Chengiz Khan

In 1220 AD the history of Iran began to take another turn, more bloody, more tragic, and sadder than any before or since. There was a man approaching Iran on his horse who eventually became a nightmare to the whole world: Chengiz Khan.

Chengiz Khan was a Mongol, born a prince among his people: a people - like the Turks - used to hardship because of the harsh natural conditions in which they lived as nomads. Chengiz's genius and his people's inborn courage and loyalty to him allowed him to rapidly extend his domination over the entire Mongolia and the neighboring regions. Soon his territories shared borders with the Iranian kingdom of Kharazmshahian.

It is said that Chengiz had a great deal of respect for the Iranians and their civilization, and even feared Iranian military strength. In order to expand trade and cultural relations with Iran he sent emissaries to the Kharazmshahi king Sultan Mohammad, For one reason or another, perhaps out of greed for the possessions of the emissaries and the magnificent presents they had with them, some Iranian chief at the frontier outpost murdered the ambassadors and plundered their belongings. Chengiz Khan, though furious at the news, still remained calm and acted wisely; perhaps he had not yet allowed his anger to overcome his respect for and fear of the Iranians. He sent a messenger to the Kharazmshahi king to make a complaint and require an explanation as well as to seek, once again, to establish relations with Iran. Again too much pride and overconfidence, as shown by Iranian rulers and nobles time and again, brought disaster to the nation. Rather than apologize for his officer's uncivilized behavior, and make reparations to this neighbor who was extending his hand to show his amicable intentions, the conceited king treated the messenger harshly as a savage. This time Chengiz Khan decided to attack the Kharazmshahi territory, come what may.

One could say that the Iranian king pushed Chengiz Khan into waging war against the Iranian people, and once he began, Chengiz Khan would not be satisfied only with Kharazrnshahi territories. He overran most Iranian kingdoms, sacked many towns and even completely erased some from the face of the earth.

Two elements in the Iranian character show themselves repeatedly: that of pride and overconfidence among the kings and nobles which often led to disasters; and that of resilience, patience and endurance among the common people. Every single town that Chengiz Khan destroyed, was eventually rebuilt by the Iranian people.

Chengiz did not stop at just sacking and erasing towns that resisted him in the slightest way; he massacred in the most inhuman and cruel manner men, women and children: except for a few which he retained as slaves. He built towers out of human heads, His men butchered men and women, boys and girls. Raping women and girls was the least crime they committed, lt is said that the Mongols were forbidden by their traditions to rape married women; so they would first kill the husband then rape the wife. Never in history have Iranians been so shamefully humiliated, except for the second surge of Mongol-Tatar invasion by Teymoor "Lang" (the lame Teymoor) or Tamerlane as he is known in the West.

Chengiz had not yet established his domination over all of Iran, nor yet completely destroyed the Kharazmshahians, when he died in 1227 AD. His empire was divided among his sons and brothers, Holaku Khan becoming the "Ilkhan" of Iranian territories. He appointed an Iranian vizier, Khajeh Nassireddin Toosi, who helped him become established as the king and ruler of Iran and overcome the Abbasid caliph. Toosi's presence at the llkhan court made life easier for the Iranians who became more and more liberated, gradually regained their proper status and soon began to assimilate the nomadic Mongols and to civilize them. The later descendants of Holaku converted to Islam - became devout Moslems, in fact - and more and more Iranian in attitude, manner and thought.

And then, once again, small independent states sprouted here and there with Iranians as their rulers, turning Iran into yet another collection of kingdoms. Then disaster struck again. Teymoor Lang was a Tatar whose ancestors had converted to Islam. He was a devout Sunni Moslem and disliked Shia Iranians whom he believed to be heretics. But apparently even this was not the reason why he invaded Iran: he simply loved war and enjoyed spilling blood. He was even more cruel and merciless than Chengiz but whenever he conquered a town or city, he spared men of learning, poets and writers, and artists and craftsmen, for whom he had respect and whom he helped to continue with their works. He himself is said to have been a Moslem scholar and to have known the entire Koran by heart, (even backwards they say, from the last verse to the first). Yet he was a warrior void of mercy and compassion. Teymoor first attacked Iran in or around 1393 AD.

In 1405 Teymoor died and his son Shahrokh acceded to his throne. Shahrokh, though a warrior, was mild and generous. He loved the Persian language and poetry and was deeply interested in arts and sciences which he encouraged and supported. Once again the Invader became assimilated into the way of life of the conquered Iranian; Shahrokh and his descendants came to think of themselves more and more as Iranians than Tatars.

After Shahrokh, again independent states appeared, and once again Iran was divided into little kingdoms. This time fate showed more sympathy for Iranians who had gone through so many tragedies, so much sorrow. The Safavi (Safavid) star was about to rise; the Golden Age was about to begin; the Iranian civilization, arts and crafts, were to reach unprecedented heights.

The son and grandson of holy men, Ismail was a respected person among his people who lived in Azarbaijan. His parents and grandparents, going back generations, were Shia Moslems. He gathered together from his followers a small army and overthrew the Aq-Quynlu Turkomans and thus began the Safavid dynasty whose kingdom gradually grew to encompass most of the traditionally Iranian territories. During the two and a half centuries of Safavid rule, although Iran was constantly at war with the Ottoman Turks in the northwest, Uzbeks on the east and for a time the Portuguese in the Persian GuIf, the arts, specially architecture, carpet weaving and miniature painting, rose to great heights.