MONGOL INVASION

OF AZERBAIJAN?
WHO WERE MONGOLS?

The Mongols were pastoral and nomadic

tribes of the Asian steppes. The Mongol
Empire emerged from the unification of these
several nomadic tribes in the Mongol
homeland under the leadership of Genghis
khan (Temüjin). In 1206, Genghis Khan
brought together the Mongol and Turkic tribes
and proclaimed himself the ruler of Mongols.
The Empire grew rapidly under his
leadership. When he died in 1227 AD, he had
conquered Central Asia, North China and
parts of eastern Persia. Later his grandson
Kublai Khan would go on to expand the
empire ruling whole China. The Mongol
Empire stretched from Eastern Europe to
Western Asia, including Central Asia and the
Middle East
Why was Azerbaijan easily Beginning from the 20-30s of XIII century
invaded by Mongols ? Azerbaijan also underwent the Mongol invasion.
The reason why Mongols easily occupied
Azerbaijan was that there was no strong and
united state in Azerbaijan in the beginning of
XIII century. The country was still split into
Atabeys state and Shirvanshahs State. In the
south, Maragha city was under the control of
Agsungurids (Ağsunqurilər dynasty) who ruled
the city indepdendently. Atabeys State was very
weak under the leadership of their last ruler
Ozbek (1210-1225). Because of the weak and
disorganized central authority in Atabeys state, it
was difficult for Atabey rulers to fully regulate
the feudal lords who were so powerful that they
ruled their lands without consulting to ruler. This
meant that Azerbaijani people were not
prepared to face Mongol invaders.
The first Mongolian attack on For the first time, Mongols attacked
Azerbaijan in 1220. It was an
Azerbaijan intelligence operation by nature. It
Intelligence operation was an important strategic element
employed by the Mongolian army to
use spies extensively to understand
what they were facing before ever
deciding on battle or occupying a new
territories. Mongol warriors Jebe and
Subotai had to explore the situation,
find out whether Azerbaijani States or
Khwarezmshah state had enough
military power to resist. Mongol army
was led by Jebe and Subotai.
During the first invasion of Azerbaijan by the
Mongols in 1220–1223, cities such as Zanjan,
Qazvin, Maragha, Ardebil, Bailagan, Barda,
Ganja, which were the territory of the Atabegs
of Azerbaijan, were destroyed. At that time,
there was a political disintegration in the
state of Atabegs of Azerbaijan. However,
Mongols faced a strong resistance from the
people in some cities such as Tabriz. Despite
the fact that they attacked to the city twice,
they failed to occupy the city. Therefore,
Mongol leaders decided to negotiate with
Atabey leader Uzbek. Mongols were satisfied
by getting a ransom from the city in 1221 and
left here.
READ THE HISTORICAL
SORUCE AND ANALYZE

Mongols “rushed to the cities of Azerbaijan

and Arran, destroyed them and killed most of
their inhabitants. Only a few of them survived,
remaining homeless. And all this in less than a
year! This has never been known. Having
finished with Azerbaijan and Arran, they went
to Derbend of Shirvan and captured its
(Shirvan’s) cities. Only one fortress survived,
where the king of Shirvan was.
Jalal-ad-Din’s attack on Azerbaijan
(1225)
Jalal al-Din Mangburni also known as
Who was Jalal-ad-Din Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah. Jalal-ad-
Din ibn Mahammad was the ruler of
Khwarezmshah state. His state suffered
from Mongol invasions as well. To
compensate his reputation and power, he
decided to attack neighboring countries.
Having gathered an army, he aimed to
re-establish the Khwarazm kingdom in a
newly occupied territories. He was
aware of the weak internal situation in
Azerbaijan. Therefore, Azerbaijan
became on of the main targets of Jalal-
ad-Din.
How Jalal-ad-Din ended the
Atabegs Ildenizids state
Therefore, Jalal-ad-Din started the
occupation of Azerbaijan from Maragha. To
win support of the local population, he helped
them to restore and rebuild their city. Next in
line was the city of Tabriz. People of Tabriz
resisted the invaders during 7 days, but the
resistance was broken and soon Tabriz fell
under the control of Khwarezmwshah state.
In 1225, he dethroned the Uzbek, ruler of the
Atabegs Ildenizids state. The last ruler of
Ildenizids state - Uzbek fled to Ganja and
soon died. Thus, in 1225 Atabeys state fell.
Shirvanshahs State escaped plundering only
by paying contribution of 100
thousand dinars.
 Jalal-ad-Din resided in Ganja and appointed
his vizier Sharaf-al-Mulk as the leader
of Azerbaijani lands. Sharaf-al-Mulk collected
a lot of taxes from people. This lead to
popular discontent and Tabriz revolted against
harsh rules. They even wanted to release
Uzbek’s grandson from the prison and declare
him as the next Atabey. Khwarezm army killed
all rebellers and wanted to break the
resistance movement. In 1231, population of
Ganja revolted. Ganja uprising was led by
“Usta Bandar”. It was the peak of discontent
expressed by the ordinary people. But Jalal-
ad-Din ruthlessly put down the rebellion and
executed their leaders.

Ganja uprising
(1231)
 COMPARE

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 CRITICAL THINKING
1. Which Azerbaijani cities were invaded by Homework
Mongols?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUVvTq
2. Which city survived plundering by paying tribute
vjUaM&t=117s&ab_channel=TED-Ed
to Jebe and Subotai?
3. How many years did the Mongols stay in
Azerbaijan during the first
4. invasion?
5. Why was it easy for Mongols to capture
Azerbaijani lands?
6. Why did Mongol warriors not stay in Azerbaijan
for
7. 1. Why did the Atabeys State of Azerbaijan
collapse?