- Guo Kan
Guo Kan (郭侃)(1217-1277) was a famous general of
Han Chinese descent that served the Mongolian Khans in their Western conquests and the conquest ofChina itself. He was descended from a lineage of Chinese generals. Both his father and grandfather had served the Khan, while his ancestor isGuo Ziyi , a famed general of theTang Dynasty .Prawdin, Michael. "The Mongol Empire".]Along with
Jebe andSubutai , he was one of the Mongol's most able commanders, and many of the later conquests of the Mongols were done by armies under his command. The biography of this Mongol commander in the "Yuan Shi" ("History of Yuan") said that Guo Kan's presence struck so much fear in his foes, that they called him the "Divine Man".Birth and lineage
Guo Kan was raised in the household of Prime Minister
Shi Tianzhe (who was also a Han Chinese, and whose father and two brothers all served the Yuan).Military legacy
He took part in the final drive in the conquest of the Jin Dynasty, including the capture of
Kaifeng , and may have served in the European campaign withSubutai a few years following the fall of the Jin Dynasty. He then served inHulagu 's invasion of theMiddle East , playing a major role in the capture and Battle of Baghdad, reportedly devising the strategy of using the dikes to drown theCaliph 's army, and supervising the reduction ofBaghdad 's walls. Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. "The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War "] and at some point afterKhubilai Khan 's accession as Khan, Guo Kan went to serve him, instead of his brother, and assisted Khubilai Khan in the conquest of theSouthern Song , and ultimately the unification ofChina proper under theYuan Dynasty .Hildinger, Eric. "Warriors of the Steppe: A Military History of Central Asia, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1700" ]The "Yuan Shi"
The "Yuan Shi" is known to contain many errors. It is proven that many events after 1259 in Guo Kan's biography are false since he returned to Mongolia with
Hulagu Khan after the death ofMongke Khan in China.The "Yuan Shi" in many ways resembled historical fiction, claiming all manner of conquests by Guo Kan which were not true, but nonetheless were legend in China for many yearsFacts|date=March 2008. Contrary to claims in the "Yuan Shi"Facts|date=March 2008, the
Mamluk s of Egypt crushed the Mongol occupation army and their Christian allies atAin Jalut led by Hulagu's lieutenant Ked-BukaChambers, James, "The Devil's Horsemen" Atheneum, 1979, ISBN 0-689-10942-3] ; and the Crusader KingdomsMecca andCyprus were neither conquered by the Mongols. Nicolle, David. ?The Mongol Warlords "]This biography of Guo is mostly open lies in what seems to be an attempt to hide the crushing defeats inflicted on the Mongols at Ain Jalut, and on Hulagu by
Berke Khan in the first Mongol on Mongol war in theTranscaucasus . Chambers, James. The Devil's Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe "] It must be noted that Ain Jalut took place while Guo Kan was in Mongolia with Hulagu during the selection of a Great Khan. Guo Kan, like Hulagu, had believed the force left to occupyPalestine was sufficient enough to deal with the Mamluks, which it was obviously not, and that the Il-Khanate could defeat the Golden Horde, which it equally could not.Guo Kan's role in the final conquest of China under Khubilai Khan
After he returned to Mongolia with Hulagu Khan after
Mongke Khan 's death, Guo Kan was taken from Hulagu's command, and assigned by the New Great Khan to aid him in the difficult conquest ofSouthern Song China. Khubilai's accession as Khan left him able to select the best of the Mongol Generals to serve him. Subutai and Jebe were both dead of old age, and Guo Kan was the last of the dreaded Dogs of War. Therefore the new Great Khan took him to assistKhubilai Khan in the final conquest of China. Saunders, J.J. " The History of the Mongol Conquests ] Guo Kan reportedly urged him to adopt a Chinese-style dynastic title, establish a capital and central government, and build schools. He reportedly was the general who proposed capturingXiangyang as a strategy for invading theSouthern Song . He defeated Song forces in a battle at Xuzhou in1262 , and in1266 urged Khubilai to establish military farms inHuaibei to provide supplies for an invasion of the Southern Song. Prawdin, Michael. "The Mongol Empire".] In 1268 and 1270 he suppressed local rebellions, and then he was sent to participate in the siege of Xiangyang. In1276 , the Song dynasty fell (except for the loyalist movement that lasted until 1279), and Guo served as a prefect for one more year before dying.Guo Kan's place in history as example of the Mongol meritocracy
More than any army in history until the 20th Century, and more so than many even in the Modern Era, the Mongols promoted strictly on the basis of military skill and ability. Like his brother "dogs of war," Jebe, son of an ordinary warrior in a tribe which had opposed Ghenghis Khan in his unification of the nomads, and Subutai, son of a blacksmith, Guo Kan, ethnically Han Chinese, represented the revolutionary concept of promoting the sons of the most humble, or foreign born, to command any of the Mongol nobility - including relatives of the Great Khan. Though Batu was nominally in charge of the invasion of Europe, it was Subutai who truly commanded. Nicolle, David. "The Mongol Warlords "] Equally, Guo Kan devised the strategy which reduced the powerful walls of Bagdad in mere days, after destroying her small, but brave and disciplined army in mere hours by drowning them. Merit, not birth, was one of Ghenghis Khan's most brilliant innovations, and Guo Kan, an ethnic of the Mongol's strongest rival, one of his prized dogs of war for five generations of Great Khans. Saunders, J.J.. "The History of the Mongol Conquests"]
Notes
References
*Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. "The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War", 1998
*Chambers, James, "The Devil's Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe. Atheneum. New York. 1979. ISBN 0-689-10942-3"
*Hildinger, Eric, "Warriors of the Steppe: A Military History of Central Asia, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1700"
*Morgan, David -- "The Mongols", ISBN 0-631-17563-6
*Nicolle, David, -- "The Mongol Warlords"Brockhampton Press , 1998
*Prawdin, Michael. "The Mongol Empire"
*Reagan, Geoffry, "The Guinness Book of Decisive Battles ", Canopy Books, NY (1992)
*Saunders, J.J. -- "The History of the Mongol Conquests", Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1971, ISBN 0-8122-1766-7
*Sicker, Martin -- "The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna", Praeger Publishers, 2000
*Soucek, Svatopluk -- "A History of Inner Asia", Cambridge, 2000
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