Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/769

Rh MONGOLS 741 advanced Mongol guards reached Amid (Diarbekr), whither Jelal al-din had retreated, before that unfortunate sovereign had any idea of their approach. Accompanied by a few followers, JeliU al-din fled to the Kurdish mountains, where lie was basely murdered by a peasant. The primary object of the Mongol invasion was thus accomplished; but, with the instinct of their race, they made this conquest but a stepping-stone to another, and without a moment s delay pushed on still farther westward. Unchecked and almost unopposed, they overran the districts of Diarbekr, Meso potamia, Erbil, and Khelat, and then advanced upon Azerbijan. So great was the terror with which these fierce warriors inspired the people of the provinces they attacked that single Mongols are said to have slain the inhabitants of entire villages without a hand having been raised against them. In the following year (1236) they invaded Georgia and Great Armenia, committing frightful atrocities, sparing neither man nor woman, young nor old, with the exception of those whom they saved to minister to their wants or passions. Tiflis was among the cities captured by assault, and Kars was surrendered at their approach in the vain hope that submission would gain clemency from the victors. Meanwhile, in 1235, Ogdai, whose troops were as numerous as their thirst for conquest was devouring, despatched three armies in as many direc tions. One was directed against Corea, one against the Sung dynasty, which ruled over the provinces of China south of the Yang-tsze Keang, and the third was sent west ward into eastern Europe. This last force was commanded by Batu, the son of Juchi, Ogdai s deceased eldest brother, who took with him the celebrated Sabutai Bahadur as his chief adviser. Bulgar, the capital city of the Bulgars, fell before the force under Sabutai, while Batu pushed on over the Volga. With irresistible vigour and astonishing speed the Mongols made their way through the forests of Penza and Tamboff, and appeared before the &quot; beautiful city &quot; of Riazan. For five days they discharged a ceaseless storm of shot from their balistas, and, having made a breach in the defences, carried the city by assault on the 21st of December 1237. &quot;The prince, with his mother, wife, sons, the boyars, and the inhabitants, without regard to age or sex, were slaughtered with the savage cruelty of Mongol revenge ; some were impaled, some shot at with arrows for sport, others were flayed or had nails or splinters of wood driven under their nails. Priests were roasted alive, and nuns and maidens ravished in the churches before their relatives. No eye remained open to weep for the dead. &quot; Moscow, at this time a place of little importance, next fell into the hands of the invaders, who then advanced against Vladimir. After having held out for several days against the Mongol attacks, the city at length succumbed, and the horrors of Riazan were repeated. The imperial family, with a vast crowd of fugitives, sought shelter in the cathedral, only to perish by the swords of the conquerors or by the flames which reduced it to ashes. If possible, a more dire fate overtook the inhabitants of Kozelsk, near Kaluga, where, in revenge for a partial defeat inflicted on a Mongol force, the followers of Batu held so terrible a &quot; carnival of death &quot; that the city was renamed by its captors Mobalig, &quot; the city of woe.&quot; With the tide of victory thus strong in their favour the Mongols advanced against Kieff, &quot;the mother of cities,&quot; and carried it by assault. The inevitable massacre followed, and the city was razed to the ground. While the scene of blood shed was at its height a catastrophe occurred which at any other time would have been considered of supreme horror. Under the weight of a vast crowd of fugitives the flat roof of the metropolitan church fell in, burying all, young and old, in a vast hecatomb. Victorious and always advancing, the Mongols, having desolated this portion of Russia, moved on in two divisions, one under Batu into Hungary, and the other under Baidar and Kaidu into Poland. Without a check, Batu marched to the neighbourhood of Pesth, where the whole force of the kingdom was arrayed to resist him. The Hungarian army was posted on the wide heath of Mohi, which is bounded by &quot;the vine-clad hills of Tokay,&quot; the mountains of Lomnitz, and the woods of Diosgyor. To an army thus hemmed in on all sides defeat meant ruin, and Batu instantly recognized the dangerous position in which his enemies had placed themselves. To add to his chances of success he determined to deliver his attack by night, and while the careless Hungarians were sleeping he launched his battalions into their midst. Panic-stricken and help less, they fled in all directions, followed by their merciless foes. Two archbishops, three bishops, and many of the nobility were among the slain, and the roads for two days journey from the field of battle were strewn with corpses. The king, Bela IV., was saved by the fleetness of his horse, though closely pursued by a body of Mongols, who followed at his heels as far as the coast of the Adriatic, burning and destroying everything in their way. Mean while Batu captured Pesth, and on Christmas Day 1241, having crossed the Danube on the ice, took Gran by assault. While Batu had been thus triumphing, the force under Baidar and Kaidu had carried fire and sword into Poland. At their approach the inhabitants of Cracow deserted the city, after having given it over to the flames. Disappointed at the loss of their expected spoil, the Mongols advanced to Wahlstatt in the neighbourhood of Liegnitz, where the Polish army under Duke Henry II. of Silesia awaited their onslaught. With savage impetuosity, the troops of Baidar rushed to the attack, and completely defeated the Poles. As usual, no quarter was given. The massacre was fright ful, and Duke Henry himself was amongst the slain. It was a Mongol habit to cut off an ear from each corpse of their slaughtered foes, and on this occasion it is said that they filled nine sacks with these ghastly trophies. Follow ing the example of the inhabitants of Cracow, the people of Liegnitz left but the blackened walls of what had once been the town as a prey for the Mongols, who without delay pushed south-eastward into Moravia as far as the vicinity of Troppau. While laying waste the country in the neighbourhood of that town, they received the an nouncement of the death of Ogdai, and at the same time a summons for Batu to return eastwards into Mongolia. While his lieutenants had been thus carrying his arms in all directions, Ogdai had been giving himself up to ignoble ease and licentiousness. Like many Mongols, he was much given to drink, and it was to a disease produced by this cause that he finally succumbed on the llth of December 1241. He was succeeded by his son Kuyuk, who reigned only seven years. Little of his character is known, but it is noticeable that his two ministers to whom he left the entire conduct of affairs were Christians, as also were his doctors, and that a Christian chapel stood before his tent. This leaning towards Christianity, however, brought no peaceful tendencies with it. On the contrary, we hear of an advance against the sultan of Rum (Asia Minor), and of an expedition into Syria, by which that country was made tributary to the Great Mongol empire, of a fresh campaign against Corea, and of another attack on the Sung dynasty of China. On the death of Kuyuk dissensions which had been for a long time smouldering between the houses of Ogdai and Jagatai broke out into open war, and after the short and disputed reigns of Kaidu and Chapai, grand sons of Ogdai, the lordship passed away from the house of Ogdai for ever. On the 1st of July 1251 Mangu, the eldest son of Mangu Tul6, and nephew to Ogdai, was elected khakan. With Khan.