42 Facts About Subutai

Subutai ultimately directed more than 20 campaigns, during which he conquered more territory than any other commander in history as part of the expansion of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in human history.

Subutai often gained victory by means of sophisticated strategies and routinely coordinated movements of armies that operated hundreds of kilometers apart from each other.

Subutai is regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history, and the single greatest in Mongolian history.

Subutai was instrumental in the conquests of Genghis Khan and Ogedei Khan.

Historians believe Subutai was born in the year 1175, probably just west of the upper Onon River in what is Mongolia.

Subutai's family had been associated with the family of Temujin for many generations.

Subutai's father, Jarchigudai, supposedly supplied food to Temujin and his followers when they were in dire straits at lake Baljuna, and Subutai's elder brother Jelme served as a general in the Mongol army and was a close companion of Temujin.

Huluhun and Subutai arrived in good time, and with their lances stabbed some of the robbers.

Subutai was a commoner by birth, the son of Jarchigudai, who was supposedly a blacksmith.

When he was 14 years old, Subutai left his clan to join Temujin's army, following in the footsteps of his older brother Jelme who had joined when he was 17 years old, and he rose to the very highest command available to one who was not a blood relative to Genghis.

Subutai's role was to act as the vanguard and defeat one of the Merkit camps at the Tchen River.

Subutai refused Genghis Khan's offer for extra elite troops, and instead traveled to the Merkit camp alone, posing as a Mongol deserter.

Subutai managed to convince the Merkits that the main Mongol army was far away, and they were in no danger.

Subutai served as a commander of the vanguard with distinction in the 1204 battle against the Naiman that gave the Mongols total control over Mongolia.

Subutai's maneuvers were designed to mislead his foes and strike them from unexpected directions.

In contrast to the common perception of steppe horse archer armies slowly weakening their foes with arrows for many hours or even days, such as at the battle of Carrhae or the battle of Manzikert, Subutai fought in a much more decisive and fluid manner where heavy firepower was used to create openings for rapid cavalry charges with deep formations.

Subutai was one of the first Mongol generals, alongside Genghis Khan, who realized the value of engineers in siege warfare.

Subutai ordered huge stonethrowers to clear the bank of Hungarian crossbowmen and open the way for his light cavalry to cross the river without further losses.

Subutai defeated them on the Chu River in 1217 and again in 1219 in Wild Kipchak territory.

Subutai, who was identified by the Georgians as being in command, originally lured the Georgians into thinking his army was a friendly ally by having his men parade in front of crosses, and using spies to start false rumors that the Mongols were actually Christian wonder-workers who had come to assist the Georgians.

Subutai played a key part in the campaign against the Tanguts of Xi Xia in 1226, serving as commander of the flank army to strike the Tanguts in the rear.

At the Battle of Daohuigu, Subutai initially attempted to outflank the Jin by feinting an attack at the fortified location of Weizhou and maneuvering through an unguarded side corridor.

The Song initially refused to allow the Mongols passage through the rugged Qinling mountains, so Subutai dodged their forces and isolated the mountain citadels one by one.

Rather than continually attempting to attack the vigilant Jin during their retreat, Subutai instead dispersed his army into several detachments to target supplies in the area.

Subutai originally wanted to execute everyone in Kaifeng to punish them for their intransigence and extremely long resistance.

However, Ogedei intervened and ordered Subutai to treat them fairly.

Subutai returned, destroyed the three Song armies by isolating and defeating them, and retook the cities.

Subutai then made a preemptive raid into Song territory to force them to adopt a defensive position.

Still, Subutai's victories had taught the Song a lesson they would heed: no Song army would dare venture north to attack Mongol territory afterward.

In late 1237, Subutai attacked Ryazan and Vladimir-Suzdal, operating with three columns.

The attack on Europe was planned and carried out by Subutai, who achieved his lasting fame with his victories there.

Subutai personally commanded the central column that moved against the Kingdom of Hungary, and likely gave detailed instructions to his subordinates.

Once again, Subutai invaded during winter, when they would be least expected.

Subutai did not want a battle where the massed crossbowmen, supported by mounted knights, stood firm and fought to the death against his army.

Subutai far preferred to let them flee and be slaughtered individually.

Batu first blamed Subutai for taking too long to ford the river, but Subutai rebuffed him by saying that they knew fording the river would take time, and Batu had launched his attack preemptively.

Subutai had to divert his movements, take command, and conquered the fortress in three days with ease.

Subutai had devastated the agriculture of any area that was resisting.

Subutai insisted that Batu attend the kurultai to elect the successor of Ogedei in the Mongolian heartland.

Subutai returned to Mongolia from the Song campaign in 1248 and spent the remainder of his life at his home in the vicinity of the Tuul River, dying there at the age of 72.

Subutai later achieved great success invading Song China from the southwest in the 1258 invasion of Mongke Khan.

Subutai has been credited as the first general to operate campaigns using the modern organizational methods of command and control.