Siege of Bukhara

Genghis Khan captures Bukhara

Bukhara's field garrison fled before the citizens surrendered — and ran directly into waiting Mongol forces.

Across the Kizil Kum

Instead of attacking Samarkand first, Genghis Khan and his son Tolui led a Mongol force southwest across the Kizil Kum desert and reached Bukhara in February or March 1220.

Ibn al-Athir dates the conquest of the outer city to 4 Dhu al-Hijjah 616 AH, 10 February 1220; Juvaini's chronology points instead to early March.

No reliable basis was found for the often-repeated Mongol army of about 100,000, or for the exact 450-kilometre desert distance.

The city opens, the citadel does not

A Khwarazmian garrison reported as 20,000 strong abandoned the city and fled into waiting Mongol forces. Bukhara's civic leaders then sent a delegation offering surrender.

Genghis entered the surrendered outer city, and the courtyard of its congregational mosque was used to feed the Mongols' horses.

Resistance continued in the citadel for twelve more days; its defenders were killed after it fell.

What was said, and by whom

The population was driven outside, property was pillaged and the city burned; skilled craftsmen were apportioned among the Mongol princes' uluses.

The later Persian historian Juvaini attributes to Genghis a mosque speech in which he called himself God's punishment for the people's sins. Juvaini was born after the conquest, and the wording is a later report rather than a contemporary transcript.

The city was devastated, but not emptied for good: rebuilding began under the first Mongol governor.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources not yet audited Date disputed

How this was checked

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Date disputed. Sources disagree; the research places it at 1220-02-10.

What the sources leave uncertain

Ibn al-Athir dates the conquest to 10 February 1220, while Juvaini's chronology points to early March; the Cambridge History therefore gives arrival as February or March.
The article's exact arrival date of 7 February is a modern reconstruction, not a consensus date directly supplied by the strongest sources consulted.
Garrison estimates vary widely across chronicles and modern reconstructions; 20,000 is used by the Cambridge History, but should not be treated as an exact roll call.
No reliable basis was found for the listed title's Mongol army of about 100,000 or its exact 450-kilometer desert distance.