Genghis Khan Defeats Shah Jalal al-Din at the Battle of the Indus during the Mongol conquest of Central Asia

 On 24 November 1221, Shah Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu of the Khwarezmian Empire and Genghis Khan of the Mongol Empire clashed on the Indus River. The battle ended the Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire. Mongols invaded Central Asia after unifying Mongol and Turkic tribes in 1206. Genghis Khan completed the expedition in 1221.

It was part of the Mongol invasion of Central Asia. 1219-1221: Mongols invaded Khwarezmia. It marked the beginning of the Mongol Conquest of the Islamic States and enlarged the Mongol invasions, which would eventually conquer almost the whole known world except Western Europe, Scandinavia, Arabia, North Africa, part of Southeast Asia, and Japan.

Ironically, the Mongol Khanate never intended to invade Khwarezmid. Genghis Khan sent the ruler of the Khwarezmid Empire, Ala ad-Din Muhammad, a message seeking trade and greeting him as his neighbour "I am master of the lands of the rising sun while you rule those of the setting sun. Let us conclude a firm treaty of friendship and peace."   The Mongols' original unification of "people in felt tents" came with little bloodshed and almost little material loss. His assaults of China had caused less slaughter than nomadic invasions like the Huns'.

The Governor of Otrar refused the assignment and slaughtered all 450 with the Sultan's approval. Genghis Khan used this massacre as a pretext to invade months later. The Mongol invasion of Central Asia destroyed the Khwarezmid Empire and massacred many civilians. Juvaini says the Mongols ordered only one round of massacre in Khwarezm and Transoxiana but deliberately slaughtered a huge chunk of Khorasan's cities. This gave the Mongols a reputation for bloodthirsty brutality throughout their campaigns. Genghis Khan brought indirect attack, fear, and wholesale killing as battle strategies.

Mongol invasions against the Delhi Sultanate

After the Mongol Empire's civil war broke out in the 1260s, Duwa Khan, Kaidu Khan's second-in-command, led the Chagatai Khanate. Duwa was active in Afghanistan and attempted an invasion of India. These incursions were headed by Genghis Khan descendants or Mongol divisional commanders with 10,000-30,000 cavalry. The Chagatai Khanate attacked Punjab in 1292, but their advance force, led by Ulghu, was defeated and imprisoned by Jalaluddin, the founder of the Khilji Dynasty. The Delhi Sultanate defeated Chagatai forces multiple times in 1296-1297.

The battle of Kili in 1299 was the most devastating blow which was fought between Qutlug's Chagatai army and Alauddin Khilji's Delhi Sultanate army. When compared to previous incursions, the Chagatai incursion was a major invasion against Delhi. However, it was not the last attempt of the Mongol’s army to conquer Indian territory. Alauddin would defeat further attacks in 1305 and 1306. After the Tughlaq dynasty took over from the Khiljis in the Sultanate, the Mongols came back in a big way. In 1327, Tarmashirin led the Chagatai Mongols. Tarmashirin put Delhi under siege, and the Tughlaqs had to pay him a huge sum to get him to stop. After Tamashirin's siege of Delhi, there would be no major invasions.

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