Xi Xia was the first empire in China to be attacked by the sword of the Mongols, united in a single nomadic alliance by Genghis Khan.
The day before
Back in 1091, the Tatars attacked Xi Xia, plundering the borderlands. The Tanguts had permanent relations with the Mongol tribes, many of which had second Tangut names. At the end of the 12th century, Xi Xia intervened, perhaps unwittingly, in the struggle of the Mongol tribes for hegemony in the steppe. In 1193, first the Naiman Khan Gur Khan from Wang Khan fled to them, and then the fierce opponents of Genghis Khan - the Kereites and the son of their Wan Khan, Nilha-Sangum.
Under Emperor Chun-yu (1193–1206) in the north of the country, after the defeat of the Tatars, the combined forces of the Mongol tribes led by Genghis Khan became the neighbors of the Tanguts. The Chinese of the Song empire transferred the more traditional name of the Mongol tribe of the Tatars, which were destroyed by the Mongol tribal union under the leadership of Chingiz, to the latter. They called them Tatars, yes-yes, or Mongol-Tatars, meng-da.
The "White High Great State of Xia" turned out to be the first sedentary state association on which Genghis Khan tried his sword.
An important reason for many wars and campaigns in the pre-industrial period was "historical" revenge, revenge for past grievances. It was enough later, but for the mentality of a person of the time in question, it was especially important. On the example of the Mongols, we see such a situation very clearly, and one should not think that this is just a “formal, beautiful” reason, behind which there is something else - the thirst for profit, wealth. One does not cancel the other, but …
Again, for the mentality of that time, this kind of revenge was itself an important reason. This was the case in the war with the Kipchaks, whom the Mongols "persecuted" throughout Eurasia, attacking the Polovtsians, who had nothing to do with the events in the Far East. This was the case during the conquest of the Jin Empire. Genghis Khan himself said that he was taking revenge for his distant ancestors, who were executed by nailing to a wooden donkey. This was also the case with Xi Xia.
So, the first sedentary state that was attacked by the combined forces of the Mongol tribes was the state of the Tanguts.
The beginning of the war against Xi Xia
In 1205, the Mongols only plundered the western territories, it was a nomadic raid. In the raid, booty was obtained that was significantly different from the previous one, when the war was fought against the same nomads who did not have excessive material values.
In 1207, a campaign began with the great khan at the head. The population, which hid in the fortifications, was safe: the Mongols did not know how to take cities. The strength of the Tangut troops was such that they were even able to block the Mongols in the Halanshan mountains, who did not lose heart there, but plundered the entire territory. Nevertheless, Emperor Chunyu had to pay off in order to save the land from plunder. What cost him the throne.
The Mongols, however, entered into this treaty to their great advantage, since the tribal militia had to urgently return to the steppe against the Naimans and Merkits.
In Xi Xia, they decided that this invasion was a one-time action, the government assumed that the nomads would never return, and the payment of tribute could be stopped. The Mongols felt that the Tanguts did not pay tribute as they should and “did not show [proper] respect,” as Rashid ad-Din wrote.
In the spring of 1209, a new campaign of Genghis Khan began. Contrary to popular belief, success has not always accompanied him. There were two battles, in the first the Mongols won, and in the second - Xi Xia. But the great khan was not that opponent. The Tanguts did not consolidate their success, and he, of course, took advantage of it.
In October 1209, the steppe people began a long siege of the Tangut capital - the city of Zhongxing on the Yellow River (modern Yinchuan). They could already besiege cities, recruiting Chinese specialists living in Tangut in this campaign. Anquan (or An Quan) tried to create an alliance against the northern nomads, appealed to the Jurchens, but did not find support from the Jin Empire, in which they believed that it would be better for both the Mongols and the Tanguts to kill or weaken each other. Although there were advisers at the court of the Emperor of the Golden Empire Wei-shao-wang, who understood that after Xi Xia it would be their turn.
