Mongol invasions of Durdzuketi

Mongol invasions of Dzurdzuketia
Part of the Mongol invasions of Georgia, Toluid Civil War, Berke–Hulagu war, Kaidu–Kublai war
Date 13th century Location North Caucasus Result Pyrrhic Durdzuk victory Mongols conquer the lowlands of Durdzuketia but are eventually driven out by Durdzuk resistance Territorial changes Mongol Empire briefly gains control of Durdzuk lowlands until its leave
Belligerents
Mongol Empire	Durdzuketia
Commanders and leaders
Güyük Batu Khan Sartaq Khan Berke Büri Around 15 other Mongol princes Prince Ors (1240–1252) Prince Botur King Navraz Other Durdzuk princes	Prince Khasi I. (1237–1240) Prince Ors (1237–1240) Prince Khour I. † Idig of Nokhch-Mokhk Other Durdzuk princes
Strength
1/5th of Mongol army in the North Caucasus (around 40,000 men) Mongol army in Durdzuketia: 27,000–30,000 (1227) Around 30,000 (1229–1231) More than 200,000 (1237–1241) 10,000 during occupation (1241–1252)	50,000 (1227) (Durdzuks, Alans, Lezgins, Circassians, Kipchak Turks, Khazars, Volga-Bulgars, Cumans) Unknown (1229–1231) Less than 40,000 (Invasion of 1237) Unknown amount of civilian fighters - (women and children participated)
Casualties and losses
4,000–10,000 (1227) Unknown, but high (1237–1252)	Unknown, Durdzuks driven to near extinction

During the 12th century, the Mongols launched long, massive invasions of the territory of modern Chechnya and Ingushetia, which also included the lands of Alania in the West. They caused massive destruction and human death for the Durdzuks, but also greatly shaped the people they became afterward. The ancestors of the Chechens and Ingush bear the distinction of being one of the few peoples who have managed to fight the Mongols and win, not once, but twice. However, this came at great cost to them, and the states they had built were utterly destroyed, as were their previous organized systems. These invasions are among the most significant occurrences in Chechen and Ingush history, and have had long-ranging effects on Chechnya, Ingushetia and their peoples.

Prelude

During what was the late Middle Ages of Western Europe, the Caucasus was invaded by Mongols and their Turkic vassals. The first appearance of Mongol troops in the Caucasus was an arrival of scouts in 1220–1222. Kypchak Turkic peoples – some of which became future affiliates of Genghis Khan – had been invading and settling areas further and further South and West (a process that had continued since the fall of the Khazars), including the fertile river valleys of the Terek and the Kuban. In the 1230s, the Mongols gained rule over the Kypchaks, and turned them into vassals.

The Mongol invasion of Georgia had commenced a year earlier to the invasion of the Vainakh kingdom of Dzurdzuketia. The Kingdom of Georgia was traditionally a strong ally of Dzurdzuketia, but it was unable to help the Durdzuks when it was under the invasion itself. The first clash between the Mongols and Durdzuks occurred between 1220 and 1222, where the Kypchaks, the vassals of the Mongols, raided across the Caucasus and pushed the Durdzuks south of the Terek River. In Georgia, two battles emerged between the Mongols and the Georgians, including many Durdzuks. The first battle took place in 1220, where a force of around 20,000 Mongols defeated 10,000 Georgians and Georgia's allies in the Battle of Khunan. The following year, in 1221, another Georgian army was defeated by 30,000 Mongols in the Battle of Bardav.

First Mongol Invasion

Prelude

After the victory in Georgia, the Mongols continued marching north, plundering several cities, including the capital of Shirvan, modern-day Azerbaijan, Shemakha. The Nomads reached Derbent, where they treacherously killed Lezgin ambassadors, and then managed to pass by the city, killing several Dagestanis along the way. After passing by the Andiy mountain range, the Mongols entered the Durdzuk soil. Following the route through Durdzuketia, they passed by modern-day Kharachoy, then Vedeno, then the Khulkhulau gorge, Shali, and lastly, modern-day Grozny.

