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Sack of Balkh
Part of the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire
The inhabitants of the city of Balkh leaving the city at the order of Genghis, to be slaughtered by the Mongols. February 1221
Date February 1221 Location Balkh, Khwarazmian Empire (present-day Balkh Province, Afghanistan) Result Mongol victory Territorial changes Balkh captured
Belligerents
Mongol Empire	Khwarazmian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Genghis Khan Juzbi Tulan Arsalan Khan Ala al-Din of Qunduz	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Entire population massacred

The Sack of Balkh (Dari: غارت بلخ) took place in 1221 during the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire. The city, situated in present-day northern Afghanistan, was besieged by Mongol forces under the command of Genghis Khan. After fierce resistance, Balkh was captured, and the city was largely destroyed.

During the Mongol invasion, the Khwarazmian ruler Muhammad II of Khwarazm passed through Balkh while retreating toward Nishapur as Mongol forces advanced into the region.^[1] Balkh was one of the principal cities of Khorasan and was described as wealthy and extensive in territory. Medieval writers described Khorasan as consisting of four major cities: Balkh, Merv, Herat and Nishapur.^[2]

In 1220, Shah Muhammed II was in Balkh, situated near the foothills of Afghanistan, when he received news that Mongol forces under Orlok had crossed the Amu-Darya and were advancing across the region in a broad front. Reports indicated that the Mongols were not initially plundering or burning settlements, but were demanding provisions for their troops and fodder for their horses while searching for the Khwarazmian ruler.^[3] Soon afterward, Mongol generals Subutai and Jebe arrived at Balkh, which had served as Mohammed’s first place of refuge during his flight from the Mongols. The city surrendered to the Mongols without resistance.^[4] Bartold claims the Mongols left a governor in Balkh during their pursuit of the Shah, but he considers this unlikely because the detachments operating in the region were too small to maintain permanent garrisons in major cities.^[5] Nasawī records an amir named Māhrūy, described as “one of the leading men at Balkh”, as having defected to the victorious Mongols. As an amir, however, he likely did not belong to the city’s civilian notables.^[6]

Genghis Khan dispatched a contingent of roughly 6,000 Muslim cavalry forces that had allied themselves with him to advance against Balkh. At the same time, other detachments of his army were sent to secure surrounding regions, ensuring that no resistance could regroup and threaten his advance. The main body of the Khan's forces moved strategically, capturing key fortresses and towns to consolidate control over the area.^[7] Local elites, including Ala al-Din of Qunduz and a grandees of Balkh, defected to the Mongols, aiding in consolidating control and providing intelligence.^[8]

The vanguard arrived under the command of the Muslim Arsalan Khan and the Mongol Juzbi Tulan, beginning an eight-month siege according to Juzjani,^[9] however, the chronicler Sayf ibn Muhammad ibn Yaqub al-Herawi claimed that the siege lasted 37 days,^[10] a date much more in line with the modern reconstruction of events.^[11] After destroying Termed, Genghis Khan arrived at the city and asked its inhabitants to come out onto a nearby plain because he only wanted to take a census. However, Prince Jalal ad-Din had warned the locals of the massacres committed by the invaders and that surrendering would do them no good.^[12]

Since Balkh was situated on a mountain, the invaders cut down the surrounding trees and brought in earth to slowly fill the ravine around the walls.^[13] However, the son of an officer of the wall appeared at the Mongol camp and led the conquerors along a mountain path where they had to march lightly.^[14] In the ridges were niches where he began to hide the Mongols as he brought them in over the next three days. Then, on the fourth day, they were numerous enough to launch a surprise attack on a gate, where they managed to eliminate the defenders. Afterward, they entered Balkh and massacred the defenders. Genghis Khan ordered the civilian population to leave the city and go to a plain to be divided into smaller groups and massacred.^[15] Afterward, the conquerors set about burning the gardens and demolishing the walls, palaces, and fortresses of Balkh.^[16]

Swedish scholar Carl Fredrick Sverdrup claimed 52,000 people perished, though he did not indicate his sources.^[17] According to Jalal ad-Din, 200,000 men and 50,000 scholars, Quranic students, and poets were killed, 14,000 copies of the Quran and 12,000 neighborhood mosques were burned, pregnant women were dismembered, and children and the elderly were killed, leaving not even the animals alive. This punishment allegedly occurred because Chagatai, son of Tolui, had died during the siege.^[18]

Later descriptions of the region suggest that Balkh remained largely devastated. A Chinese traveller who passed through the area reported that the inhabitants had recently revolted and fled, leaving the city in ruins.^[19]

Bartold records that Genghis Khan crossed the Amu Darya in the spring of 1221 and occupied Balkh. Medieval historians provide differing accounts of the city’s fate: Ibn al-Athir reports that the inhabitants surrendered and were spared, while Ata-Malik Juvayni states that although the city submitted, the Mongols later carried out a massacre. Bartold suggests that the destruction of the city may have occurred after a revolt by its inhabitants.^[20]

After capturing Balkh the Mongols continued to besiege Taliqan, Genghis dispatched his youngest son Tolui to Khorasan to make sure that no opposition remained in the extensive and wealthy region. His task was to pacify and subjugate the region and its cities by any means possible, and he carried out the task "with a thoroughness from which that region has never recovered", in the words of the historian J.A. Boyle.^[21]