About some Controversial Stories Related to the Campaign of Chormagan in Iran in Muslim Sources

Abstract

Research objectives: The Mongol-Khorezm war of 1219–1221 affected mainly the lands of Khorasan, Transoxiana and modern Afghanistan, while the Iranian territories did not experience the horrors of the invasion, except during the campaign of Subedei and Jebe. As a result, after 1223, the lands of Iran either became part of the state of khorezmshah Jalal al-Din Mankburni, or local ruling elites were formed there. This fact was the main cause of the campaign of Mongol commander Chormagan in the lands of Iran, and then in the south Caucasus. Despite the existing research dealing with Chormagan’s biography and activities, certain narratives related to him in Muslim sources continue to be a matter of debate. This study is devoted to their analysis. Research materials: The author sought to use the entire corpus of Muslim sources, which reflected the biography of Chormagan and the Mongol actions on the territory of Iran and neighboring regions in the 1220s and early 1230s. Special attention is paid to the information from the texts belonging to the genre of “local histories”, much less often used by researchers to solve similar scholarly issues. Research results and novelty: The analysis of information from the Muslim sources in this article allowed, first of all, to cast doubt on some conclusions present in the most famous reconstruction of Chormagan’s biography, written by Timothy May. They are related to the date of the beginning of the Chormagan’s campaign, which ended with the subjugation of the Iranian lands and led to the Mongol invasion of the South Caucasus. In addition, taking into account the data provided in this article, it should be noted that the reconstruction of the route taken by the Mongol detachments also requires a significant revision. Finally, it should be recognized that some military formations of the conquerors operated in various regions of modern Iran before and simultaneously with the beginning of the Chormagan’s campaign.