Clash on the Sunzha River

On their way through the Caucasus, the Mongols struck fear into the locals with "massacres, robbery and devastation". "These (Mongols)", according to Ibn al-Asir, "had pity on no one, they beat men, women, babies, ruptured the wombs of pregnant women and killed the fetuses." According to legends, the ancestors of the Chechens used traditional methods of defending their land when the enemy moved along the gorge: blockades, throwing rocks, battling in the forest, luring the enemy into their territory and massive pursuit, exhausting and demoralising enemy forces, and only after that, a decisive victory. This gave the highlanders enough time to gather a great force and prepare for a big battle.

Battle of Khankala

This heavily weakened the Mongol army, which gave the mountaineers enough time to regroup and rearm for an impending battle. The Durdzuks allied themselves with the Alans, Circassians and the Lezghins to defeat the Mongols. The Cumans joined them and convinced the Volga-Bulgars and Khazars to join. With all these nations combined, the army of the Coalition forces numbered around 50,000, who were led by the brother of the Cuman Khan, Yuri and his son, Daniel. The Mongols, who arrived with army less than 30,000, quickly realized that the battle was not winnable. Yet, in the following Battle of Khankala, the Coalition forces failed to decisively defeat the Mongols. It did end up in a victory for the coalition, and the Mongols fled, but planned a second battle. But this time, they convinced the Cumans to leave the battlefield by reminding them of the Turkic-Mongol friendship, and promising them treasures of the Caucasian tribes. The Cumans agreed, and left, and with it, the odds were on the sides of the Mongols. With this arrangement settled, the Mongols attacked the alliance's army and routed it. The Mongols then proceeded to attack the Cumans, who had split into two separate groups as they were returning home, destroying both armies and executing all the prisoners before sacking Astrakhan. The Mongols began pursuing the Cumans as they fled in a north-westerly direction, after which, they continued and reached modern-day Ukraine where they defeated a coalition force of several European nations, including Russia in the Battle of the Kalka River.

Uprising of 1227

After the death of Genghis Khan and his son Jochi, anti-Mongol uprisings in Eastern Europe and the North Caucasus broke out, which led the respective tribes to break free from cultural and political influence of the Mongols.

Second Mongol Invasion

In 1228, the newly elected Ögedei Khan sent an army 30,000 strong to the North Caucasus to crush the rebellion. Between the years 1229–1232, the Mongol army went around Ciscaucasia to defeat the rebels. The campaign ended in the depopulation of the North Caucasian steppe.

Third Mongol Invasion

In 1237, the third assault on the North Caucasus began. Mongols launched the first attacks: against the Circassians and the Alans (note that at this time, the Alan kingdom was actually highly multiethnic and was partially Dzurdzuk). Alanian villages in what is now northern Ingushetia, a part of northwestern Chechnya and North Ossetia were completely destroyed. Having consolidated their rule over the western parts of the Terek, the Mongols then moved East along the river to attack the Durdzuk state. According to Rashid al-Din Hamadani wrote that the "Sassan people" fought against the armies of Kadan and Büri and successfully held the Mongols at the Terek River back. However, the fall of Derbent (capital of the Lezgins) and Georgia gave the Mongols the chance to invade from the east and south respectively. In an emergency meeting held in the capital Tsontaroy in the year 1238 it was decided to send a force under the commander Idig to stop the Mongol advance at Mt. Tebulosmta, which succeeded, with Idig managing to hold back the Mongols for the following 12 years (see "Themes in folklore" section). Due to the lack of troops however, the Durdzuk forces only managed to hold the Mongols back for the following two years until they collapsed and after a short fight, the Mongols captured the Durdzuk capital Tsontaroy, after which the ruler of the Durdzuks, the aged Khasi I., who, according to legends, was blind, surrendered in the year 1240 and began running a pro-Mongol administration. This event is also mentioned in the Chinese chronicle "Yuan-Shi", in which it states that "Khan Khusy (=Prince Khasi), the ruler of the land of the Assans", was subjugated by the Mongol Khan. After the capitulation, the Mongols reduced the army stationed in Durdzuketia and according to the Persian historian Rashid ad-Din, the army stationed in "the land of the Sassens" counted around 10,000 men. But in 1241, with the death of Ögedei Khan, an insurgency in the highlands led by Khasi's I. son, Khour I., broke out. Khasi was killed shortly afterwards by the Genghisides because of Khour, making him the next leader of Durdzuketia. The Mongols once again invaded Durdzuketia and pushed the rebels into the mountains.

