Subutai and the Volga Bulghars, 1223/1224.

Mighty Subutai, great commander of Chinggis Khan, is often described as undefeated in battle in popular retelling. Yet, we know of a few defeats, his most against the Bulghars of the Volga River in 1223/1224. Here, we will discuss not only that battle, but the history and origins of the Volga Bulghars, the interesting presentation around this defeat, and why perhaps, the defeat of Subutai Ba'atar is so little known compared to Parwan and Ayn Jalut.

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Jebe and Subutai: Pursuit of the Shah and the Caucasus:    • Jebe and Subutai: Pursuit of the Shah...  

Jebe and Subutai: The Kalka River, 1223:    • Jebe and Subutai: The Kalka River, 1223  

Jebe and Subutai: Great Raid vs Conquest,    • Jebe and Subutai: Great Raid vs Conquest  

PRIMARY SOURCES

The Secret history of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century. Translated by Igor de Rachewiltz. Edited by John C. Street. University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2015. https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.... See page 190.

The ibn al-Athir excerpts are from Zimonyi "Volga Bulghars between Wind and Water," 1992/1993. All Zimonyi's articles are availible for free on Academia.edu.

SECONDARY SOURCES

Chambers, James. The Devil’s Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe. London, Cassel Publishers, 1988.

De Hartog, Leo. Russia and the Mongol Yoke: The History of the Russian Principalities and the Golden Horde, 1221-1502. London, Tauris Publishers, 1996.

d’Ohsson, Abraham. Histoire des Mongols depuis Tchinguis-Khan jusqu'à Timour Bey ou Tamerlan. 2nd ed. La Hay et Amsterdam Les fères Van Cleef, 1852. Vol I. https://archive.org/details/histoired...

Golden, Peter B. “The peoples of the south Russian steppes.” in The Cambridge History of Inner Asia, edited by Denis Sinor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (1990) 256-284.

Grousset, Rene. L'Empire des steppes: Attila, Gengis-Khan, Tamerlan. 4th edition. Paris, 1965.
http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/...

Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017.

Mako, Gerald. “The Islamization of the Volga Bulghars: A Question Reconsidered.” Archivum Eurasiaie Medii Aevi 18 (2011): 199-223.

Man, John. The Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan, His Heirs and the Founding of Modern China. London: Transworld Publishers, 2014.

May, Timothy. The Mongol Empire. Edinburgh History of the Islamic Empires Series. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2018.

McLynn, Frank. Genghis Khan: His Conquests, His Empire, His Legacy. Boston, First Da Capo Press, 2015

Zimonyi, István. “The Mongol Campaigns against Eastern Europe.” in Medieval Nomads in Eastern Europe, ed. V. Spinei. Bucharest, Braila (2014): 325-352.

Zimonyi, István. “Bulgars and Ogurs.” The Turks. Ankara: Yeni Turkiye, (2002): 569-578.

Zimonyi, István. “The Towns of the Volga Bulghars in the Sources (10-13th Century).”In: Huzin F Š(szerk.) Srednevekovaia Kazan': vozniknovenie i razvitie : materialy Mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferencii, Kazan. Kazan: Master Lain, (2000): 134-140.

Zimonyi, István. “The Volga Bulghars between Wind and Water (1220-1236).” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 46 no. ⅔ (1992/3): 347-355.

Zimonyi, István. “The First Mongol Raid Against the Volga-Bulgars.” Altaic Papers, ed. G. Jarring and S. Rosen, 197-204. Stockholm (1985).

MUSIC USED;

Cambodian Odyssey by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
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Clenched Teeth - The Descent by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
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