J̌ebe Noyan

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J̌ebe or J̌ebe Noyan ( Central Mongolian : ᠵᠡᠪᠡ ᠨᠣᠶᠠᠨ , J̌ebe Noyan; Mongolian (modern) : Зэв ноён, Zev Noyon; Chinese : 哲別 那 顏, Zhébié Nuóyán; * around 1180 in present-day Mongolia ; † probably in 1223 in present-day Ukraine ) was one of the most important generals of the early Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan . His birth name was J̌irqo'adai, the nickname J̌ebe (Mongolian for weapon, arrow), under which he became famous, was given to him by Genghis Khan himself. As leader of a tower (tens of thousands of the Mongolian army), he held the rank of Noyan (literally: Prince, Lord; comparable to the English Sir ) and used this title as a nickname.

J̌ebe is considered to be one of the most capable generals of Genghis Khan, who distinguished himself through numerous successful campaigns, especially during the conquest campaigns against China and Central Asia, and in 1223, together with Sube'etai Ba'atur, advanced to Eastern Europe.

Life

Origin and early years

Information about J̌ebe's life is extremely poor in the primary sources. In particular, information about his early years and the beginning of his career can only be found in the Secret History of the Mongols and in the Chronicle Jamiā at-tawārīch of the Persian historian Raschīd ad-Dīn , and even there only fragmentarily. This is of course reflected in the secondary literature, where the few details are widely scattered. Contiguous representations can only be found in highly condensed, biographical sketches and a few academic treatises.

His date and place of birth are not known, there is no information about his childhood and youth, his parents or his wives, and the circumstances of his death are also uncertain. Sparse information about J̌ebe's ancestry and family can only be found in Rashīd ad-Dīn. J̌ebe came from the Mongolian clan of Besüt, distant relatives of Genghis Khan's clan, the Borjigin. He had a brother named Mönggädü Sa'ur, who was a member of Tolui Khan's retinue , and a son named Sunqusun, who was also an officer in the Mongol army. In addition, ad-Dīn states that at his time (around 1300) several relatives and descendants of J̌ebe held high civil and military posts in the service of the Mongol ruling house.

Connection to Genghis Khan and origin of the name

According to the Secret History of the Mongols , J̌irqo'adai initially fought on the side of the Tayiči'ut, a clan to which his own clan was in a vassal relationship. The Tayiči'ut were among the bitterest enemies of the young Temüdschins, the later Genghis Khan, and in 1201 there was a battle that Temüdschin was able to win. During this battle, Genghis Khan's horse, a dun with a white snout, was struck by an arrow and killed. When Genghis Khan asked the prisoners who shot the arrow after the battle, J̌irqo'adai stepped forward. He admitted that he had been the shooter and offered to serve Temüdschin faithfully if the latter let him live. Temüdschin was impressed by the courage of the man who admitted what he had done in the face of the enemy. He told J̌irqo'adai that he was worth being a Nökör (Mongolian: companion, close follower), accepted his offer and named him J̌ebe in recognition of his courage . This episode can also be found in Rashīd ad-Dīn. His report differs in details, but here, too, Joirqo'adai shot Genghis Khan's Fallows with a white snout, admitted this, was then called J̌ebe by Genghis Khan and was initially given command of an arban ( ten-men of the Mongolian army).

As a general

The enthronement of the Temüdschin to the Činggis Qan . (Representation in a Persian chronicle, approx. 1430.)

J̌ebe proved to be a capable commander, quickly rose in the hierarchy of the Mongolian military and soon belonged to the top level of command of the Mongol Empire. He was an accomplished tactician who often ambushed his opponents by feigning flight. He refined this procedure, which is common among steppe riders, and occasionally operated in forced marches at astonishing speed when, after retreating for days, he suddenly turned and attacked the enemy. He was also known for penetrating far into enemy territory, where he operated independently of the Mongolian high command, but mostly in tandem with other commanders, often with Qubilai Noyan at the beginning of his career, later mostly with Sube'etai Ba'atur. Genghis Khan repeatedly used J̌ebe for particularly daring missions or to hunt down enemy leaders.

In 1206, on the occasion of his enthronement as Genghis Khan , Temüdschin appointed J̌ebe as one of the Dörben Noqas (four dogs) to one of his most important military leaders. The Dörben Noqas , J̌ebe, Sube'etai, J̌elme and Qubilai were the commanders of the Mongol vanguard and together with the Dörben Kulu'ud (Four Horses ) Muqali , Bo'orču, Boroqul and Čila'un, the center of the Mongol military leadership around Genghis Khan. When the Chinese diplomat Zhao Hong visited the Mongols in 1221, he found that apart from Muqali, who had made Genghis Khan governor of North China in 1217, and Genghis Khan himself, no other commander in the Mongolian military hierarchy was higher than J̌ebe, the held the command of the Mongolian shock troops.