The attack on Durdzuketia, already having been commenced, intensified, and the Mongols went as far as the highlands in their attacks. Here, too, the Dzurdzuks proved no match for the arrows and flames of the Mongols, and their villages were totally destroyed. Amjad Jaimoukha states that a majority of the Dzurdzuk people were probably killed by the Mongols. Adding to the misfortune of the Durdzuks, the Mongols successfully established control over much of the Sunzha river, which was an existential threat to the Durdzuk people due to their need for the Sunzha's (as well as the Terek's) agriculture to support their population. Those remaining joined their mountainous brethren in the highlands (lowland Circassians fled to the Circassian highlands, Alans to southern parts of Alania, and Dzurdzuks to southern Dzurdzuk territory), fleeing out of lack of an alternative. They regrouped, reorganized and under the leadership of Khour I., they planned a counterattack on the Turkic-Mongol invaders. Their goal was to survive both biologically and culturally.

Failure and collapse of Durdzuketia

Due to the state system of Durdzuketia (see Simsir article, "Society" section), the Prince, weakened by the Mongols, lacked the power to subjugate his vassals, which led to the state falling into a civil war, with many (former) Vassals of the Prince, such as Ors, Botur, etc. turning against their ruler (see below).

The beginning of Khour's I. resistance

The surrender of the prince made the Durdzuks furious, but with no leader, the situation in Dzurdzuketi softened. Coincidentally however, Ögedei Khan died not long after, which caused the Durdzuks to rise up once again and face the Mongols. So was it that the son of Khasi I., Khour I., organized a large rebellion, this time not in the lowlands, but in the mountains. Because of Khour's disloyalty to the Khan, Khasi I. was killed by the Genghisides. Khour I. became the next ruler and prince of Durdzuketia and under him, the resistance continued. The brutal tactics of the Mongols forced the Durdzuks under the leadership of prince Khour I. to retreat into the mountains, where they regrouped and rearmed, which caused the Mongols to continue their campaign and even going as far as the highlands. This caused Khour I. to conduct a guerilla campaign against the invaders. It is because of this reason that the guerilla tactics (using the rugged terrain and thick forests of Durdzuketia) were perfected. This, combined with the independent clan system, made it almost impossible for the Mongols to defeat Khour.

King Navraz

After his defeat in the Siege of Germenchig, King Navraz fled to the north of the Terek river. With the arrival of the Mongols, he once again returned to Durdzuketia, planning to reconquer historic and lost lands.

Prince Ors/Ors-Ela

Together with Prince Khasi I, Prince Ors, ruler of the village Arsoy, surrendered to the Nomadic invaders. In the Chinese chronicle Yuan-Shi, among the names of Alan rulers who submitted to the Mongol-Tatars and constituted an adiministration of vassal Alania, the name Arsa-Lan is mentioned. H. A. Khizriev writes: "For example, when Mengu-Timur took the city of the "Assun ruler" Arsa-Lan and the latter expressed his obedience to him, Mengu Khan "issued to Arsa-Lan a charter to govern the Assu people". The people of Orso back then were part of the Sadoy clan, and the founding of the free clan of "Orsoy" can actually be traced back to the Mongol invasion. After having acquired the support of the Mongols, Ors-Ela gathered an army and conquered neighboring areas. He conducted several campaigns against neighboring clans, which forced most of them to join the counter-campaign conducted by Khour I. He conquered settlements as west as the village Peshkhoy. According to A. S. Suleymanov, Ors-Ela conducted a campaign against the Sadoy people and the Sado-village, which he won, forcing the Sadoy clan to flee deeper into the mountains. A. S. Suleymanov writes: "In the south of Elistanzhiy, there lived the Sadoy and Peshkhoy clans, who were driven out by a stronger tribe, led by Ors-Ela." The defeat of the Sadoy people marked the beginning of the Orsoy clan.

Prince Botur

Botur Ela/Prince Botur was the prince of the Durdzuk village Boturcha during the Mongol invasion. Unlike Khasi I. or Ors, however, Botur did not show any kind of resistance and accepted Mongol citizenship, as well as pacifying Chechen rulers that opposed the pro-Mongol regime. According to some sources, Esirat, the wife of Khour I., was the niece of Botur. All of the aforementioned rulers played a crucial role in the Battle of Sadoy-Lam (see below).

