Why did the Mongols embrace Islam?
After their invasion of Khwarezmia?
The
Mongol empire, which was created by the consolidation of Turkic-Mongol
tribes by Ghengis Khan, was the one of the largest empires ever. Under
Ghengis Khan and Ogadei the empire saw massive expansion in a relatively
short period of time (1204-1279) and at various points in time
stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Pacific Ocean. This swathe of land
included China, Korea, Mongolia, Persia (now Iran), Turkestan, Armenia
and parts of Eastern Europe. It also included parts of Burma, Vietnam,
Thailand, and Russia.
Not unlike the initial expansionist years of large empires (Roman empire, Persian empire, British empire) the policy of the Mongols when it came to religion was that acquiescence. Owing to its size the acquired territories under the growing Mongol empire followed disparate religions and the Mongols were highly tolerant of the same and sponsored many of them simultaneously. Following is an excrept from wikipedia:
At the time of Genghis Khan, virtually every religion had found converts, from Buddhism to Christianity and Manichaeism to Islam. To avoid strife, Genghis Khan set up an institution that ensured complete religious freedom, though he himself was a shamanist. Under his administration, all religious leaders were exempt from taxation, and from public service.
The direct result of this policy was relative stability (Pax Mongolica) which lead to a growth in international trade and cultural exchanges between Europe and Asia.
The shift towards Islam came after the death of Kublai Khan who was the grandson of Ghengis Khan and the last Great Khan. By the time of Kublai Khan's death, with no accepted Khan in existence, the Mongol Empire was divided into four separate Khanates. By AD 1330s three of the four major khanates had converted to Islam, owing to the fact that Islam was widely followed in the regions under these Khanates. These Khanates were:
The fourth Khanate was the Yuan dynasty which was found by Kublai Khan. It spanned most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas. Kublai Khan had adopted many customs from earlier Chinese dynasties and was the only Khanate not to convert to Islam.
Not unlike the initial expansionist years of large empires (Roman empire, Persian empire, British empire) the policy of the Mongols when it came to religion was that acquiescence. Owing to its size the acquired territories under the growing Mongol empire followed disparate religions and the Mongols were highly tolerant of the same and sponsored many of them simultaneously. Following is an excrept from wikipedia:
At the time of Genghis Khan, virtually every religion had found converts, from Buddhism to Christianity and Manichaeism to Islam. To avoid strife, Genghis Khan set up an institution that ensured complete religious freedom, though he himself was a shamanist. Under his administration, all religious leaders were exempt from taxation, and from public service.
The direct result of this policy was relative stability (Pax Mongolica) which lead to a growth in international trade and cultural exchanges between Europe and Asia.
The shift towards Islam came after the death of Kublai Khan who was the grandson of Ghengis Khan and the last Great Khan. By the time of Kublai Khan's death, with no accepted Khan in existence, the Mongol Empire was divided into four separate Khanates. By AD 1330s three of the four major khanates had converted to Islam, owing to the fact that Islam was widely followed in the regions under these Khanates. These Khanates were:
- Golden Horde:When Öz-Beg succeded the throne in 1313, he adopted Islam as state relgion. He was influenced by Ibn Abdul Hamid, a Sufi Bukharan sayyid and sheikh of the Yasavi order. Oz-Beg proscribed Buddhism and Shamanism among the Mongols in Russia, thus reversing the spread of the Yuan culture. By 1315, Uzbeg had successfully Islamicized the Horde.
- Ilkkhanate: Initially it embraced many religions and was particularly sympathetic to Buddhism and Christianity.Ghazan was the first ruler to convert to Islam 1295. By the time of Ghazan, Islam had become poplular in the mongol dynasty.
- Chagatai's Ulus: Ruled by Chagatai Khan, this region under this Khanate was populated mostly by Turkish nomads, many of which had already converted to Islam. In 1300s, the Chagatai Khanate became an officially Muslim state.
The fourth Khanate was the Yuan dynasty which was found by Kublai Khan. It spanned most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas. Kublai Khan had adopted many customs from earlier Chinese dynasties and was the only Khanate not to convert to Islam.
When Genghis Khan let himself loose on the Khwarizm Empire in 1219 (Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran),
the subsequent events were so traumatic for the Islamic World that the
word "holocaust" has sometimes been used to describe it. Genghis'
Mongols were a league apart in their fighting abilities, and upon
conquest many cities in the Eastern Islamic world were ravaged by them -
including cities with such religious importance as Samarkhand and
Bukhara.