The Union of the Mongolian Tribes (1201-1211)

J̌ebe's first military operation in the service of Temüdschin, mentioned in the primary sources, was a battle in 1202 during which Genghis Khan's forces completely wiped out the warriors of the Tatar people . Temüdschin's officers and their men, contrary to Temüdschin's express orders, had begun to plunder the Tatar camp even before victory was achieved. Genghis Khan dispatched J̌ebe and Qubilai to take their booty away from the looters.

In 1204 there was a decisive battle against a coalition of different Mongolian tribes under Tayang Khan of the Naiman, which finally enforced Temüdschin's supremacy among the tribes of the Mongolian plateau. In the run-up to the battle, Jubilebe and Qubilai were sent on a fact-finding mission, during which there was a clash with warriors of the Naiman. In the actual battle that followed, J̌ebe commanded part of the vanguard. The Mongols won the battle, Tayang Khan fell, his son Güčülük survived and fled west. The resistance to Temüdschin's claim to power had collapsed.

There is no reliable information about J̌ebe's whereabouts in the years 1206 to 1211. Maybe he pursued, along with Sube'etai, refugee survivors of the tribal alliance, the Temüdschins warriors had defeated in 1204, into the territory of the Uigur of contemporary China to the northwest. There the Mongols not only received the submission of the Uyghurs in 1209, but also inflicted another defeat on the refugees. Once again, however, parts of the opposing troops managed to escape.

The campaign against the Jin (1211-1215)

Battle between the Mongols and the Jin. (Representation in a Persian chronicle, approx. 1430.)

1211 Genghis Khan opened his campaign against his most powerful opponent, the Jin Dynasty of the Jurchen in northern China. J̌ebe again led the vanguard. He defeated a Chinese army at the fortress of Wusha (Wushabao, today Ulanqab ) and then destroyed the fortress. In the fall of 1211 he attacked the positions on Juyongguan and managed to capture the pass. Then J̌ebe carried out a daring order. With a relatively small contingent of troops he moved over 500 kilometers through enemy territory and captured Liaoyang , the eastern capital of the Jin in Manchuria. In the spring of 1212, the Mongols initially withdrew to the north and gave up many of the positions they had already conquered, including the Juyongguan, which the Jin then occupied with strong troops and whose defenses they improved.

In a new offensive in 1213, the Mongols again besieged the northern exit of Juyongguan, but were unable to take the pass. J̌ebe moved in a hurry on an impassable, unexpected route to the west, surprised and defeated the Jin on the Zijingguan , was able to penetrate into the south of the Juyongguan, attack it from there and force the occupation troops to surrender. As a result, J̌ebe fought on the side of Genghis Khan, they devastated the provinces of Hebei and Shandong and then besieged Zhōngdū (now part of Beijing), the capital of the Jin. After a preliminary peace agreement with the Jin, Genghis Khan returned to Mongolia, accompanied by J̌ebe.

The hunt for Güčülük and the annexation of Kara Kitais (1216–1218)

Güčülük, the son of Tayang Khan of the Naiman, fled west after the death of his father in 1204. He found refuge with Yelü Zhilugu, the Gür Khan (Universal Khan) Kara Kitais. In 1211 Güčülük put up a coup against Yelü Zhilugu and took over the rule of Kara Kitais. It now represented a serious threat to the west of the emerging Mongol Empire that Genghis Khan could not tolerate. In 1216 he commissioned J̌ebe to invade Kara Kitai and eliminate Güčülük. The usurper Güčülük, a Nestorian Christian converted to Buddhism , was extremely hated by the predominantly Muslim population whom he persecuted for their beliefs.

When J̌ebe Kara reached Kitai, he proclaimed freedom of religion for those cities and provinces that peacefully submitted to and joined the Mongols. Important cities of Kara Kitai, such as Balasagun , Kashgar and Khotan , accepted this offer and submitted in quick succession. Güčülük fled again, the Mongols pursued him to Badachschan in what is now Afghanistan, where Güčülük died in 1218. With this campaign, J̌ebe had, very quickly and without major bloodshed, incorporated the areas of Kara Kitai into the empire of Genghis Khan and expanded its territory considerably. After this success he sent Genghis Khan, as a token of his loyalty, 1000 Fallows with white snouts.

The conquest of Khorezmia and the hunt for Shah Muhammad II (1218–1220)

Battle between the Mongols and troops of the Khorezmian Empire. (Representation in a Persian chronicle, approx. 1430.)