Battle of Sadoy-Lam

For several years did the Dzurdzuks raid Mongol posts in the lowlands, as well as villages ruled by a pro-Mongol leader. One of such raids took place in 1252, near the village Selmentavzen in south-eastern Chechnya. Before the battle, the most powerful princes of Durdzuketia, those being prince Ors, Botur and Navraz, gathered their forces near Mt. Sadoy-Lam, waiting for the impending Durdzuk attack. A part of the Mongol army (less than 10,000 men) was also involved. During the battle, Khour's forces failed to capture the mountain and suffered a devastating defeat, which put a final end to Durdzuketia and the Durdzuk resistance. Khour I. died not long after and the dynasty got abolished.

Aftermath

The Dzurdzuks retreated into the mountains and isolated themselves from other clans, which made it hard for the Mongols to establish a pro-Mongol government in the highlands. The only time the highlanders came down from the mountains was to raid Mongol posts and to steal Mongol herd. This, combined with the extreme hostility of the mountain tribes, caused the Mongols to not conduct punitive campaigns too deep into the mountains, as a potential ambush was way too costly for the Mongols.

Jaimoukha cites a writing of Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, a Papal Ambassador to the Mongols, in 1245–1247. He apparently asserted that the Khan's armies had failed to take the mountainous parts of the eastern part of Alania, to which they had been laying siege for 12 years already, because of the persistence of the defenders (who were, according to Jaimoukha, almost certainly Dzurdzuks given their geographical location). William of Rubruck, the emissary of the Kingdom of France to Sartaq Khan (son of Batu) travelled to the Caucasus in 1253. He wrote that the Circassians had never "bowed to Mongol rule", despite the fact that whole fifth of the Mongol armies were at that time devoted to the task of crushing North Caucasian resistance.

Struggle for land between Durdzuk princes

After the victory of Sadoy-Lam, the Mongols successfully provoked armed conflicts between the tens of Durdzuk city-states. King Navraz, who originally wished for Nokhch-Mokhk (east Chechnya) back, was killed by his wife shortly after the victory. Ors-Ela conducted a campaign against Botur-Ela, which eventually led to the collapse of both states. It is assumed by some historians that the Durdzuk city-state Simsir came out victorious, uniting the peoples of Nokhch-Mokhk as well as conquering lands along the Sunzha river.

Long-term effects of the Mongol invasions

Themes in folklore

The struggles against much more numerous and well-armed invaders cost much hardship on the part of ordinary people, and these struggles and hardships became an important part of the folklore of the modern Chechen and Ingush. One particular tale recounts how the former inhabitants of Argun, during the first invasion and the surrounding area held a successful defense (waged by men, women and children) of the slopes of Mount Tebulosmta, before returning after that to reconquer their home region. Amjad Jaimoukha notes that many of the tales are, in fact, coincident with historical accounts by Western travelers such as Pian de Carpine who reported that in 1250 a part of Alans had defended a mountain for 12 years. This report has been connected to a Chechen folktale first recorded by I. A. Krasnov in 1967 about an old hunter called Idig who, with his companions, defended a mountain for 12 years against a Mongol-Tatar horde:

The next year, with the onset of summer, the enemy hordes came again to destroy the highlanders. But even this year they failed to capture the mountain, on which the brave Chechens settled down. The battle lasted twelve years. The main wealth of the Chechens - livestock - was stolen by the enemies. Tired of the long years of hard struggle, the Chechens, believing the assurances of mercy by the enemy, descended from the mountain, but the Mongol-Tatars treacherously killed the majority. This fate was escaped only by Idig and a few of his companions who did not trust the nomads and remained on the mountain. They managed to escape and leave Mount Dakuoh after 12 years of siege.

— Amin Tesaev, The Legend and struggle of the Chechen hero Idig (1238-1250)

End of Dzurdzuk statehood and of the feudal system

However, fierce resistance did not prevent the utter destruction of the state apparatus of Dzurdzuketia. Historical and state documents (mainly written in Georgian script) were also destroyed in mass amounts. As Amjad Jaimoukha puts it, "the historical link of times and cultures was broken". The feudal system of vassals and lords also fell into shambles. The contribution of men, women and children of all classes paired with the destruction of the feudal system during the war, rich and poor also helped the Vainakh to develop a strong sense of egalitarianism, which was one of the major causes for the revolt against their new lords after the end of the Mongol invasions.

