If Genghis Khan was the will of the Mongol conquests, Subutai was their mind. Rising from humble origins to become the empire's chief general1, he directed campaigns across a wider stretch of the world than perhaps any commander before or since, from northern China to the plains of Hungary.
From the steppe to China
Subutai joined Genghis Khan's service as a young man and rose by sheer ability. He fought in the wars that united the Mongols and in the conquest of northern China and the Khwarazmian empire2 of Persia and Central Asia, learning to move armies over vast distances and to combine columns to a single plan.
Mongol horsemen fighting Chinese troops in 1211, a miniature from a 1430 Herat copy of Rashid al-Din's Jami al-tawarikh (Bibliothèque nationale de France). Public domain
The great raid to the west
With the general Jebe, Subutai led a famous reconnaissance in force1 around the Caspian Sea, defeating a Rus and Cuman army at the Kalka River in 1223 before returning across the steppe, a raid that mapped the way for the invasions to come.
The Battle of the Kalka River in 1223, a miniature from the 16th-century Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible. Public domain
The invasion of Europe
Subutai was the strategist behind the western campaign of 1236 to 12423, nominally led by the prince Batu. His armies overran the Rus principalities and sacked Kiev4, then struck into central Europe in 1241 with coordinated columns: one wing shattered a Polish and German army at Legnica, while Subutai himself destroyed the Hungarians at Mohi on the Sajo River two days later5. Europe lay open, but the death of the Great Khan Ogedei called the Mongols home6.
The historian Bálint Hóman's 1928 map of the Mongol invasion of Hungary, 1241 to 1242, with the routes of the invading columns in red. Public domain
He was the foremost general of the Mongol Empire (c. 1175 to 1248), the chief strategist under Genghis Khan and his heirs, famed for campaigns from China to Europe.
What is Subutai famous for?
For planning and leading the Mongol conquests over vast distances, above all the invasion of Europe in 1241 and the victory over Hungary at Mohi.
Did Subutai fight at Legnica?
Legnica in 1241 was won by a wing of his western campaign under other princes; Subutai himself commanded the main army that destroyed the Hungarians at Mohi two days later.
How far did Subutai campaign?
He fought across northern China, Persia and Central Asia, the Russian steppe and into Hungary, with a wing of the same campaign striking into Poland, a range few if any commanders have matched.
Why did the Mongols leave Europe?
The invasion halted in 1242 after news that the Great Khan Ogedei had died; the princes withdrew east to take part in choosing his successor.
How did Subutai die?
He died around 1248, in his seventies, after a lifetime of campaigning, one of the few great Mongol commanders to die peacefully.
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