Military History of Ray, Iran - The Mongols and After, 1220 CE Onward

The Mongols and After, 1220 CE Onward

Also fleeing the Mongols (otherwise known as the Tatars) was the Khwarazm Shah, whose lack of diplomacy had arguably brought the invaders west in the first place. Unfortunately, 'Ala' al-Din Muhammad also headed for Ray, and two divisions of the great horde were sent after him, commanded by the very capable generals Subedei and Jebe. The two pursuing forces took different routes across Iran, plundering and slaughtering, before meeting up at Ray in the autumn. No attempt was made to defend the city on this occasion, and its occupants were treated relatively well as a result. Still, as the Mongols pressed on towards 'Ala's apparent next destination, Hamadan, they were preceded by rumours that in the province around Ray, some 700,000 people had died, including the entire population of the city of Qom. The Khwarazm Shah had headed north-west, and some sources indicate that the pursuing Mongols passed close to Ray again in mid-winter, where they were engaged in a battle which they easily and bloodily won.

'Ala' al-Din died of natural causes a few weeks later, hiding on an island in the Caspian Sea. He was succeeded by his son Jalal al-Din Mingburnu, who had managed to evade the Mongols and hid for three years in India. During that time, though, another son, Ghiyath al-Din (not to be confused with the earlier Ghurid leader) also managed to survive, and to acquire an army, which he used to conquer much of Iranian Iraq. In 621 H (1224 CE), Jalal al-Din left India and headed for Iran to confront his brother. By a high-speed march from Isfahan, he managed to catch his brother by surprise, just outside Ray. When most of Ghiyath's officers declared their support for Jalal, the issue was decided without a battle. According to Ibn al-Athir's history, the Mongols also returned to Ray in this year, but other sources do not seem to support this. What can be said with more certainty is that before 617 H, Ray (and presumably Tehran) was a major centre for the manufacture of beautiful lustre-ware pottery, but after the Mongols passed through, the industry moved to other cities such as Kashan.

Still, life went on. And it seems that, although almost the entire civilian population had left, Ray continued to have military significance. In a battle near the city in Safar 683 H (May 1284 CE) the Buddhist prince Arghun attempted to defeat his Muslim uncle Tegüder, who had deftly seized power as viceroy (Il-Khan) of the western part of Kublai Khan's vast empire, after the premature death of Arghun's Buddhist/ Christian father Abaqa Khan (apparently caused by something he drank). The attempt failed, but Arghun soon acquired a new ally, and by August Tegüder was dead. Arghun's son Mahmud Ghazan, who succeeded to the Ilkhanate in 694 H (1295 CE), after converting from vague Buddhist/ Christian/ Shamanist belief to tolerant Sunni Islam, had the fort of Tabarak rebuilt, and according to some sources attempted to revive the city itself, but nothing seems to have come of this effort. In 727 H (1327 CE), a new Il-Khan, Arghun's grandson Abu Sa'id, issued orders for the execution of the amir Chupan, formerly the most powerful man in his government, but the latter, alerted by the earlier execution of his son, gathered his forces and marched west from Khorasan to take control of Ray. On the way, at Semnan (between Damghan and Ray) he asked Shaikh 'Ala' al-Daula to mediate, but Abu Sa'id refused this help, so Chupan fled east to Herat instead.

A later amir, Wali of Mazandaran (Tabaristan) first attempted to conquer the district of Ray in 772 H (1370 CE), but was defeated by Uwais, a leader of the Mongol Djalayirid tribe. Encouraged by the Shah Shudja, of the Arabic Muzaffarid dynasty in Khorasan, Wali tried again two years later, and captured both Ray and Saveh. As his power grew over the next few years, he attracted the attention of great amir Timur (Tamerlane), Turkic Mongol warrior and devout Muslim, who fought several campaigns to subdue him. Timur conquered the key city of Astarabad (Djurdjan) in 786 H (1384 CE), and he was able to capture Ray without striking a blow, because Wali had fled.

The Spanish diplomat Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo found, when he passed through on a mission to the East in 1404 CE, that the walled city had no civilian inhabitants, while Tehran, still unfortified, had grown to the size of a city. Nonetheless, Ray's fortifications may have retained some military significance. In the first half of the 15th century CE, Timur's son Mirza Shahrukh had to bring his army through Ray on several occasions, particularly in his attempts to control the Qara-Qoyunlu ("Black Sheep"), Turkmen people who had gained control of Azerbaijan and Iraq. In 810 H (1408 CE) the Qara-Qoyunlu had defeated and killed Shahrukh's brother Miranshah in Azerbaijan, and his response was to bring 200,000 horsesmen to Ray to prevent them from overrunning the area. On a later visit to Ray, in 839 H (1435-6 CE), Shahrukh finally brought some stability to the area, by recruiting Jahan Shah, one of the sons of the great former Qara-Qoyunlu leader Qara Yusuf, to govern Azerbaijan and oust his older brother Qara Iskander. Shahrukh's death from natural causes, in 850 H (1447 CE), occurred near Ray, on an expedition against one of his own grandsons, Muhammad ibn Baysunghur, the local governor, who was attempting to expand his territory in anticipation of the old man's demise.

Muhammad soon had other matters to worry about, as Jahan Shah had expansion plans of his own. By 853 H (1453 CE) the heirs of Timur had effectively been driven out of western Iran, holding only Kerman and Arbaquh, between Shiraz and Isfahan. They knew that capturing Ray would give them a significant strategic advantage over key communication routes from Azerbaijan, but their attempts came to nothing. After that, the ancient city gradually faded into insignificance. Attacks on Iran from the great plains of eastern Asia still occurred, and in 939 H (1533 CE) Uzbek raiders penetrated as far as Ray. Twenty years later, ramparts were constructed around Tehran, and Ray finally ceased to be a military objective.