Siege of Bukhara (1220)
1220 CE.
Shown on the map at 39.778°, 64.410°.
The siege of Bukhara took place in February 1220, during the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire. Genghis Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire, had launched a multi-pronged assault on the Khwarazmian Empire ruled by Shah Muhammad II. While the Shah planned to defend his major cities individually, the Mongols laid siege to the border town of Otrar, and struck further into Khwarazmia. The city of Bukhara was a major centre of trade and culture in the Khwarazmian Empire, but was located far from the border with the Mongol Empire, and so the Shah had allocated fewer than 20,000 soldiers to defend it. A Mongol force, estimated to number between 30,000 and 50,000 men and commanded by Genghis himself, traversed the Kyzylkum Desert, previously considered impassable for large armies. Bukhara's defenders were caught by surprise and, after a failed sortie, the outer city surrendered within three days on 10 February. Khwarazmian loyalists continued to defend the citadel for less than two weeks, before it was breached and taken. The Mongol army killed everybody in the citadel and enslaved most of the city's population.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Bukhara, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.