Jalaluddin Mangburni: the sultan who leapt into the Indus

In the early 13th century, the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan entered Central Asia. The Khwarazmian empire was then the greatest power standing before them. Within a few years the empire fell apart, but its last ruler did not surrender. Jalal al-Din Mangburni fought the Mongols and other rivals from Afghanistan to Sindh and Punjab, and then from Iran to the Caucasus. An important chapter of his life was spent on the banks of the Indus, in Punjab, Sindh and Makran.

The prince of Khwarazm

Jalaluddin was the eldest son of Khwarazm Shah Ala al-Din Muhammad II. His mother was a Turkmen slave woman. For this reason his grandmother, Terken Khatun, who was very powerful at court, favoured a younger son as heir. In 1215 his father divided the empire among his sons, and Jalaluddin received the lands of the former Ghurid empire.

The Mongol invasion

According to History.com, Genghis Khan marched on Khwarazm in 1219. The cause was that a trade caravan from Mongol territory was plundered and its merchants killed, and Genghis Khan’s envoys were later killed too. The Mongol army took cities such as Bukhara, Samarkand and Gurganj one after another. The Khwarazm Shah retreated to an island in the Caspian Sea and died there in late 1220.

After his father’s death, Jalaluddin became sultan. At the capital, Gurganj, he learnt of a plot by the nobles. He left with a few hundred horsemen, evaded Mongol detachments and reached Ghazni, where his supporters gathered in large numbers.

Victory at Parwan and the bank of the Indus

In 1221 Jalaluddin defeated the army of the Mongol commander Shigi Qutuqu at Parwan, north of Kabul. Straight after the victory, however, a quarrel over the spoils broke out in his army. According to a supplement to Rashid al-Din’s Jami al-Tawarikh, a dispute arose over a horse between Amin Malik, the governor of Herat, and Saif al-Din Aghraq. Amin Malik struck Aghraq with a whip, and Aghraq broke away with his army in the dark of night. Jalaluddin’s army was reduced by half.

He now decided to cross the Indus and go to India. According to the historian Ata-Malik Juwaini’s Tarikh-i Jahan-gusha, Genghis Khan travelled day and night and reached Ghazni, only to learn that the sultan had left for the Indus 15 days earlier. The Mongols caught up with him on the riverbank and encircled him in the shape of a bow. Jalaluddin fought for a long time. When the circle tightened, he mounted a fresh horse, jumped into the river and swam to the other side.

Juwaini writes that Genghis Khan, watching this, said in amazement to his sons that this was a man who could truly be called a man. However, most of the sultan’s companions either drowned in the river or were killed, and the male members of his family, including young children, were put to death. Modern historians give the date of the battle as 24 November 1221, while the Hijri dates given by early historians differ from one another.

Stay in Punjab and Sindh

According to Juwaini, after crossing the river Jalaluddin hid in the forests for a few days, and his surviving companions gradually rejoined him. He attacked local detachments to obtain weapons and mounts, and his army grew from a few hundred to 3,000 and then 10,000. When a Mongol detachment came in pursuit, he moved towards Delhi and sent a message to Sultan Shamsuddin Iltutmish asking for a place to stay for some time. According to Juwaini, Iltutmish sent gifts but made the excuse that the climate there was not suitable for the sultan.

Jalaluddin then headed for the Salt Range (Koh-i-Jud). Juwaini writes that the Khokhar chief Rai Sankin gave him his daughter in marriage and sent his son to serve him with a detachment. At that time Sindh and Multan were ruled by Nasiruddin Qabacha. Jalaluddin’s commander Uzbek Pai, with 7,000 horsemen, attacked Qabacha’s army of 20,000 at night near Uch and scattered it. During the siege of the fort of Pasrur, Jalaluddin was hit on the head by an arrow.

He then moved south into Sindh. According to Juwaini, Fakhruddin Salari, the ruler of Sadusan (Sehwan), submitted, and after staying there for a month the sultan reappointed him ruler. From there he went towards Debal and Damrila, whose ruler boarded a boat and went out to sea. Meanwhile a Mongol detachment besieged Multan but had to withdraw because of the intense heat.

Around this time news came from Iraq that soldiers there were awaiting his return. Jalaluddin therefore set out for Iran by way of Makran. Juwaini writes that the climate of Makran was so unfavourable that a large part of his army was lost on the way. His stay in the subcontinent lasted two to three years; historians give different figures for its length.

Return to Iran and death

On reaching Kerman, he married the daughter of its ruler, Baraq Hajib. He then tried to re-establish his rule in Persian Iraq, Azerbaijan and the Caucasus. In 1225 he took Tabriz and also fought against Georgia. But constant wars with his neighbours left him isolated. In 1230 the Seljuk sultan Ala al-Din Kayqubad and his Ayyubid allies defeated him at the Battle of Yassıçemen. In 1231 a fresh Mongol army scattered what remained of his force. He was forced to take refuge in the mountains and was killed in August that year by a Kurd who wanted revenge for his brother’s death.

Legacy

Early and modern historians hold mixed views of Jalaluddin. Muhammad Nasawi, his friend and companion, who wrote his biography, described him as extremely brave and gentle. Minhaj Siraj Juzjani also mentioned his bravery. On the other hand, some modern historians, among them the Russian orientalist Barthold, sharply criticise his political judgement and his rule.

Jalaluddin’s story is that of a ruler whose empire ended before his eyes, but whose crossing of the Indus is still remembered in history books and paintings centuries later.