Genghis Khan and the Bloody End of the Khwarezmian Empire

Fresh off the fall of Bukhara, Genghis Khan turns his full fury on the Khwarezmian Empire. This episode follows the Mongol army's devastating campaign across Khorasan in 1221. We recount the fall of Samarkand after a mere day of fighting, the brutal siege of Merv where sources claim over a million died, and the sack of Nishapur—a reprisal ordered by Tolui after the Mongols' own sister-in-law was killed there. We meet Sultan Muhammad II, who panicked and fled rather than face the Khan, dying in exile on an island in the Caspian. And we examine the tactical choices of Genghis's son Tolui, who orchestrated the campaign with ruthless efficiency. Was this destruction a calculated policy of terror, or a loss of control as the Mongols tried to hold conquered territory? Featuring accounts from Persian chroniclers Juvayni and Rashid al-Din, and a look at how the Mongol horde used feigned retreat and siege engines to shatter one of the great empires of the medieval world. #GenghisKhan #KhwarezmianEmpire #MongolEmpire #Tolui #Samarkand #Merv #Nishapur #SultanMuhammadII #Juvayni #RashidalDin #MongolSiege #Khorasan #HistoryOfCentralAsia #MedievalWarfare #MilitaryHistory #FexingoHistory #HistoryPodcast #WorldHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo