanates of Bukhara and Khiva regained independence, while

27221-404: Was reorganised into a military decimal system. Every man between the age of fifteen and seventy was conscripted into a minqan ( pl. minkad ), a unit of a thousand soldiers, which was further subdivided into units of hundreds ( jaghun , pl. jaghat ) and tens ( arban , pl. arbat ). The units also encompassed each man's household, meaning that each military minqan

27388-403: Was supported by a minqan of households in what May has termed "a military–industrial complex ". Each minqan operated as both a political and social unit, while the warriors of defeated tribes were dispersed to different minqad to make it difficult for them to rebel as a single body. This was intended to ensure the disappearance of old tribal identities, replacing them with loyalty to

27555-517: Was the expansion of the keshig ('bodyguard'). After Temüjin defeated Toghrul in 1203, he had appropriated this Kereit institution in a minor form, but at the 1206 kurultai its numbers were greatly expanded, from 1,150 to 10,000 men. The keshig was not only the khan's bodyguard, but his household staff, a military academy, and the centre of governmental administration. All the warriors in this elite corps were brothers or sons of military commanders and were essentially hostages. The members of

27722-436: Was the founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire . After spending most of his life uniting the Mongol tribes , he launched a series of military campaigns , conquering large parts of China and Central Asia . Born between 1155 and 1167 and given the name Temüjin, he was the eldest child of Yesugei , a Mongol chieftain of the Borjigin clan , and his wife Hö'elün . When Temüjin was eight, his father died and his family

27889-654: Was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history , ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was assassinated during a rebellion. He fought numerous campaigns throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia, such as the battles of Herat , Mihmandust , Murche-Khort , Kirkuk , Yeghevārd , Khyber Pass , Karnal , and Kars . Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as

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