«Тахиййат»: Сборник статей в честь Н. Н. Дьякова

m 142 n John Masson Smith, Jr. gave access to more pasture and better swept the countryside of other resources and enemies. The Right proceeded to Mazandaran 1 , which included the exten- sive pastures where the Gurgan and Atrek rivers approach the Caspian — later a favorite and ample Mongol qishlaq 2 — and also the narrow zone between the Elburz mountains and the Caspian sea; the Right took this shore route, block- ing the road to support for, or escape by, the Assassins, then crossed the moun- tains to Maymun Diz. The Golden Horde units also approached, one tümen via Khwarezm and Dihistan, east of the Caspian Sea and two more through the “Qipchaq Strait” past Darband west of the Caspian. On arrival, the Mongol troops “formed seven coils around” the castle, a circuit “nearly six leagues around”. The encircled enemy surrendered a week after combat began 3 . Later in his campaign, Hülegü similarly encircled Baghdad, using a much larger army led by fifteen named commanders 4 . Campaigning beyond (outer) Mongolia into agro-pastoral realms, the Mon- gols encountered major fortified urban centers: the Tangqut/Xi Xia (Hsi-Hsia) capital, Chung-hsing/Erikhaya (1209–1210) 5 , and somewhat later, the Jin capi- tal, Chung Tu (1214–1215) 6 . Both yielded rather than fell. The Tangqut ruler submitted, and Chung Tu was surrendered (1215) after the Jin emperor fled. During this time, however, the Mongols gained practice and assistance in the taking of cities in north China. Their raids came to include not only “strategic devastation” 7 aimed at the enemy’s rural economy and population, but the re- cruitment of “arrow-fodder” to bear the brunt of attack on urban centers. Sam- uqa marched through northern China in 1216–1217, attacking six towns and taking three (one on the second, surprise attempt), most likely using his 20000 Chinese conscripts to break or climb in, while his 40000 cavalrymen provided archery support 8 . By the time of the Khwarezmian war the recruitment and use of arrow-fodder was well established. 1 RaD, II, 483. 2 Smith, “Qishlaqs”, 52–4. 3 Juvaini, II, 630–34. The description, in P. Willey, The Castles of the Assassins (London: Harrap, 1963 rpt Fresno CA: Linden, 2001), of other Assassin castles, Alamut (p. 214–24) and the fortress on Mt. Nevisar Shah (p. 238), in the vicinity of Maymun Diz, shows they were much stronger — essentially inaccessible. The Mongols were fortunate that the Assas- sin Master had not holed up in one of these. 4 Described in Smith “Heartbreak” in Legacy , 130–31. Hülegü may have added former Ögödeid troops “distributed” after the failed coup against Möngke: ibid , 133. 5 Raided in 1205 and 1207, invaded in force in 1209 and its capital besieged: Martin, 185, 189–91. 6 Martin, 171–72, 177–78. 7 A nomad strategy from earliest times; compare the English army’s chevauchée s: “rides” through France, looting and burning, during the Hundred Years War. 8 Martin, 185, 189–91.