With the conquest of Kara Kitai, the Mongolian Empire now bordered the Chorsemic Empire , Central Asia's dominant military power at the time. The local ruler Khorezmschah Muhammad II (r. 1200-1220) pursued an aggressive expansion policy. Under his leadership, the Khorezmian Empire rose to become a major power in Central Asia and in 1218 extended from Azerbaijan in the west, across Iran to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. Conflicts between Muhammad II and Genghis Khan were inevitable. In 1218 Genghis Khan sent a trade caravan and diplomatic delegation to Khorezmia. However, traders and ambassadors were massacred in the border town of Otrar. This affront was a definitive reason for war for Genghis Khan. He prepared his army and in 1219 took to the field against the Khorezmian Empire. A few months later, several armies of Khorezmia were defeated and important cities were taken. The Chorzmic resistance collapsed and Shah Muhammad II fled to the west.

Again Genghis Khan sent his “dogs” J̌ebe and Sube'etai to track down Muhammad and bring him down. For several months and over 1000 kilometers through enemy territory, they relentlessly chased the Khorezmshah to Khorasan and Masandaran . The Mongols victoriously fought several battles and destroyed several cities. The Shah ultimately fled to an island in the Caspian Sea , where he died exhausted and lonely at the end of 1220.

The Final Campaign: Foray into Europe (1221-1223)

After completing their mission, J̌ebe and Sube'etai did not return east. Genghis Khan sent them north to explore the areas west of the Caspian Sea. The hunt for Muhammad II and the subsequent mission around the Caspian Sea, often referred to in literature as The Great Raid , is, in the opinion of many contemporary authors, an extraordinary military achievement that “does not appear in the annals of war Finds parallel “(Carl Sverdrup). Between 1219 and 1224 J̌ebe and Sube'etai covered several thousand kilometers with a relatively small contingent of troops, probably no more than 20,000 to 30,000 men. They overran as many as ten states or tribal associations, fought more than a dozen victorious battles and destroyed numerous cities, mostly committing rampant massacres of the civilian population.

The Mongols devastated large parts of Azerbaijan and Arrāns and crossed Georgia , where they defeated an army under Giorgi IV Lascha in 1221 . J̌ebe and Sube'etai moved north via Derbent , crossed the Caucasus and on its north side defeated an army of Kipchaks and Alans that had been waiting for them there. The surviving Kipchaks under Kötan Khan fled to the Rus area and asked for military help against the invaders. The princes Mstislav von Kiev (r. 1214-1223), Mstislaw II. Von Tschernigow (r. 1220-1223) and Mstislav Mstislavich von Halitsch (r. 1221-1227) concluded an alliance with Kötan Khan and mobilized their troops. After a detour to the Crimea, where they burnt down the important trading center Sudak , the Mongols followed the Kipchaks into the Rus area and in May 1223 the famous battle of the Kalka took place in what is now Ukraine . Since Mstislaw, Mstislaw II. And Mstislaw Mstislawitsch, because of their rivalries, led their armies separately and did not coordinate the troop movements, the outnumbered Mongols managed to win the battle without difficulty. The Rus troops were almost completely wiped out, Mstislaw and Mstislaw II were killed, only Mstislaw Mstislavich and Koethan Khan managed to escape.

There are no longer any references to J̌ebe Noyan in the primary sources. He was probably captured and killed by the Kipchaks in the run-up to the battle. Sube'etai did not pursue the refugees, but moved east to return to Mongolia.

Remarks

  1. ↑ There is no uniform system for transliterating proper names and place names from the time of the Mongol Empire. Accordingly, different spellings of the name J̌ebe Noyans (Jebe, Jäbä, Yeme, Dschebe, Chêpieh) can be found in the publications on the topic.
    We follow Manfred Taube's translation of the     Secret History of the Mongols (Kiepenheuer, Leipzig / Weimar 1989) in the spelling of J̌ebe Noyan , just as in the case of other Mongolian names and designations , provided that there are no standardized spellings in German, such as in the case of Činggis Qans .
  2. ↑ The events described are presented in the primary sources in an extremely contradictory manner. Paul Buell and Christopher Atwood have devoted extensive analyzes to the early expansion of the Mongol Empire to the west, but have come to very different interpretations of the material in parts. The statements made here follow the not undisputed interpretation of Buell, but they can also be found by other authors, such as Stephen Pow. (Christopher P. Atwood: Jochi and the Early Western Campaigns. In: Morris Rossabi (ed.): How Mongolia Matters: War, Law, and Society . Brill, Leiden, 2017, pp. 35–56 (English); Paul D Buell: Early Mongol Expansion in Western Siberia and Turkestan (1207-1219): a Reconstruction. In: Central Asiatic Journal. Vol. 36, No. 1/2. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1992, pp. 1-30 (English); S. Stephen Pow: The Last Campaign and Death of Jebe Noyan. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. 27, No. 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2017, p. 5.)

