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The stage is darkened. Again the alarm signals – the drumbeat; again the ground-shaking thunder of the hooves of the racing horses at full speed. The stage is illuminated – Genghis Khan sits in a place of honour in the centre. His sons, Ogedei and Chagatai are seen a little further away. The event takes place in the capital of the Khorezm Shah, the city of Urgench. GENGHIS KHAN: How persistently you’ve been weighing on me, insisting there is an urgent problem to discuss. What is the complaint, what is the problem? Report, I’m listening. CHAGATAI: Oh, like the highest mountain, our spirit and support, our wisest father-Khan! Having seized the capital of Khorezm Shah, Urgench, we held a feast for the whole world. And on this holiday, despite twice being invited, Jochi did not appear. OGEDEI: You yourself heard his promise that ‘we, united, will be like a pair of boots’, the promise given to us in Karakorym. But our brother, having moved to the Kipchak steppes, has begun to deviate from his promise. GENGHIS KHAN: From which of his actions did you draw such a conclusion? CHAGATAI: Firstly, he did not come to the holiday held to celebrate the capture of Urgench. What reason does he have – he was closely engaged in hunting wild animals, though only once, they say. But this has shown us that now he will not be happy with just our victories. Secondly, during the capture of Bukhara and Samarkand, he delayed the offensive by two weeks which was being prepared to be carried out from the right flank. Not only did he stall, he cleared the way for Jalaladdin to escape towards Baghdad. GENGHIS KHAN: What other misconduct have you noticed? OGEDEI: He started and supported my appointment as Khan, but now it seems he does not want to admit it. He half-heartedly listens to the appeals I make to him; he’s even beginning to ignore my commands and advice. CHAGATAI: When we confronted him with why he delayed the offensive from the right flank, he coldly remarked: ‘The city from which its rulers fled will itself come to surrender. There is no need to destroy such a historical monument with such beautiful architecture in vain, to shed the blood of the civilian population’. After that, we had to push
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