Battle of Samara Bend - Battle

Battle

During the mopping-up operations of the Mongols on the Dnieper, a messenger arrived from the Great Khan ordering Subutai and Jebe to return to the Volga river, locate Jochi and return with him to Mongolia. According to historian John Chambers, "The delayed arrival of the reinforcements which were at last advancing towards the Volga and the absence of Jochi from a preliminary briefing with his father had not been due to illness. Jochi was an imaginative an determined commander, as his campaigns in Khwarizm had shown, but his headstrong independence had made him unreliable . . . He (the Khan) had hoped that under the influence of his two most distinguished generals Jochi might return to (the Khan's) camp where they could flaunt a family loyalty that would crush any hope of intrigue (by Jochi's detractors.)" Jochi brought a single tumen (10,000 men) to reinforce the army of Jebe/Subutai, meeting on the west bank of the Volga. The old directive was no longer in force per the orders from the messenger, but the return journey home gave them the opportunity to reconnoiter the north-western boundaries of the Mongol Empire. They reduced the Bulgars on the west bank of the Volga before an attack was made further north.

The entire historical record of the "Battle of Samara Bend" consists of a short account by the Arab historian Ibn al-Athir, writing in Mosul some 1100 miles away from the event. According to the expert-opinion of historian Peter Jackson, the most accurate translation of the passage is contained in D.S. Richards' book, The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kāmil fī’l-ta'rīkh. Part 3: The Years 589–629/1193–1231, The Ayyūbids after Saladin and the Mongol Menace., vol.3, quoted below:

Account of the Tatars' return from the lands of the Rus and the Qipjaq to their ruler

After the Tatars had treated the Rus as we have described and plundered their country, they withdrew and went to the Bulghars in the year 620 . When the Bulghars heard of their approach, they laid ambushes for them in several places. They then marched out to engage them and drew them on until they had passed the ambush site. They emerged behind their backs, so that they were caught in the middle. They fell to the sword on every side. Most of them were killed and only a few escaped.

There is another version, however. They numbered about four thousand and they set out for Saqsin on the way back to their ruler, Chingiz Khan. The lands of the Qipjaq became free of them and the survivors returned home.

In Peter Jackson's expert-opinion, the second passage relates to the size of Jebe/Subutai's army, not the number of Mongol "survivors" from the ambush - however, there is no mention in the alternative tale of any encounter with the Bulgars.

In this history, no mention is made of who commanded the military probe that was ambushed, or how large it was. Historian A.H. Halikov identifies the Bulgarian army commander as Ilgam Khan. Based on the record of Jebe and Subutai's entire careers, masters of ambush themselves, a military conundrum exists in that a weakened Bulgar state would be able to defeat them. However, if Jochi was in command, it may be significant that upon the return of the Mongol force to Mongol territory, Jochi entered his father's tent, interrupting an audience, knelt before the throne, and placed Jenghiz's hand upon his forehead, the Mongol stance for utter submission. Various historical secondary sources - Morgan, Chambers, Grousset - state that the Mongols actually defeated the Bulgars, Chambers even going so far as to say that the Bulgars had made up stories to tell the (recently crushed) Russians that they had beaten the Mongols and driven them from their territory.

However, historian Peter Jackson points out there is no reason to doubt Ibn al-Athir, and that Chambers' may be indulging in speculation. Historian Zimonyi Istvan takes the stance that the Mongols suffered a reverse: "The Mongols first attacked the Volga Bulgars immediately after their victory in the battle of Kalka in 1223. They were then entrapped and defeated by the Volga Bulgars. The Mongols made minor raids against the southern and eastern border of the Volga Bulgar country in 1229 and 1232."

Whatever the case, after this battle the Mongols skirted the Urals defeating the Saxin tribes (east Saxons) there and then moved south to defeat the eastern Cumans (Kanglis), where the Cuman army was destroyed, their khagan killed, and they were forced to pay a large tribute to the Mongols. This would hardly have been possible if the Mongol force had been severely damaged at the "Battle of Samara Bend."