The failure of the nomads under the walls of the capital saved Western Xia. During heavy rains, the Mongols drove a huge number of prisoners in order for them to dam the Yellow River and flood the capital of the Tanguts. In the capital, they understood what would follow, and the water in the river rose higher and higher, which was observed by the besieged from the walls of the doomed city. But the Chinese "Mother River" ordered differently, breaking through the dam and the bay of the steppe camp. The pragmatic Mongols agreed to a peace treaty.
Emperor Anquan recognized himself as a "chen" - a tributary, gave his daughter Chahe to the great khan as a wife and, within the framework of a tributary relationship, promised to become "the right hand and give all his strength." According to the testimony of the "Secret Legend", the Tanguts declared to the Mongols as follows:
Make us your servant.
We will bring you many camels, Having grown them in feather-grass open spaces.
We will deliver cloth and fabrics to you, We will teach the falcons diligently, Sending you the best bird.
A gigantic camel tribute was paid.
This was the first, huge victory of Genghis Khan outside the borders of the Mongol world, also over an agricultural state.
The Mongols cleverly used global ethnic contradictions in the camp of enemies. Multiethnic empires in northern China, such as the Tangut Empire, had many problems in this area, which contributed to the transition to the enemy of tribes and ethnic groups. As it happened with the Uighurs, who had great military potential and took an active part in the wars against the Western Xia and Chingiz's campaigns to the west.
A new war
The successor of Anquang, as a tributary of the Mongols, was forced to take part in the Mongol wars against China, the Jin Empire, which significantly weakened the forces of the two northern Chinese states. Having passed through the territory of Jin by a thunderstorm, Genghis Khan realized that such a country could not be seized with a swoop and forced Xi Xia to start a war in 1214.
However, in 1217, the Mongols again invaded Xi Xia. Modern researchers believe that all this took place within the framework of "exo-exploitation", when the nomadic society of the Mongols received surplus products through tribute, robbery, extortion of "gifts", and war.
In relation to the Tanguts, just such mechanisms were used.
Emperor Tszun-hsiang moved the capital to the city of Xiliang (present-day Wuwei).
The defense of the capital went on successfully, and the insidious warrior Genghis Khan again proposed negotiations, and the main condition was for the Tanguts to fulfill their tributary relations with blood, by participating in a campaign to the west against Khorezm.
He turned to Burkhan Tszun-hsiang:
“You promised to be my right hand. So be it now, when I set out on a campaign against the Sartaul people, which tore my golden reins."
Before Burkhan had time to give an answer, Asha-Gambu said:
"You do not have the strength, so there is no need to be a khan!"
And they did not give reinforcements, turning back the ambassador with an arrogant answer.
Then Genghis Khan said:
“Is it conceivable to endure such an insult from Asha-Gambu? For such speeches, what would be worth, first of all, to go to war against them? But put that aside now when there are other tasks in the queue! And may this come true when, with the help of the Eternal Heaven, I turn and turn, holding the golden reins tightly. Enough!"
While the Mongols were on the march
While the great khan was on the march in the west, the new ruler of the Tangut was at war with the Jin empire. Xi Xia and South Song formed an alliance and carried out a campaign against the Jurchen in 1019 and in 1020, the Tanguts captured the lands in Shaanxi. In 1221, the Mongols forced them to go to Jin in a joint raid, but the Jurchens defeated the allies in 1221 and 1222. And the commander of the Tanguts, Ebu-Ganbu, went over to the Mongols.
The Mongols blamed the Tanguts for these defeats and devastated the Xia border regions. In 1223, Emperor Tszun Xiang wanted to fight against Gongzhou (near modern Zhengzhou), but Liang Te-i addressed him with a report:
“The country has been at war for over ten years. Its fields were empty, the people found themselves in a difficult situation. Although even women and children know that the state is on the verge of destruction, the dignitaries in the palace sing songs of praise and hold feasts at night."
