mongol expansion & eurasian commercial axes 41
dream. their global aspirations coincided with those of the chinggisids,
explaining the convergence of their interests and why and how they acted
in concert with the dynasty.
the earliest indication in this respect is to be found in Muḥammad ii’s
first embassy to chinggis Khan’s court. the make-up of the embassy shows
that, just like other travellers to Mongol-occupied china at the time, the
envoys dispatched as diplomats also sounded out the state of trade, which
must have interested them greatly:17 the huge marketplace of china was
always a lode-stone for the great merchants of iran and central asia.18
regrettably, this inexhaustible source of manufactured goods was only
sporadically accessible to foreign merchants over the course of history.19
now chinggis Khan was promising not just an open door policy in the Far
east but also—through the provocative and insulting proposal sent to the
shah—the union of transoxiana and persia one rule. leading representa-
tives of asia’s urban cultures were willing to serve barbarians from the
steppe to bring about this grand goal, a highly desirable new dispensation
which proved more powerful than ties of faith. under these circumstances,
a symbiosis arose between the khan and the merchants—a fundamental
part of the Mongol state in all its forms and developments.20
seen chronologically and geographically, the otrar incident of 1218
likewise proves to be a crucial episode in the westward expansion: it
forms the prelude to the chinggisids’ enormous project of conquering the
silk road.
purportedly a punitive campaign to revenge the merchants who had
been killed, chinggis Khan’s campaign of 1219 against shah Muḥammad
pursued two distinct goals: while the main body of troops laid waste
the length and breadth of transoxiana and Khwarezm, which they then
annexed to the empire, the generals Jebe and sübödei led an expedition to
pursue the shah, a raiding party that became a scouting mission.21 From
1219 to 1223, this expedition took the Mongol horsemen from central asia
17 Barthold, Turkestan, p. 393.
18 see herrmann, Seidenstraßen, haussig, Vorislamische Zeit, idem, Islamische Zeit,
Franke, Geld, idem, Geschichte, and the studies collected in Bauer, Studia and rossabi,
China.
19 ibid.
20 see chapter 1.2.2.
21 defeated, and with his armies scattered, Muḥammad ii took refuge on an island in
the caspian, where he died in obscurity.