#tekish

[ntls-24722]

guys 😲 i kinda went insane today

the real reason robots shouldn't be given emotions is that if they fall in love they will be INSUFFERABLE! INSUFFERABLE, I TELL YOU

stop swooning and get back to WORK 💥💥💥💥💥

closeups so you can see how hard i filtered this

having mamy thoughts about the fact he is... a machine. rigid. plastic. inorganic. lifeless... what more could you ask for in a man 😍

put most of the thoughts in tekish because i thought they were too CRINGE (even though i'm already cringe) but i think i did go hard with one of them

"I do not have viscera, but when your name comes across my CPU my circuits spark in rhythm just like your heartbeat "

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

MUHAMMAD II KHWAREZM-SHAH

'Ala al-Din Muhammad ibn Tekish was the penultimate ruler of the Khwarezmian Empire from 1200-1220. In the opinion of contemporaries like Ibn al-Athir, he was the most powerful Islamic monarch since the collapse of the Great Seljuqs, ruling a realm stretching from the Caucasus, today's Iran across Central Asia to the Syr Darya River. His armies were vast; Juzjani speaks of him (allegedly) raising 400,000 men and horse "arrayed in defensive armour," to send against Qara-Khitai (Juzjani/Ravery vol. 1, pg. 262-263). He greatly expanded the Khwarezmian realm, absorbing much of the lands of his dynasty's long-time rivals, the Qara-Khitai and the Ghurids. At the height of his confidence, he even marched on Baghdad itself, though a vicious winter storm while crossing the Zagros Mountains brought an end to that campaign. This did not stop his from styling himself "the Second Alexander [the Great]."

Of course, pride cometh before the fall. Muhammad II in many ways embodied all the characteristics of Anushteginid Dynasty of Khwarezm; an intelligence, well learned man, yet scheming, paranoid, cruel and expansionistic. The fact that in 1212 he carried out his own massacre of the population of Samarkand is often forgotten. He struggled to control his Qipchaq-Qangli relations, who formed not only an important military element of the empire, but an elite within it. He often feuded with his mother, Terken Khatun, and the actions of his uncle Inalchuq at Otrar to a group of merchants sent by Chinggis Khan —the infamous Otrar Massacre in 1218— forced Muhammad, reluctantly or otherwise, into war with the Mongol Empire. By the end of 1220 Muhammad was dead on a island in the Caspian Sea, his empire overrun by the Mongols.

I talk about Mongol heavy cavalry in the war against Khwarezm in my latest video:

[ntls-24722]

i found this when looking up keysmashes and i remembered that i used to write fanfic and i used to write it in tekish

i should that again... the fanfics were all bad and i will be taking them to my grave but i got to write a lot of emotional buzzwords that pleased my neurons at the time, and it's great because it's also harder to read so everytime i read it its like i read it for the first time again

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

Yelu Dashi (r. 1134-1143) was the founder of the Qara-Khitai Khanate, and his grandson Yelu Zhilugu (r. 1177-1211) was the final ruler (Gur-khan) of that Khanate. The Qara-Khitai was a fascinating, but little known empire. The Khitan Liao Dynasty (907-1125) was quickly overrun by the Jurchen Jin (1115-1234) in the early 12th century, and Yelu Dashi, a Khitan noble related to the imperial family, fled China, crossing Mongolia and eventually making his way to central Asia, where he established the Qara Khitai. The Qara Khitai went on to control an area from Transoxania to the Tarim Basin, mighty empire combing Chinese-Khitan ruling customs over a largely Muslim population. After Dashi's death in 1143 the empire declined, and the long rule of his grandson Zhilugu marked the final years of the dynasty. Vassals broke away, financial crisis gripped the empire, religious factionalism began to tear it apart and his former vassals, the Khwarezm-Shahs, challenged and fought with him. The appearance of a Naiman prince, Kuchlug, fleeing the wrath of Chinggis Khan in Mongolia and welcomed into the Qara-Khitai, tipped the balance against Zhilugu. Even though he married a daughter of Zhilugu and was given titles and power, he betrayed his step father, raiding the imperial treasury and conspiring with the Khwarezm-Shah, Muhammad bin Tekish. In late 1211, Kuchlug captured Zhilugu while he was on a hunting trip, and kept the former Gur-Khan captive while claiming power for himself. In the end, Kuchlug's ascension brought Chinggis Khan and the Mongol Empire to Central Asia, now bordering the Khwarezmian Empire... To learn more about the Qara Khitai, check out my latest videos: Part One, the Rise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k22BPOpihhQ Part Two, the Decline: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj5MzSmo8-I

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

TÜMELÜN: REVENGE OF THE DAUGHTER OF CHINGGIS KHAN

All historians of the Mongol Empire should know the names of Chinggis Khan’s four sons with Börte by heart -Jochi, Chagatai, Ögedai, Tolui. But the daughters with Börte enjoy much less fame. Did you know that Chinggis and Börte’s first child was in fact, a daughter? Jochi was not their first born, but a daughter named Qojin Beki. With Börte, there was in fact five daughters: Qojin Beki, Chechiyegen, Alaqa Beki, Tümelün, and Al-Altan (which means poor Börte bore nine children who survived to adulthood- no mention is made if she had any who died in infancy). Most of these daughters are known simply in the context of their marriages- Qojin Beki to Butu of the Ikires, Chechiyegen into the Oirat royal family, Alaqa Beki perhaps most famously to the Önggud (and what a mess that would be for them) and Al-Altan to the Uighur idiqut, Barchuq Art-Tegin. His daughter Tümelün (very close in name to his sister Temülen) he married to one of his commanders, Toquchar Noyan.

