Alans in the Southern Song campaign of Kaan and Emperor Khublai 1267–1273

Abstract

The article deals with the main military operations of the Mongolian troops against the Southern Song Empire, which occurred in 1267–1273 during the reign of Khaan and Emperor, Kublai. An analysis of the information from the sources regarding the participation of Alanian warriors in this campaign formed the novelty of the research. The relevance of the study is determined by the lack of the researches that consider the participation of the Alans in specific military operations that formed the Mongol campaigns to conquer the Southern Song Empire. The objective of the research was to present the circumstances of the participation of the Alans in the main operations of the campaign. The relevant information contained in the various sections of the official chronicles of the Chinese imperial Song and Yuan dynasties, as well as the chronicles of Rashid al-din and Marco Polo’s narrative were the materials of the research. As a result, it was ascertained that the “History of Yuan” contains information about five Alanian commanders that took part in the campaign, the main military operations among which were the siege and capture of the strategically important city-fortress Xiangyang, as well as raids deep into the territory of Song. Besides, the presentation of the general course of the campaign events made it possible to eliminate the discrepancies between the information from the “History of Yüan” relating to the description of the participation of the Alanian commanders in the military operations of the campaign, and the translations of this information presented in the scientific tradition. The study allows one to assert that the Alanian commanders and their guards units participated in the most important military operations that made up the Mongolian Southern Song campaign of 1267–1273.

Keywords

• alans
• mongols
• southern song
• yuan
• xiangyang