The period from the early 13th to the mid-14th century is the era of Mongol rule in Central Asian history. It began with the destruction of cities and mass killing, continued with popular revolts, economic reforms and gradual recovery, and ended with the break-up of the Chagatai ulus, which opened the way for Amir Temur. The topic is important for understanding later Central Asian history, especially the conditions in which Temur’s state arose. Exams ask about the dates of conquest, revolts and their leaders, reforms and the structure of the uluses.
§1. The rise of the Mongol state
At the end of the 12th century the Mongol tribes were divided and at war. Temujin united them by force and alliances.
1206 — at a kurultai on the Onon river Temujin was proclaimed Genghis Khan (Chingiz Khan)
Genghis Khan organised the army on the decimal system (units of 10, 100, 1,000 and the tumen of 10,000) with strict discipline, and created the khan’s personal guard, the keshik.
The Yasa (Great Yasa) was Genghis Khan’s code of laws: military discipline, punishments for crimes and rules of loyalty to the khan.
The yam was a relay-station system: posts along the roads with fresh horses for couriers — vital for governing a vast empire and for trade.
The Mongols first attacked northern China and then turned west against the Khwarezmshah state.
§2. The conquest of Central Asia
The pretext: in 1218 at Otrar the Khwarezmshah’s governor plundered a Mongol trade caravan and killed the merchants; later Genghis Khan’s envoy was also executed.
1219–1221 — the Mongols conquered Central Asia
Otrar fell after a long siege (1220); Bukhara and Samarkand were taken in 1220; Temur Malik led the defence of Khujand.
Urgench fell in 1221 after fierce fighting and was destroyed by flooding; Najm al-Din Kubra died defending it.
Khwarezmshah Muhammad fled and died on an island in the Caspian Sea; his son Jalal al-Din Manguberdi continued to fight the Mongols.
Consequences: cities were destroyed, people killed or enslaved, irrigation systems wrecked and craftsmen driven off to Mongolia; economic and cultural life was set back for many years. Why the Mongols won: a strong, disciplined cavalry and good reconnaissance; siege technology learned from the Chinese; Khwarezmshah Muhammad’s decision to scatter his army among city garrisons and avoid open battle; and internal feuds between Muhammad, his mother Terken Khatun and the Kipchak emirs.
§3. The uluses and Mongol administration
After Genghis Khan’s death (1227) the empire was divided among his sons into uluses:
The ulus of Jochi (later the Golden Horde) — the Dasht-i Kipchak, northern Khwarezm and the Volga region.
The ulus of Chagatai — Transoxiana, Semirechye and Eastern Turkestan.
Ögedei became great khan (qa’an), with western Mongolia; Tolui received the Mongol heartland.
In the mid-13th century the Hulaguid (Ilkhanid) state was founded in Iran; lands south of the Amu Darya became part of it.
The Mongols often ruled settled regions not directly but through local officials: in Transoxiana the governors were the Khwarezmian merchant Mahmud Yalavach and his son Mas’ud Beg.
Taxes: censuses, a poll tax, trade duties (tamgha) and military obligations; Mongol representatives, the darughas, supervised tax collection.
§4. Resistance to Mongol oppression
1238 — the revolt of Mahmud Tarabi near Bukhara
Led by the craftsman (sieve-maker) Mahmud Tarabi, the rebels took Bukhara and once defeated a Mongol army; Tarabi was killed in the next battle and the revolt was crushed. Thanks to Mahmud Yalavach’s intervention the people of Bukhara were spared a massacre.
Causes: heavy taxes and the oppression of Mongol officials and local rich men.
Mid-14th century — the Sarbadar movement (“those who staked their heads on the gallows”)
In 1365 in Samarkand the defence against a Mongol (Jete) attack was led by Mavlonzoda (a madrasa student), Abu Bakr Kalavi (a cotton carder) and Khurdaki Bukhari; the city was successfully defended.
Afterwards the emirs Husayn and Temur executed the Sarbadar leaders (Mavlonzoda was spared at Temur’s request).