Generally when do know events from his daughters’ lives, they are purely in political or genealogical contexts; mostly relating to the daughters married into the Önggud and Uighur royal families, or how, for instance, Chechiyegen became the ancestor of many members of the Ilkhanate royal family. But one event we know which was deeply personal comes from the life of Tümelün. Her husband Toquchar was one of the top generals in the Empire; when Chinggis Khan began the war with the Jin Dynasty in 1211, Toquchar was the man stationed in western Mongolia to protect from any attack in that direction (or crush any rebellions in the region). When the Mongol armies were unleashed against the Khwarezmian Empire, Toquchar was among them, and when Jebe and Sübe’edei were sent to pursue Khwarezm-shah Muhammad bin Tekish, Toquchar followed as their rearguard. It was in this capacity that Toquchar was killed by an arrow from the walls of Nishapur (in modern Iran) in November 1220. The people of Nishapur celebrated their small victory, watching the angry Mongols slink off, unable to assault the walls. But the Mongols could never forgive the death of a royal prince.

Over the following weeks, whenever a party of Mongols appeared near Nishapur, a party would ride out to attack them, driving them off or bringing their heads back to the city. The winter was hard that year in Nishapur, as high prices for food (doubtless brought on by the ongoing Mongol invasion of Khwarezm) caused revolt and hunger in the city. Spring brought no relief, for Chinggis Khan sent his son Tolui to bring to heel cities in eastern Iran which had revolted- among them, Nishapur. In spring 1221, Tolui, perhaps the least merciful of all Chinggis Khan’s children, arrived outside the walls of Nishapur with a massive army, rows of catapults and siege machines set up to pound the walls into dust. The garrison put up a fierce defence with their own machines, thousands of crossbows, missiles and naptha. To no avail. As morale in the city crumbled alongside the walls, the people sent out their qadi to ask for terms- he was greeted with Tolui’s sword arm. There would be no mercy for Nishapur- nor could there be, for their affront to kill a son-in-law (güregen) of the house of Chinggis.

Once Tolui had advanced into the city, the defence crushed beneath his heel and the slaughter began, then he allowed his sister, Tümelün, to accompany him into the city. In the account of ‘Ala-al-Din Juvaini, our main source for the siege, Tümelün and his bodyguard proceed to kill whoever they came across among the survivors, violently avenging her husband. According to Juvaini, only four hundred craftsmen were spared at Nishapur to be sent in service of the Khan elsewhere- not even cats and dogs were spared in the violence, and great pyramids of skulls were stacked outside of the city ruins. Tümelün’s life, as far as I know, is unrecorded after this episode, so we cannot know if killing so many innocents brought her any comfort.

Most details of the siege come from ‘Ala al-Din Juviani, The History of the World-Conqueror. Vol. I. Translated by John Andrew Boyle, pages 169-178. Juvaini does not mention Tümelün by name, but only as Toquchar’s chief wife- whom we know from other sources to have been Tümelün.

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

JALAL AL-DIN RAIDING INDIA, 1222-1224

The eldest son of Khwarezm-Shah Muhammad bin Tekish, Jalal al-Din Mingburnu was rather unlike his father in that he was noted for his courage and skill at arms. While the Muslim sources of the Mongol invasion of Khwarezm routinely condemn Shah Muhammad for his actions instigating the Mongol invasion, Jalal al-Din receives praise, depicted as desiring to lead an active defence. Ultimately, he accompanied his father for most of his flight, until Shah Muhammad died in winter 1220, and Jalal al-Din assumed the mantle of leadership. However, he was unable to unite the remaining generals of Khwarezm, and while he was able to rally a force to his banner and famous defeat the Mongols at Parwan in summer 1221, his small coalition broke apart from a dispute over loot, and Jalal al-Din began to flee towards India. Only narrowly escaping Chinggis Khan on the Indus river around November 1221, Jalal al-Din spent the next few years in India. Based mostly in the Salt Range, he attacked the major Ghurid successor states (that of Iltutmish, -the Delhi Sultanate,- and Qubacha, ruler of much of the Indus River), but was there unable to actually build a reliable base to strike back at the Mongols. Though he vassalized Qubacha and did have some friendly relations with Iltutmish as points, while raiding in Gujarat he learned of an alliance between Qubacha, Iltutmish and local Hindu princes being formed against him. Seeing the writing was on the wall, he abandoned India and made for his half-brother's territory in western Iran. You can learn more about the consequences of Jalal al-Din's time in India, and why Chinggis Khan chose not to invade the subcontinent, in my video on the topic: youtu.be/EkhbinEtSAY

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

A copy of Barthold's classic "Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasions," I've been reading through online. Wonderful details on topics that are hard to find information on (such as the reign of Khwarazm-Shah Tekish, father of Shah Muhammad II who incited the Mongol invasion). It is a bit dated, being ~8 decades old, so there has been much progression in the historiography since (and increased access to Chinese sources, which Barthold's work seems to lack: his Qara-Khitai discussion is notably underwhelming). Worth a read, but in conjunction with more recent works.