Religious implications

Pagan sanctuaries as well as the Orthodox Christian churches in the south were utterly destroyed. Under the conditions of the invasion, Christianity was unable to sustain itself in Chechnya, and as its sanctuaries and priests fell, those who had converted reverted to paganism for spiritual needs. As a result, "neo-paganism" gained in ascendance, as many new pagan temples were built, while Orthodox Christian churches were converted. The Malkhi, Lam-Aekkhii, and Kist clans, which reside in southern areas, however, remained Orthodox Christian.

Cultural effects

Military tower in Chanta

The utter destruction of the Durdzuks' statehood, their lifestyle (and in the south, their religion), and much of their knowledge of history caused them to rebuild their culture in many ways. The population developed various methods of resistance and much of their later lifestyle during the resistance to the Mongols and in between the two wars. The clan system mapped onto battlefield organization. Guerrilla tactics using mountains and forests were perfected. It was during the Mongol invasions that the military defense towers that one associates today with the Vainakh population (see Nakh Architecture) came into being. Many served simultaneously as homes, as sentry posts, and as fortresses from which one could launch spears, arrows, etc. The overcrowding and lack of arable land caused the Chechens to devise new agricultural methods for the highlands including terracing plots and introducing soil.

During the period after the invasions, due to contacts between the Durdzuks and Mongol and Turkic populations, there was a low degree of Mongolian cultural influences dating back to the period. The period where the Durdzuk state of Simsir was a tribute to the Golden Horde (during the fourteenth century and ending in 1395 when Simsir was destroyed by Timurlane because of this alliance) is thought by Amjad Jaimoukha to be the origin of the custom of `amanat, whereby the children of nobles were given as pledged hostages. Such children were sent to the Khanate's court, where they learned the Mongol language, and they could be put to death or enslaved if the Golden Horde desired. This custom later became associated with the giving of hostages to cement pledges across the North Caucasus.

The concept of mythical beast known as the "almaz" or "hun-sag", an evil forest creature with enchanted hair, also dates to Mongol influence (the same is true for the Circassian almesti) with the word almaz being a loan from Mongolian where it originally meant "forest-man"; Jaimoukha also proposes that the Mongol name may have become used in the place of a native name during the sojourn of the Golden Horde over Simsir.

Land conflicts with the Nogai over the rivers

After defending the highlands, the Chechens attacked Mongol control of the lowlands (after both Mongol invasions had occurred). Much of this area still had nominal Chechen owners (as per the clan system which acknowledges the ownership of a piece of land by a certain teip), even after generations upon generations of not living there. Much was retaken, only to be lost again due to the second invasion. After that, the Chechens managed to take most (but not all) of their former holdings on the Sunzha, but most of the Terek remained in Kypchak hands.

The conflicts did not stop however, as there were clans that had ownership of lands now inhabited by Turkic peoples, meaning that if they did not retake the lands, they would lack their own territory and be forever reliant on the laws of hospitality of other clans (doing great damage to their honor). Conflicts between Nakh and Turkic peoples had originated from the Mongol invasions when Dzurdzuks were driven out of the Terek and Sunzha rivers by Turco-Mongolian invaders (the Nogais) and continued as late as the 1750s and 1770s. After that, the conflict was with newer arrivals in Northern Chechnya: the Cossacks.

End of the Chechen-Georgian alliance and later replacement

As the Georgian-allied state of Dzurdzuketia was destroyed, so was the alliance the Dzurdzuks had with the Georgians – the 13th century saw the end of it. This meant that when invaded from the north, they found help from other sources. The Chechen feudal state of Simsir, which was founded in the 14th century, allied itself not to Georgia, but to the Golden Horde, and even nominally converted to Islam, when faced with the threat of invasion. This underlines the causes for the later conversion of the Chechens to Islam in the 16th to 19th centuries, in order to secure the sympathy of the Ottoman Empire and the rest of the Muslim world in their conflict with the Christian state of Russia.

See also

• History of Chechnya
• History of Ingushetia