Literature (selection)

Historical sources

Secret history of the Mongols

  • Manfred Taube: Secret History of the Mongols. Origin, life and rise of Cinggis Qans . Kiepenheuer, Leipzig / Weimar 1989, ISBN 3-378-00297-2 .
  • Igor de Rachewiltz: The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century . 2 volumes. Brill, Leiden 2004, ISBN 90-04-15364-0 . Online version , abbreviated in the notes, edited by John Street , University of Wisconsin, Madison 2015.

Juvaini

  • Ata-Malik Juvaini: Genghis Khan. The History of the World Conqueror . Translated by John Andrew Boyle. Manchester University Press, Manchester 1997, ISBN 0-295-97654-3 (English). (online) .

Rasheed ad-Din

  • Rashiduddin Fazlullah: Jamiʼuʼt-tawarikh. Compendium of Chronicles - A history of the Mongols . Translation and annotations by Wheeler McIntosh Thackston. Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1998 (English).

Yuan shi

  • FEA Krause: Cingis Han - The story of his life after the Chinese imperial annals . Karl Winters, Heidelberg 1922.

Secondary literature

  • Wassili Barthold: Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion . Lucac, London 1924 (English) Online
  • Emil Bretschneider: Mediaeval researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources from the 13th to the 17th century Vol. I. Trübner, London 1888 (English). On-line.
  • Peter Jackson: The Mongols and the West 1221-1410. Routledge, New York 2014, ISBN 978-0-582-36896-5 (English).
  • Peter Jackson: The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion . Yale University Press, New Haven / London 2017, ISBN 978-0-300-12533-7 (English).
  • H. Desmond Martin: The Rise of Chingis Khan and his Conquest of North China . Rainbow Bridge, Taipei 1971 (English).
  • Timothy May: The Mongol Empire . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2018, ISBN 978-0-7486-4236-6 (English).
  • Timothy May: The Mongol Art of War . Pen and Sword, Barnsley 2007, ISBN 978-1-59416-046-2 (English).
  • Stephen Pow: The Last Campaign and Death of Jebe Noyan. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. 27, No. 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2017 (English).
  • Stephen Pow, Jingjing Liao: Subutai: Sorting Fact from Fiction Surrounding the Mongol Empire's Greatest General. In: Journal of Chinese Military History. No. 7. Brill, Leiden 2018 (English).
  • Paul Ratchnevsky: Činggis-Khan - His life and work . Steiner, Wiesbaden 1983.
  • Carl Fredrik Sverdrup: The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sübe'etei . Helion, Solihull 2017, ISBN 978-1-910777-71-8 (English).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Igor de Rachewiltz: The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century . 2 volumes. Brill, Leiden 2004, p. 537, commentary.
  2. ↑ Timothy May: The Mongol Art of War . Pen and Sword, Barnsley 2007, pp. 92-93.
  3. ↑ Christopher P. Atwood: Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire . Facts on Files, New York 2004, p. 265 (English); Paul D. Buell: Historical Dictionary of the Mongol World Empire . Scarecrow Press, Lanham / Oxford 2003, pp. 170-171; Timothy May: The Mongol Art of War . Pen and Sword, Barnsley 2007, pp. 92-93.
  4. ↑ Stephen Pow: The Last Campaign and Death of Jebe Noyan. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. 27, No. 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2017, pp. 1–21 (English).
  5. ↑ Wheeler McIntosh Thackston: Rashiduddin Fazlullah's Jami'u't-Tawarikh. Compendium of Chronicles - A history of the Mongols . Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1998, pp. 102-103 (English).
  6. ↑ Manfred Taube: Secret history of the Mongols. Origin, life and rise of Cinggis Qans . Kiepenheuer, Leipzig / Weimar, 1989, pp. 73–74.
  7. ↑ Wheeler McIntosh Thackston: Rashiduddin Fazlullah's Jami'u't-Tawarikh. Compendium of Chronicles - A history of the Mongols . Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1998, pp. 93, 102 (English).
  8. ↑ Timothy May: The Mongol Art of War . Pen and Sword, Barnsley 2007, pp. 92-93.
  9. ↑ Manfred Taube: Secret history of the Mongols. Origin, life and rise of Cinggis Qans . Kiepenheuer, Leipzig / Weimar 1989, p. 146.
  10. ↑ Timothy May: The Mongol Art of War . Pen and Sword, Barnsley 2007, pp. 93, 96.