Under these conditions, a new emperor came to power, the enemy of the Mongols, the aged De-wang. In 1224 he ended the war with Jin and entered into an alliance with nomadic tribes “north of the sands” (Gobi), who, in the absence of Genghis Khan, apparently decided to secede from the Mongol unification and were looking for allies. In response, the Mongols attacked the Tanguts, they captured Yinzhou, robbing the surrounding area, but retreated from Shazhou.
This situation, the "disobedience" of Xia and Jin, their alliance, an attempt to interfere in the steppe affairs, forced Genghis Khan to urgently return from Central Asia.
Historians, comparing Xi Xia with the Shahinshah state in Central Asia, indicated that the former was significantly inferior in material capabilities. But the fact is that such an approach was alien to medieval thinking, the most important for him was understanding how many troops or allies the enemy could muster. Obviously, this is what Genghis Khan took into account, returning to the steppe, he did not forget the statement of the Tanguts:
"You do not have the strength, so there is no need to be a khan!"
At the same time, it is difficult to say what was primary and what was secondary. In the thinking of people of this period, personal motives prevailed, and not rational calculations, which are now trying to apply the supporters of linear and formalistic approaches in history.
The last war of the Great State of White and High
Genghis Khan sent ambassadors to the Emperor Xia to observe the tradition, naturally, with unacceptable proposals. To the demand of the Mongolian embassy to hand over his son as hostage, De-wang refused.
Preparations for defense began, and a number of projects were prepared in this regard. The project of Chang Gun-poo has reached us.
Arming of the army began, the emphasis was supposed to be made on our own Tangut forces, and not on other nomadic tribes and Chinese living in the Xia territory, who often changed and went over to the side of the enemy.
The war plan involved striking the territory of Mongolia with the aim of organizing discord among the nomads. But Genghis Khan went down in history as a great strategist and commander because he did not wait for the weather at the Blue Lake, but dispatched huge forces to the campaign to demand an answer from the Emperor of the Great Xia.
At the end of 1225, an army of nomads attacked the Tanguts, in the battles for the city of Khara-Khoto, the latter lost tens of thousands of soldiers. In 1226, the Mongols, waiting out the heat, raided, and then moved to Suzhou, destroying the entire population in it, except 106 families.
Simultaneously with the invasion of Xi Xia, a terrible drought struck.
With the capture of Ganzhou, another city on the path of nomads, the following story is connected: when the head of the city's defense turned out to be the father of a thousand-man and a beloved servant of Genghis Khan. This Tangut begged forgiveness to the city from the Great Khan.
Fighting, the Mongols advanced to the capital. On the way to it, a grandiose battle took place near the city of Linzhou, the Tanguts were again defeated. Nothing is known about the details of this battle.
Then the siege of the capital began. Zhongxing defended for about a year, during which time Genghis Khan himself conquered the rest of the Tangut state. The heat delayed the fall of the city, the Tanguts asked for another month of delay, but then the great khan fell ill, who ordered, in case of his death, to execute both Emperor Xia and the entire population of the capital. So his soldiers did after the surrender of the capital.
All Xi Xia was destroyed and destroyed, the Mongols left no stone unturned, calling this territory Ningxia, pacified by Xia:
"So that the conquered remember about obedience, and the winners - about the glory of the weapons of their ancestors."
The name Ningxia has survived to this day, this is the name of the autonomous region of the PRC - Ningxia-Hui.
The state of the Tanguts disappeared, but after a while Marco Polo, already mentioned by me when describing the land of the Tanguts, said that this land was very rich. And many officials and soldiers of Xi Xia took part in the conquest, and then in the administration of all of China.
The reasons for the defeat of the Great Xia, like most countries that had enormous potential, in contrast to small countries, always have internal origins.
The presence of many ethnic groups with different interests, often different from the interests of the ruling people, contributed to the defeat of the Tanguts.
The second reason is the transition of the Tanguts to settledness, that is, every time when nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes moved to settledness, they immediately lost their military potential.
