The Night the Mongols Burned Nishapur: Revenge in 1221

In April 1221, the city of Nishapur in eastern Iran was utterly destroyed by Mongol forces under Tolui, Genghis Khan's youngest son. The siege was an act of revenge: earlier that year, the city's inhabitants had killed a Mongol general named Toquchar, who was also Genghis Khan's son-in-law. When Tolui arrived with a massive army, he offered terms, but the city refused to surrender. After a brief but brutal assault, the Mongols razed Nishapur to the ground, killing nearly everyone — including cats and dogs, according to the historian Juvayni. The destruction of Nishapur, along with other cities like Merv and Herat, marked the annihilation of the Khwarezmian Empire's urban heartland. This episode explores the siege in detail: the weapons used, the role of Chinese engineers, the fate of the population, and the broader context of Genghis Khan's campaign against the Khwarezmian Shah. It also examines the controversy around the number of casualties and what the sources — Persian, Arabic, and Mongol — actually say. #Nishapur #SiegeOfNishapur #Tolui #GenghisKhan #MongolEmpire #KhwarezmianEmpire #Toquchar #Juvayni #MongolSiege #MedievalWarfare #CentralAsia #Iran #1221 #MongolConquests #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast #Siege Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo