![]() ![]() Although Bukhara was then destroyed by fires, the destruction was relatively mild compared to elsewhere within a short space of time the city was once again a centre of trade and learning, and it profited greatly from the Pax Mongolica. The Mongols appropriated the work of skilled craftsmen and artisans, conscripting other inhabitants into the armies. The Mongol army killed everybody in the citadel and enslaved most of the city's population. Khwarazmian loyalists continued to defend the citadel for less than two weeks, before it was breached and taken. Bukhara's defenders were caught by surprise and, after a failed sortie, the outer city surrendered within three days on 10 February. A Mongol force, estimated to number between 30,000 and 50,000 men, traversed the Kyzylkum Desert, previously considered impassable for large armies. 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 allocated fewer than 20,000 soldiers to defend it. 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. Genghis Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire, had launched a multi-pronged assault on the Khwarazmian Empire ruled by Shah Muhammad II. The siege of Bukhara took place in February 1220, during the Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire. ![]()
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