Ala ad-Din Muhammad II (simplified: 阿拉乌丁·摩诃末, traditional: 阿拉烏丁·摩訶末, pinyin: Ālāwūdīng Móhēmò, jyutping: aa3 laai1 wu1 ding1 mo1 ho1 mut6), called simply Muhammad (摩诃末), was the king of Khwarezm whose realm Genghis Khan invaded on his western campaign. He was arrogant and cruel, and he died a fugitive on an island in the Caspian Sea.
Biography
Quarrel with Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan had long held back from Khwarezm, because his heart was set on the Jin. When his son Jochi was returning from a campaign against the Merkit, Muhammad’s army fell on the same tribe. Jochi sent an envoy to offer friendship, but the red-bearded king answered, “Though Genghis Khan has commanded you not to strike me, God commands me to strike you.” The Mongols won the battle, but withdrew by night because they were outnumbered ten to one. Later a Mongol caravan was plundered and its merchants killed. When Genghis Khan sent envoys to make peace, Muhammad, urged on by Wanyan Honglie, who sat at his side, killed the chief envoy, killed half of the guards and burned off the beards of the rest before sending them back. Genghis Khan then declared war, vowing to capture both Muhammad and Wanyan Honglie (ch. 36).
Fall of Samarkand
Muhammad’s forces were numerous but no match for the Mongols, who swept through Khwarezm. He had moved his capital from Gurganj to Samarkand, which he held with more than 100,000 troops behind walls said to be the strongest in the world (ch. 36–37). When Guo Jing’s men leapt from a peak above the city with leather canopies, floated down inside the walls and opened the south gate, the garrison collapsed. Told that the north gate was still clear of the enemy, Muhammad fled through it, ran into one of Guo Jing’s tumens waiting on either side, and escaped with his bodyguards, leaving Wanyan Honglie to command the rearguard. Genghis Khan then gathered his generals in Muhammad’s palace (ch. 37).
Flight and death
With his cities surrendering or falling and his followers deserting him, Muhammad fled west with the remnants of his army. Genghis Khan sent Subutai and Jebe after him with two tumens. Muhammad later died of illness on a barren island in the Caspian Sea (ch. 38).
Personality & traits
The narrator calls Muhammad arrogant and cruel (ch. 38), and Jin Yong’s appendix on Genghis Khan’s family calls the Sultan arrogant and muddle-headed (appendix 1). The Mongols called him the “dog-king” (ch. 36).
Behind the scenes
Historical basis
Ala ad-Din Muhammad II (c. 1169–1220) was a real ruler, Shah of the Khwarezmian Empire from 1200 to 1220. Under him the empire reached its greatest extent. The massacre of a Mongol caravan at Otrar by one of his governors and the killing of a Mongol envoy led to Genghis Khan’s invasion of 1219–1221, in which Bukhara, Samarkand and the other great cities fell. Muhammad fled west and died on an island in the Caspian Sea. His son Jalal ad-Din fought on against the Mongols until his death in 1231. Wanyan Honglie’s presence at his court is the novel’s invention.
See also
- The Legend of the Condor Heroes characters
- Khwarezmian Empire — The realm he ruled
- Genghis Khan — The Mongol ruler who invaded it
- Wanyan Honglie — The Jin prince at his court
- Samarkand — His capital