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The Mongol Warlords: Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulegu, Tamerlane PDF

216 Pages·1990·30.981 MB·English
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THE *. MONGOL WARLORDS GENGHIS KHAN KUBLAI KHAN HULEGU TAMERLANE DAVID NICOLLE 71 RICHARD Plates by HOOlfl two thousand • asian steppes iorth wave upon lerce, nomadic icrors. The last a' A these were the Mongols. Feared by their as the 'devil's horse- men', they conquered most < „ie Asian landmass and plunged on into the Middle East and Europe. These resolute and extraordinary invaders were prob- ably the world's finest horse warriors. Yet their exploits have so often been misrepresented as merely the deeds of bloody and destructive hordes. It was the seeming threat to urban civilization posed by the free-ranging, nomadic Mongols that ensured that many of their real achieve- ments - political, cultural and military - were so often wrongly recorded. The pages of THE MONGOL WARLORDS will be a revelation to military enthusiast and historian alike. The great Mongol leaders were withoutequal and theirnames still sound loudly down the intervening ages. Genghis KhanThe most famousofall Mongol warriors, the conqueror who carved out a vast empire across Asia and into the Middle East and who is still synonymous with great military deeds achieved ruthlessly but with great vision. Kublai Khan A grandson ofthe mighty Genghis, whose near-legendary reputation in poetry and historical account, as the fabulously wealthy Mongol emperor of China, belies his equally deserved fame as a great military commander. Hulegu Another grandson of Genghis, a savage yet brilliant soldier whose Mongol forces crushed the Mos- lem might ofthe Middle East and destroyed the city of Baghdad. Tamerlane Adopting its own versions of his name, Western literature described Timur as "that scourge of God". Yet this crippled conqueror fused cleverly laws of Islam with the wild ways ofhis nomadic Mongols in an empire spanning the steppes and near East. It was the last great realm ofthe Mongol horse warriors. About the author David Nicolle enjoys a sound reputation as a leading writer in his field, he has written numerous books on various aspects of Medieval and Middle Eastern arms, armourand warfare. Afterworking for theBBC foreight years he studied for his PhD at Edinburgh University, followed by fouryears teaching at aJordanian University. Dr. Nicolle now lives in a Leicestershire village with six pubs, an American wife, two children, and a cat called Mishmish. About the artist Richard Hook is a leading illustrator of historical and military subjects. Active in this field for many years, he has achieved an international respect for the accuracy and excitement of his work for books, magazines, journals and other media. The reputation of his detailed recon- structions of our past ensures that he is in constant V id, with commissions from around rb^ He lives m Sussex with an equally talented rive family. 1 SAUSa£?T01^L$(|BRARY 3 1111 01341 0558 DATE DUE \mc mari 7 jd- # HflR 1 3 I aw-1 e 1^992r BEC 3 Hi' SEP 301595 MAR 1 7 1W7 EC 5 1998 HfAtY 1 7 19s !*>** Ott FFR 2 8 200( 4f&. /<E 2a?; MAR 5 2QQ3 MY?, 3 2003 sy THE MONGOL WARLORDS GENGHIS KHAN KUBLAI KHAN HULEGU TAMERLANE • • • DAVID NICOLLE HOOK RICHARD by Plates Firebird Books Sausalito Public Library Sausalito, California 94965 First published in the United Kingdom in 1990 by Firebird Books P.O. Box 327, Poole, Dorset BH15 2RG © Copyright 1990 Firebird Books Ltd Text copyright (£) 1990 David Nicolle Distributed in the United States by Sterling Publishing Co, Inc 387 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016-8810 Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty Ltd P.O. Box 665, Lane Cove, NSW 2066 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Nicolle, David 1944- The Mongol warlords: Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulegu, Tamerlane. Mongol Empire. Warlords 1. I. Title 950'.2'0922 ISBN I 85314 1046 All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Designed by Kathryn S.A. Booth Line illustrations and maps by David Nicolle Colour plates by Richard Hook Typeset by Inforum Typesetting, Portsmouth Monochrome origination by Castle Graphics, Frome Colour separations by Kingfisher Facsimile Colour printed by Barwell Colour Print Ltd. (Midsomer Norton) Printed and bound in Great Britain by The Bath Press Contents Genghis Khan - Mongol World Conqueror 5 The Greatest Conqueror 7 • Genghis the Man 8 The Mongols 10 • The Mongols' Neighbours 13 The Young Temiichin 17 • Unification of Central Asia 20 Invasion of Islam 22 The Mongol Army 27 Mongol Warfare 32 • • Arms and Equipment 35 The Great Battles 38 Impact and Achievements 45 • Genealogy of The Great Khans 49 Bibliography 49 Kublai Khan - Lord ofthe Celestial Empire 51 The Supreme Ruler 53 Mongols Over China 54 The Young Kublai 56 • Son of Heaven 60 • Conquest of Southern China 62 Defeat in Japan 65 South-east Asian Campaigns 67 • Rebellion and Revolt 71 The Great Khan's Army 74 • Naval Power 82 • Arms, Armour and Equipment 83 The Great Khan's Battles 87 • Legacy and Legend 91 • Genealogy of the Yiians 95 Bibliography 95 Hiilegu - Destroyer ofBaghdad 97 Destroyer and Builder - Winner and Loser 99 Grandson • of Genghis 100 Destroying the Assassins 103 Conquest of the Caliphate 108 • Into Syria 112 • Defeat by the Mamluks 113 • Against the Golden Horde 117 The Il-Khan Empire 120 • Hiilegii's Army 121 • Arms and Armour 126 • Hiilegu's Battles 128 • The Final Days 132 • The Il-Khan Achievement 134 Genealogy of the Il-Khans 141 • Bibliography 141 Tamerlane - Scourge ofGod 143 Legend of Cruelty 145 Timur the Man 146 Timur's Inheri- tance 148 The Young Timur 152 Liberation of Trans- • oxiana 154 Early Conquests 158 Toqtamish and the Golden • Horde 159 • The Five-year War 161 Later Conquests 163 • Timur's Army 171 Arms, Armour and Equip- ment 176 • Timur's Battles 178 • A Fragile Achievement? 183 • Genealogy ofthe Timurids 187 Bibliography 187 Chronology ofEvents 188 Index 189 1 GtmUlS KUAN MONGOL WORLD CONQUEROR Genghis Khan in old age, one ofaseriesofidealisedpaintings ofthe Mongol rulers and their successors which was in the ChineseImperialPortraitGal- lery. Theagedconquerorwears his hair in a pair of typical Mongolloopedplaits, coiledhe- hind his ears, and his coat has the double-breasted front de- signed to withstand Central Asia's ferocious climate (Na- tional Palace Museum, Taiwan). The great Mongol conquests resulted in the creation oj an exotu mixed civilization in much of Asm and the Middle East. By the start oj the 15th century, when this miniature from the Fatih Album was painted, theMongolrulingelite could draw upon the traditions of China and the Muslim world, as wellas those of Cen- tral Asia. All are reflected in this ruler's costume, weapons and horse harness (Topkapi Museum, Ms. Ha:.2153, I.(iv, Istanbul). THE CENTRAL ASIAN v. S-Steppe A* F-Forest D-Desert I 9^ C-Cultivation wood ^-Medieval iron m

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