Battle of The Kalka River - Prelude

Prelude

Genghis Khan eventually granted Jebe permission and with Subutai as his second-in-command, the Mongols advanced to the city of Derbent, which refused to surrender. Jebe promised to spare the city in return for the services of 10 guides to take them through the Caucasus. To warn the guide against playing any tricks, the Mongols executed one of them. The crossing of the Caucasus was costly for the Mongols, who had to abandon their siege engines and lost hundreds of men to the cold.

After making it through the Caucasus, the Mongols were met by an alliance consisting of the Lezgians, the Alans and the Cherkesses, tribes who were living north of the Caucasus who had mustered an army of around 50,000 men. They were joined by the Cumans, a Turkish people who owned an expansive khanate stretching from Lake Balkhash to the Black Sea. The Cumans also convinced the Volga Bulgars and Khazars to join. The Cuman Khan, Koten, placed his army under the command of his brother, Yuri, and his son, Daniel. The first battle between the league and the Mongols was indecisive, but the Mongols managed to persuade the Cuman to abandon the alliance by reminding them of the Turkish-Mongol friendship and promising them a share of the booty gained from the Caucasian tribes.

With this arrangement settled, the Mongols attacked the alliance's army and routed it. The Mongols then proceeded to attack the Cumans, who had split into two separate groups as they were returning home, destroying both armies and executing all the prisoners before sacking Astrakhan. The Mongols began pursuing the Cumans as they fled in a north-westerly direction.

The Venetians sent a delegation to the Mongols, and they concluded an alliance in which it was agreed that the Mongols would destroy any other European trading post they came across. As the Mongols pursued the Cumans, Jebe sent a detachment to Crimea, where the Republic of Genoa had trading stations. The Mongols captured and plundered the Genoese city of Soldaia. Meanwhile, Koten fled to the court of his son-in-law, Prince Mstislav the Bold of Galich. He warned Mstislav: "Today the Mongols have taken our land and tomorrow they will take yours". However, the Cumans were ignored for almost a year as the Rus had suffered from Cumans raids for decades. But when news reached Kiev that the Mongols were marching along the Dniester River, the Rus responded. Mstislav gathered an alliance of the Kievan Rus' princes including Mstislav III of Kiev and Prince Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal, who promised support. The Rus princes then began mustering their armies and going towards the rendezvous point.