Battle of Yassı Çemen

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Battle of Yassı Çemen
date August 10, 1230
place Near Erzincan
Casus Belli Invasion of Anatolia by the Choresmians
output Victory of the Rum Seljuks and Ayyubids
Parties to the conflict

Rum Seljuks, Ayyubids

Khorezm Shahs

Commander

Kai Kobad I.

Jalal ad-Din


The battle of Yassı Çemen took place on August 10, 1230 near Erzincan between the allied Rum Seljuks and Ayyubids and the Khorezm Shahs .

reasons

The Khorezm Shahs from the Anushteginid dynasty ruled a state that gained power in what is now Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan and Afghanistan in the 12th century and also exerted influence in Iran and Azerbaijan . When Genghis Khan began his attacks in Central Asia in 1220 and the Mongols conquered the cities of Samarkand , Bukhara and Gurganj , among others , they put an end to the rule of the Khorezm Shahs. Jalal ad-Din , the last ruler of the Khorezmian Empire, had to flee to India after the Mongols defeated him in the Battle of the Indus . Later Jalal ad-Din then turned with his army to Eastern Anatolia , where he besieged Ahlat in 1229 . After eight months of siege, he finally captured and sacked the city. As a result, a war between the Anatolian Rum Seljuks and the Choresmi was inevitable.

The success of the Mongols in this war

After the victory of the Mongols over the Khorezm Shahs, they united with the Rum Seljuks. The Mongols saw this as a danger and, disguised as Khoresm soldiers, plundered some Rum Seljuk villages. The Seljuk Sultan accused Jalal ad-Din and did not believe him when he protested his innocence in a letter. So their relationship deteriorated and they fell apart.

Ahlat fortress

Meanwhile the old governor of Ahlat, Hacip Ali, had recaptured the fortress in Ahlat. When Jalal ad-Din heard this, he set out to retake the fortress himself. But since Hacip Ali had the Seljuk Sultan on his side, he asked Jalal ad-Din to break off the siege. Jalal ad-Din said that the fortress was his and that Hacip Ali was an occupier, but the sultan didn't listen. Because of this incident and the angry correspondence between the two of them, a war was on the horizon.

The development of the war

In 1230, the Sultan of the Rum Seljuks Kai Kobad I set out to attack the Khoresmians in Eastern Anatolia. The armies met at Yassı Çemen near Erzincan. The Seljuks inflicted a heavy defeat on Jalal ad-Din. The defeated Jalal ad-Din fled and was murdered a year later in the mountains near Meyyafarik .

The consequences of the war

After this victory, Kai Kobad I was able to expand his borders to Tbilisi . He conquered cities like Ahlat, Bitlis , Van , Adilcevaz and Malazgirt . However, the Khorezmier area was no longer used as a buffer zone, which led to direct contact between the Rum Seljuks and the Mongols. Under Chormagan Noyan , the Mongols invaded Anatolia. In the end they defeated the Rum Seljuks in the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243 under Baiju's leadership and invaded Anatolia even deeper.

Some sources give the following reasons for the defeat of the Choresmians:

  1. The Turkish-Muslim Khorezmians did not want to fight another Turkish-Muslim army like the Rum Seljuks.
  2. The Khorezmians were tired from years of fighting against the Mongols.

The people and the nobility of the Khorezmians fled from the Mongols and sought refuge in Anatolia. According to some sources, a peace between Khorezmi and Rum Seljuks could have made a more effective defense against the Mongols.

swell

  • Aydın Taneri: Harezmşahlar , Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı yayınları, 1989