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Chinggis Khan and His Conquest of Khorasan: Causes and Consequences CHINGGIS KHAN AND HIS CONQUEST OF KHORASAN: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES BY ANIBA ISRAT ARA ARSHAD ISLAM INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA ABSTRACT This book explores the causes and consequences of Chinggis Khan’s invasion of Khorasan in the 13th century. It discusses Chinggis Khan’s charismatic leadership qualities that united all nomadic tribes and gave him the authority to become the supreme Mongol leader, which helped him to invade Khorasan. It also focuses on the rise of the Muslim cities in Khorasan where many Muslim scholars kept their intellectual brilliance and made Khorasan the cultural capital of the Muslims. This study apprises us of Chinggis Khan’s war tactics and administrative system which made his men extremely strong and advanced despite their culture remaining barbaric in nature. His progeny also followed a similar policy for a long time until all Muslim cities were fully destroyed. The work also focuses on the rise of many sectarian divisions among the Muslims which brought disunity that eventually led to their downfall. Thus, this study underscores the importance of revitalization of unity in the Muslim world so that Muslims may not become vulnerable to any foreign imperialistic power. Unity also is the key to preserve Muslim intellectual thought and Islamic cultural identities. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the beginning, I would like to say that all praise is to Allah (swt) Almighty; despite the difficulties, with His mercy, and the strength, patience and resilience that He has bestowed on me, I completed my work. I am heartily thankful to my beloved supervisor to Dr. Arshad Islam, whose encouragement, painstaking supervision and tireless motivating from the beginning of my long journey to the concluding level helped me to complete this study. My supervisor also is my Head of the Department. Despite the difficulties of leading the department, he helped with the correction of all chapters in my research. I deeply owe him a debt of gratitude. May Allah reward him, his family members, relatives and friends abundantly. I am greatly thankful to Prof. Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Abushouk for his special attention to my beginning of the research. I offer my regards and blessings to all my lecturers in my department, particularly Prof. Dr. Ghassan Taha Yassen, Dr. Wan Suhana Wan Sulong, Prof. Dr. Hassan Ahmed Ibrahim, Prof. Dr. Abdullah al-Ahsan, Dr. Hafiz Zakariya, and Prof. Dr. Ataullah Kopanski. I also offer my blessing to Sister Azura Abdul Jalil (the Secretary, Department of History and Civilization) for her assistance. I would like to express my gratitude to my family, my husband Rafikul Islam, daughter Rifat-un-Nisa and son Minhaj-ul-Abedin for their encouragement, vast reserves of patience and wholehearted support during this long journey. Also I would like to thank my father and siblings for their unending love, encouragement and support. Finally, I would like to thank my friends, relatives and in-laws for their good wishes to me. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract.......................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements........................................................................................................ ii Table of Contents........................................................................................................... iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.............................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of the study............................................................................... 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem.............................................................................. 5 1.3 Objectives of the Study................................................................................. 5 1.4 Literature Review.......................................................................................... 5 1.5 Research Methods......................................................................................... 10 1.6 Proposed Chapter Outlines............................................................................ 10 CHAPTER 2: RISE OF CHINGGIS KHAN............................................................ 12 2.1 Introduction................................................................................................... 12 2.1.1 Background of Mongols..................................................................... 12 2.1.2 The status of the tribes........................................................................ 13 2.1.3 The culture of the Mongols................................................................ 13 2.2 Early life of Chinggis Khan.......................................................................... 16 2.3 Unification of Mongols by Chinggis Khan................................................... 18 2.3.1 Alliance and friendship.......................................................... ............. 19 2.3.2 Warrior ability..................................................................................... 21 2.3.3 Adoption of new techniques and practices.......................................... 23 2.3.4 Super personality................................................................................. 23 CHAPTER 3: KHORASAN IN MUSLIM HISTORY............................................. 25 3.1 Introduction................................................................. ................................... 25 3.1.1 Early History of Khorasan................................................................... 26 3.2 Rise of Islam in Khorasan.......................................................... .................... 29 3.2.1 The Tahirids (821-873 CE)................................................................. 35 3.2.2 The Saffarids (867 -903 CE)................................................................ 37 3.2.3 The Samanids (819-1005 CE)............................................................. 37 3.2.4 The Ghaznavids (977 -1030)................................................................ 39 3.2.5 The Seljuks (1037-1192 CE)............................................................... 42 3.2.6 The Ghurids (1149-1212 CE).............................................................. 43 3.2.7 The Khwarizmi (1177-1231 CE)......................................................... 44 3.3 The Situation of Muslims in Khorasan until the 13 th Century....................... 47 3.3.1 Mathematics......................................................................................... 50 3.3.2 Astronomy........................................................................................... 53 3.3.3 Chemistry............................................................................................. 55 3.3.4 Medicine.............................................................................................. 56 3.3.5 Islamic learning and literature............................................................. 57 3.3.6 Historians and geographers and biographers....................................... 58 iii 3.3.7 Architecture and Calligraphy............................................................... 59 3.3.8 Industry............................................................................................... 60 CHAPTER 4: CHINGGIS KHAN’S CONQUEST OF KHORASAN................... 62 4.1 The Reason for His Conquest......................................................................... 62 4.1.1 His Conquest of Khorasan................................................................... 63 4.2 His Strategy of War......................................................................................... 69 4.2.1 The Decimal system............................................................................. 70 4.2.2 The role of spies and guards................................................................. 70 4.2.3 Equality and unity among all the tribes................................................ 71 4.2.4 Breaking tribal allegiance..................................................................... 71 4.2.5 Troop Mob ility...................................................................................... 71 4.2.6 Horsemanship....................................................................................... 72 4.2.7 Hunting with bow and arrow.................. ............................................. 72 4.2.8 System of plundering............................................................................ 73 4.4 The Nature of His Administration...................................................... ............. 73 4.4.1 Justice................................................................................................... 73 4.4.2 Security of life...................................................................................... 75 4.4.3 Strict disciplinary rules......................................................................... 75 4.4.4 Job opportunity..................................................................................... 75 4.4.5 Continuous adoption policy................................................................ 76 CHAPTER 5: THE IMPACT OF CHINGGIS KHAN’S CONQUEST................ 77 5.1 The Destruction of Islamic society.................................................................. 77 5.2 Chinggis Khan’s Rule over Khorasan............................................................. 77 5.3 The Impact of Islam on the Mongols.............................................................
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