The armies of Allah had never encountered defeats like the Mongols were inflicting on them. Sure the Crusaders had captured a few territories in the "Holy Land", but those victories were because there wasn't a strong Muslim force to counter them. That was not the case with the Khwarizm Shah, who at first glance should have been more than a match for Genghis. Anyway, he wasn't and that was a big psychological blow to the Islamic World. Writers of the time thought the end of world was near.
However, from the ashes of this destruction would rise the eventual Islamisation of the entire Mongol Empire, outside of China and Mongolia.
There was never a big top-down decision coming from the Great Khan that all the Mongols would convert to Islam. Eventually 3 of the 4 Khanates that formed the Mongol Empire would adopt Islam as the state religion but this process was more like a series of events, all only partly related to each other.
First a quick introduction to the geographic spread of the Mongol Empire around this period. We have 4 Khanates or Hordes:
The first to convert was Berke Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan and the Khan of the Golden Horde (which ruled parts of Russia and the Caucasus), in 1252. Nothing about Berke's conversion suggests that it was for political purposes. Moreover, though he did persuade his brother to also convert to Islam, there was no widespread conversion of the Mongol leadership in the Golden horde at this time. (For the purposes of this discussion we can assume the Golden horde, the Blue horde, the White horde and Kipchuk Khanate are all the same thing).
However Berke's conversion did have one big political consequence. It led to him allying with a Muslim kingdom against a fellow Mongol Khan.
Hulagu Khan, another grandson of Genghis, ruled the Ilkhanate - essentially the former Persian Khwarizm empire. Hulagu's mandate from the Great Khan (his brother Mongke, who Berke helped make Great Khan in 1251), was to move southwest and subjugate the rest of the Islamic world. As part of this effort he destroyed Baghdad, and the Abbasid Caliphate, and killed the Caliph himself - all in particularly brutal fashion. Berke, a new and devout Muslim, was very upset. This was in 1257-58. In 1259, Mongke Khan died, and Hulagu had to go back to Mongolia (with most of his army) to elect a new Great Khan.
In Hulagu's absence the Mumluks of Egypt managed to destroy the Mongol army left behind (at the famous battle of Ain Jalut). When Hulagu finally came back in 1261, Berke had allied with the Mamluks, and started instigating Hulagu till war broke out between them in 1262 (Berke–Hulagu war). This war permanently halted Mongol expansion in the Middle East.
Eventually, Ghazan Khan (Ghazan), a descendant of Hulagu, performs a political conversion to Islam in 1295. He was constantly at war with the Muslim Mamluks, and a majority of his own subjects were Muslim, so political expediency would have likely played a big role in this conversion. The Ilkhanate was firmly Muslim from this point on.
Berke Khan's Golden Horde, on the other hand, hung on to Genghis' original secular principles till Oz-Beg, a Mongol convert to Islam, took the throne in 1313, and adopted Islam as the state religion.
This leaves us the Chagatai Khanate, which comprises approximately what are today the 5 Central Asian republics. The Chagatai Khanate had a ruler (Mubarak Shah) who converted to Islam as early as 1256, but later rulers would renounce Islam and move back to the older beliefs. Tarmashirin Khan, in 1331, tried to take the Khanate back to Islam. He was essentially killed for his efforts, and the Khanate collapsed soon after. Eventually Timur took over this region. They don't come more fanatic than Timur, and he made sure everyone converted to Islam.
The armies of Allah had never encountered defeats like the Mongols were inflicting on them. Sure the Crusaders had captured a few territories in the "Holy Land", but those victories were because there wasn't a strong Muslim force to counter them. That was not the case with the Khwarizm Shah, who at first glance should have been more than a match for Genghis. Anyway, he wasn't and that was a big psychological blow to the Islamic World. Writers of the time thought the end of world was near.
However, from the ashes of this destruction would rise the eventual Islamisation of the entire Mongol Empire, outside of China and Mongolia.
There was never a big top-down decision coming from the Great Khan that all the Mongols would convert to Islam. Eventually 3 of the 4 Khanates that formed the Mongol Empire would adopt Islam as the state religion but this process was more like a series of events, all only partly related to each other.
First a quick introduction to the geographic spread of the Mongol Empire around this period. We have 4 Khanates or Hordes:
- The Golden Horde (think Russia, Ukraine, Black Sea region, the Caucasus).