  11. ↑ Stephen Pow: The Last Campaign and Death of Jebe Noyan. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. 27, No. 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2017, p. 3 (English).
  12. ↑ Manfred Taube: Secret history of the Mongols. Origin, life and rise of Cinggis Qans . Kiepenheuer, Leipzig / Weimar 1989, pp. 80–81.
  13. ↑ Manfred Taube: Secret history of the Mongols. Origin, life and rise of Cinggis Qans . Kiepenheuer, Leipzig / Weimar 1989, pp. 118, 122, 129.
  14. ^ H. Desmond Martin: The Rise of Chingis Khan and his Conquest of North China . Rainbow Bridge, Taipei 1971, p. 136 (English); Carl Fredrik Sverdrup: The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sübe'etei . Helion, Solihull 2017, pp. 107, 115 (English).
  15. ^ H. Desmond Martin: The Rise of Chingis Khan and his Conquest of North China . Rainbow Bridge, Taipei 1971, p. 143 (English); Carl Fredrik Sverdrup: The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sübe'etei . Helion, Solihull 2017, p. 107 (English).
  16. ^ H. Desmond Martin: The Rise of Chingis Khan and his Conquest of North China . Rainbow Bridge, Taipei 1971, p. 146 (English); Carl Fredrik Sverdrup: The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sübe'etei . Helion, Solihull 2017, p. 107 (English).
  17. ^ H. Desmond Martin: The Rise of Chingis Khan and his Conquest of North China . Rainbow Bridge, Taipei 1971, p. 160 (English); Carl Fredrik Sverdrup: The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sübe'etei . Helion, Solihull 2017, p. 115 (English).
  18. ^ H. Desmond Martin: The Rise of Chingis Khan and his Conquest of North China . Rainbow Bridge, Taipei 1971, pp. 164, 180 (English).
  19. ↑ Paul Ratchnevsky: Chinggis Khan - His life and work . Steiner, Wiesbaden 1983, pp. 107-108.
  20. ↑ Stephen Pow: The Last Campaign and Death of Jebe Noyan. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. 27, No. 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2017, p. 5 (English); Paul Ratchnevsky: Činggis-Khan - His life and work . Steiner, Wiesbaden 1983, pp. 107-108; Carl Fredrik Sverdrup: The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sübe'etei . Helion, Solihull 2017, p. 185 (English).
  21. ↑ Wheeler McIntosh Thackston: Rashiduddin Fazlullah's Jami'u't-Tawarikh. Compendium of Chronicles - A history of the Mongols . Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1998, p. 110 (English).
  22. ↑ ZM Buniyatov: A History of the State under the Khorezmian Anushteginids 1097-1231 . Institute for Central Asian Studies, Samarkand 2015, p. 67; DM Timokhin: The Conquest of Khwarezm by Mongol Troops (1219-1221). In: Lyutsiya Giniyatullina (ed.): The Golden Horde in World History. A Multi-Authored Monograph. (= Golden Horde Review. Vol. 5). Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, Kazan 2017, p. 75.
  23. ↑ Wassili Barthold: Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion . Lucac, London 1928, p. 399; Paul Ratchnevsky: Činggis-Khan - His life and work . Steiner, Wiesbaden 1983, p. 111.
  24. ↑ Wassili Barthold: Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion . Lucac, London 1928, pp. 419-426 (English); Don Croner: Chinggis Khan Rides West . Polar Star, Ulaanbaatar 2019, pp. 132-147 (English).
  25. ↑ Carl Fredrik Sverdrup: Sübe'etei ba'atur, Anonymous Strategist. In: Journal of Asian History. No. 47.1. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2013, p. 38 (English).
  26. ↑ Paul D. Buell: Sübȫtei ba'atur. In: Igor de Rachewiltz et al. (Ed.): In the Service of the Khan: Eminent Personalities of the Early Mongol-Yuan Period 1200-1300 . Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1993, pp. 19-20 (English); Peter Jackson: The Mongols and the West 1221-1410 . Routledge, New York 2014, p. 39 (English); Carl Fredrik Sverdrup: The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sube'etei . Helion, Solihull 2017, pp. 191-208 (English).
  27. ↑ Stephen Pow: The Last Campaign and Death of Jebe Noyan. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. 27, No. 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2017, pp. 31-51 (English).
personal data
SURNAME J̌ebe Noyan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES J̌irqo'adai; J̌ebe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mongolian general
DATE OF BIRTH around 1180
PLACE OF BIRTH Mongolia
DATE OF DEATH 1223
Place of death Ukraine