Otrar Catastrophe 1219
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1219 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Kazakhstan | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Mongol invasion of Khwarazmian Empire and Eastern Iran | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Khwarazmian Empire, Mongol Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 42.8500, 68.3000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Otrar Catastrophe was a siege that took place between December 1219 and February 1220 during the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire at Otrar, a large trading city on the Syr Darya river. Inalchuq, the city's governor, had seized the goods of a Mongol trade caravan the previous year; after more provocations from Inalchuq's liege and ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire, Shah Muhammad II, Genghis Khan launched a full-scale invasion of the empire.
The city had been extensively garrisoned and fortified, and the Mongol troops found it difficult to breach the battlements. Progress was slowly made, and by February Genghis felt confident enough to detach part of his army and head southwards towards Transoxiana. His sons Chagatai and Ogedei were left behind to continue the siege. Qaracha, the leading general of the city, deserted in February 1220 and the inner citadel fell soon afterwards. Inalchuq was captured alive, and was executed.
Muhammad had expected the nomadic invaders to fail in capturing Otrar. Its seizure left the Khwarazmian heartland open to conquest—the Mongols would isolate and capture the great cities of Bukhara, Samarkand, and Gurganj in turn. The Otrar oasis would revive as the Syr Darya shifted in its course; the Khwarazmian citadel would remain abandoned.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Otrar Catastrophe (revision 1370701319), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Mongol invasion of Khwarazmian Empire and Eastern Iran
- Irghiz River skirmish 1209
- Siege of Bukhara 1220
- Siege of Gurganj 1220
- Siege of Khujand (1220) 1220
- Siege of Nishapur (1221) 1220
- Siege of Samarkand (1220) 1220
- Battle of the Indus 1221
- Siege of Bamyan 1221
- Siege of Herat (1221) 1221
- Siege of Merv (1221) 1221
All 11 battles of the Mongol invasion of Khwarazmian Empire and Eastern Iran →
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