7 replies to this topic

[世中豪杰]

During The Mongol Invasion period,
Why was the following :

1 ) Mongols did not conquer India
2 ) Siam, Laos & Cambodia not conquered by Mongolia
3 ) Egypt was not conquered

Edited by General_Zhaoyun, 10 June 2009 - 10:00 AM.

[chy]

I'll make a brief attempt at answering no.2.

The main impediment to the Mongol conquest of Southeast Asia was the hot and humid climate. It caused sickness and desease (malaria) among the Mongol soldiers. The thick tropical vegetation was also unsuited to Mongol methods of warfare, mainly cavalry charges.

Dominance over Vietnam was another factor which the Mongols failed to achieve due to fierce resistance. Control of Vietnam would have provided a springboard for the conquest of Laos, Cambodia and Siam, but they were unable to establish military control of Vietnam.

A book I would recommend reading is Conqueror of the World by Rene Grousset. It's out of print but you can probably find it at places like Alibris or one of the online book dealers.

[ZhongYuan]

1) India was not conquered by Mongols but was by their successors, which is why the Mughals (meaning Mongols) claim descendancy from Timur, who in turn claim relation to Genghis.

[SNK_1408]

3 ) Egypt was not conquered

Mongol lost the war with Mamluk and at same period Mongol army have to return to Mongolia due to death of their great khan.

[One time poster]

Southeast Asian leaders were still afraid of a Mongol invasion. Many of them prepared themselves to resist an invasion.

[Mipp]

The Battle of Ayn Jalut, in which the Mamluks of Egypt defeated Hulagu Khan's Mongols, is a fascinating battle. Hulagu Khan had already destroyed the Hashshashin (the famous Assassin cult of Persia), sacked Baghdad, and crushed Syria. He intended to march forward into Egypt to take Cairo. But in 1259, Mongke Khan, Hulagu's brother and the Great Khan, died and Hulagu had to return to Karakorum to await the decision on who the next Great Khan would be. He left his forces under the command of his general, Kitbuqa.

The Mamluks were a very odd group -- slaves who ran the government. Qutuz, who was the Mamluk sultan of Egypt at the time, decided to proactively combat the Mongols. He knew without a doubt that Egypt was Kitbuqa's next target, and that his people would suffer the same fate as those of Baghdad and Damascus and Aleppo. He sent another Mamluk, Baibars, to Gaza to destroy the small Mongol garrison there. Then he set about negotiating with the Mamluk's traditional enemies: the Crusader kingdom of Acre (Akko). Acre preferred to remain neutral, but allowed the Mamluk army to travel through their lands. Thusly they slipped up the coast and met the Mongol army at Ayn Jalut, near the Jordan river.

Now it's important to remember now that the Mamluks themselves were overwhelmingly of Turkic or Circassian birth. They were people of the steppes just as the Mongols were, and familiar with their tactics and weapons. They were also fighting on familiar territory. Baibars baited the Mongols with a fake attack-retreat, drawing them into the hills where Qutuz's forces were waiting to ambush them with arrows and hand cannons and cavalry. The fighting was fierce. Qutuz personally beheaded Kitbuqa and the Mamluks were the victors.

Shortly after the battle, Qutuz was assassinated by a conspiracy led by Baibars, who became the new sultan. Hulagu Khan was never able to avenge his army's defeat, as he became mired in conflict with his Muslim cousin, Berke Khan, and was killed.

[Akskl]

The so-called "Mongols", Mamluks and Mughals spoke the same - Turkic language:

http://www.chinahist...showtopic=11740

[ThunderzonXT]

Mongol lost the war with Mamluk and at same period Mongol army have to return to Mongolia due to death of their great khan.

There actually weren't really any definite "war" with the Mamluks, especially when the Mongol invasion force was so tiny, while hundred of thousands are back in Asia trying to subdue the Song Dynasty. If maybe Egypt shows tremandous wealth, things might be different.

There wasn't really enough people the Mongol army have to stretch into the whole world, the fact that they have managed to defeat so many other factions while concentrating mainly in Song China is impressive (especially when they only dispatch a small amount of force against other factions in ratio to their army in central Asia). If the India civilization or the Egyptian is to be located right other the Mongols, I don't think they'll stand a chance at all.