§5. Economic reforms and recovery
Mas’ud Beg (1271) carried out a currency reform: silver coins of uniform weight and quality were minted, reviving trade.
The reforms of Kebek Khan (1318–1326):
silver “kebeki” dinars and copper coins were minted, putting the currency in order;
an administrative reform divided the ulus into tumens;
the khan adopted a settled life and moved his residence to the Kashkadarya oasis; the name of the city of Karshi comes from the Mongol word for “palace”.
The Chagatai khans gradually adopted Islam: Khan Tarmashirin (1326–1334) converted and was visited by the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta.
In the 14th century cities and trade partly recovered, but tension between nomadic and settled elites persisted.
§6. The break-up of the ulus
In the mid-14th century the Chagatai ulus split in two: in the west, Transoxiana (ruled by Turkicised emirs); in the east, Moghulistan (the Jete — Mongols who kept nomadic traditions).
In Transoxiana the emirs of the Barlas, Jalayir, Qauchin and Suldus tribes fought one another; the khans often became their puppets.
Tughluq Timur, khan of Moghulistan, invaded Transoxiana in the 1360s.
This fragmentation and outside threat created the conditions for the rise of Amir Temur.
Cause and effect: political fragmentation → emirs’ feuds and Jete raids → need for strong central power → the rise of Temur (1370).
Main sources: Juvayni’s “History of the World Conqueror” and Rashid al-Din’s “Compendium of Chronicles”.
Worked example
“Match: 1) Mahmud Tarabi; 2) Kebek Khan; 3) Mas’ud Beg; 4) Mavlonzoda. a) division into tumens and kebeki coins; b) the revolt of 1238; c) the currency reform of 1271; d) the Sarbadars, 1365.”
Mahmud Tarabi — the revolt near Bukhara: 1–b.
Kebek Khan — administrative and currency reform: 2–a.
Mas’ud Beg — the 1271 currency reform: 3–c.
Mavlonzoda — Sarbadar leader: 4–d.
Answer: 1–b, 2–a, 3–c, 4–d.
Worked example
Chronology: “Order: Kebek Khan’s reforms; the proclamation of Genghis Khan; Mahmud Tarabi’s revolt; the Sarbadar defence of Samarkand; the fall of Urgench.”
Genghis Khan proclaimed — 1206.
Urgench — 1221.
Mahmud Tarabi — 1238.
Kebek Khan — 1318–1326.
Sarbadars — 1365.
Answer: 1206 → 1221 → 1238 → 1318–1326 → 1365.
Worked example
Source analysis: “They came, they sapped, they burnt, they slew, they plundered and they departed” (Juvayni, quoting a refugee on the fall of Bukhara). What does the source show, and how far can it be trusted?
The author, Juvayni, was a 13th-century Persian historian in Mongol service.
The source shows the destructiveness of the Mongol invasion through an eyewitness’s words.
Though he served the Mongols, the author did not hide the destruction — which makes the account more credible.
Answer: the sack of Bukhara in 1220; an important piece of evidence for the effects of the Mongol conquest.
Check yourself
Which ulus did Transoxiana belong to?
In what year was Temujin proclaimed Genghis Khan?
In what year was Mahmud Tarabi’s revolt?
In what year did the Sarbadars defend Samarkand?
What was the silver coin minted by Kebek Khan called?
What is Genghis Khan’s code of laws called?
Which ulus became the Golden Horde?
Who carried out the currency reform of 1271?
Common mistakes
Confusing the reforms of Kebek Khan and Mas’ud Beg: Mas’ud Beg — 1271, Kebek Khan — 1318–1326.
Placing Transoxiana in the Golden Horde (it belonged to the Chagatai ulus).
Dating the Sarbadar movement to the 13th century (it was the mid-14th).
Saying Mahmud Tarabi rose in Samarkand (it was near Bukhara; he came from the village of Tarab).
Seeing the Mongol era only as destruction: the late 13th and 14th centuries also saw reforms and partial recovery.
Mixing up the uluses: Jochi — the Golden Horde, Chagatai — Transoxiana, the Hulaguids — Iran.