- The Ilkhanate (Iran and Iraq)
- The Chagatai Khanate (the 5 Central Asian republics)
- The Yuan dynasty (China - converted to Buddhism, not Islam)
The first to convert was Berke Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan and the Khan of the Golden Horde (which ruled parts of Russia and the Caucasus), in 1252. Nothing about Berke's conversion suggests that it was for political purposes. Moreover, though he did persuade his brother to also convert to Islam, there was no widespread conversion of the Mongol leadership in the Golden horde at this time. (For the purposes of this discussion we can assume the Golden horde, the Blue horde, the White horde and Kipchuk Khanate are all the same thing).
However Berke's conversion did have one big political consequence. It led to him allying with a Muslim kingdom against a fellow Mongol Khan.
Hulagu Khan, another grandson of Genghis, ruled the Ilkhanate - essentially the former Persian Khwarizm empire. Hulagu's mandate from the Great Khan (his brother Mongke, who Berke helped make Great Khan in 1251), was to move southwest and subjugate the rest of the Islamic world. As part of this effort he destroyed Baghdad, and the Abbasid Caliphate, and killed the Caliph himself - all in particularly brutal fashion. Berke, a new and devout Muslim, was very upset. This was in 1257-58. In 1259, Mongke Khan died, and Hulagu had to go back to Mongolia (with most of his army) to elect a new Great Khan.
In Hulagu's absence the Mumluks of Egypt managed to destroy the Mongol army left behind (at the famous battle of Ain Jalut). When Hulagu finally came back in 1261, Berke had allied with the Mamluks, and started instigating Hulagu till war broke out between them in 1262 (Berke–Hulagu war). This war permanently halted Mongol expansion in the Middle East.
Eventually, Ghazan Khan (Ghazan), a descendant of Hulagu, performs a political conversion to Islam in 1295. He was constantly at war with the Muslim Mamluks, and a majority of his own subjects were Muslim, so political expediency would have likely played a big role in this conversion. The Ilkhanate was firmly Muslim from this point on.
Berke Khan's Golden Horde, on the other hand, hung on to Genghis' original secular principles till Oz-Beg, a Mongol convert to Islam, took the throne in 1313, and adopted Islam as the state religion.
This leaves us the Chagatai Khanate, which comprises approximately what are today the 5 Central Asian republics. The Chagatai Khanate had a ruler (Mubarak Shah) who converted to Islam as early as 1256, but later rulers would renounce Islam and move back to the older beliefs. Tarmashirin Khan, in 1331, tried to take the Khanate back to Islam. He was essentially killed for his efforts, and the Khanate collapsed soon after. Eventually Timur took over this region. They don't come more fanatic than Timur, and he made sure everyone converted to Islam.
As the grandson of the great Mongol conqueror, Genghis Khan, Berke Khan was an important figure in the Mongol world in the mid-1200s. Like other Mongols, he originally practiced a form of pagan shamanism.
As the leader in the Golden Horde – a Mongol army – he was sent to the North Caucasus Mountains and Eastern Europe to subdue the Kipchak Turks. He eventually managed to lead armies all the way into Hungary.
Meanwhile Hulagu Khan’s army was attacking Baghdad.
While Berke Khan was traveling back towards the Mongol homeland, he stopped in Bukhara where he questioned local Muslims about their beliefs. He was convinced by the message of Islam and he embraced Islam, becoming the first Mongol leader to accept Islam. After his conversion, many of the soldiers in his army also converted, leading to tension with the other Mongol armies, who were ravaging Muslim lands, including the ancient capital of the Abbasids, Baghdad.
After hearing of the sack of Baghdad in 1258 by his cousin, Hulagu Khan, Berke promised vengance, declaring, “He (Hulagu) has sacked all the cities of the Muslims, and has brought about the death of the Caliph. With the help of God I will call him to account for so much innocent blood.” By allying with the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, Berke managed to hold back Hulagu’s army enough to prevent a major invasion (and destruction) of the remainder of Muslim lands in Egypt, Syria, and the Hijaz.
An Islamic scholar of medieval times accounted "On the fate of Caliph of Baghdad; Al-Musta'sim Billah at the hands of the Mongol hordes if the Sky wills to weep tears of blood, it has the permission to do so". Such was the Mongol Catastrophe that descended on the Muslim Civilization that it appeared as if the glorious Islamic empire was on its last breath. But who had imagined that the savage mongols who defeated muslims would be conquered by Islam. From their army ranks came out the new rising Turko-Mongols who then established glorious empires across three continents.
As Allah says in the Holy Quran "And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people; then they will not be the likes of you".
ALLAHUAKBAR :)
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