Battle of Samara Bend The Battle of Samara Bend or the Battle of Kernek was the first battle between Volga Bulgaria and the Mongols , probably one of the first skirmishes or battles the Mongols lost . It took place in autumn 1223 , at the southern border of Volga Bulgaria . The Bulgars retreated and the Mongols pursued them . Then the main Bulgar forces ambushed the Mongols . Background . Timeline for the Expedition of Subutai and Jebe ( the Mongol reconnaissance of the western steppes ) • 12 January 1221 Muhammad II of Khwarezm Shah of Khwarezm dies on the run from the Mongols on the island of Abeskum during Jenghiz Khan ’ s destruction of the Khwarezmid Empire campaign • Jenghiz Khan summons his general Subutai to Samarkand upon hearing the news of the Shah ’ s death ; Subutai gives a report on how best to defeat the new Shah , Jalal ad - Din ( Muhammed ’ s son ) ; Subutai requests not to be part of the final campaign and proposes to reconnoiter the west bank of the Caspian Sea and the steppes beyond - Jenghiz accepts this plan and assigns two " tumens " ( 20 , 000 men ) to Subutai and his other best general , Jebe , under the condition that the campaign not take more than two years and that on their return march they find and join with the Khan ’ s son Jochi in the east to engage the Volga Bulgars • Subutai rejoins Jebe at their camp near the Caspian ( delta of the Kura river ) - the “ reconnaissance in force ” begins at the end of February 1221 • the Mongols invade Georgia and annihilate George IV of Georgia ’ s much larger forces on the plain of Khuman • the Mongols sack Margha and Hamadan • the Mongols move into Georgia again towards Derbend and are attacked by King George IV with another army - the Mongols destroy it and George IV escapes with only his rearguard • the Mongols cross the Caucasus with great hardship in winter to the Fergana valley and are to find a 50 , 000 man army waiting for them of Cumans assembled by their khagan Kotian and his Bulgar , Khazar and Avar allies under the command of Kotian ’ s brother Yuri and son Daniel • the Mongols engage the Cumans but can make no headway due to their unfavorable position and they withdraw - the Mongols resort to bribing the Cumans with half of their spoils taken from Georgia if they will join them - the Cumans agree but after taking payment they break camp under darkness and leave their allies • the Mongols attack and destroy the remaining Cuman allied forces and impress those survivors considered useful into their army • the Mongols with great speed overtake the Cumans who had fled towards Astrakhan on the Volga and extirpate them - both Yuri and Daniel are killed and the Cumans massacred to a man - the Mongols recover their treasure used in the ‘ bribe ’ - on news of this defeat many Cumans flee west to the borders of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire ’ s trading station on the Sea of Azov • the Mongols sack Astrakhan • Subutai and Jebe split their force - Jebe marches west to the river Don to await Subutai who marches south to the Sea of Azov to ensure the Cumans cannot threaten their expedition from the rear - Subutai ’ s force destroys the towns along the shore and what Cumans they find and meet Venetian merchants from Europe for the first time - he makes a pact with them to destroy Genoese trading posts in exchange for information on the West and military intelligence on the kingdoms there • Jebe makes an alliance with the chief of the Brodniki , Polskinia , and 5 , 000 Brodniki troops join his forces on the Don • Subutai destroys the Genoese trading station of Soldaia ( Sudak ) on the Crimea , then rejoins Jebe - their army now has perhaps 25 , 000 men - they march unopposed to the Dniester river • Autumn and Winter 1222 - the Mongol army marches up and down the Dniester using terror tactics to maintain security from attack - scouting parties are sent as far west as possible to gather military intelligence on southern Russia and the states along the borders of the Carpathian mountains • their objective completed , the Mongols begin the march home to Mongolian territory • Kotian had fled north with the remnants of such Cumans as he could and was pleading for an alliance with the Russian princes against the Mongols - at a conference the Russian princes of Galicia ( Mstislave the Daring ) , his son - in - law Daniel of Volynia , Prince Oleg of Kursk , and the Princes of Kiev and Chernigov agree to join Kotian to stop the Mongols - Duke Yuri of Suzdal promises to send an army under the command of his nephew the Prince of Rostov - the nominal strength of this allied force was 80 , 000 men • the Mongols are aware via their spies and scouts that a military action is being planned against them - the allied Russian and Cuman forces are approaching from several directions • the Mongols cross the Dnieper where the expected rendezvous with Jochi does not take place - Jochi is supposedly ill in the east and is delayed • the Mongols send ambassadors to the Princes of Chernigov and Kiev to attempt peace - the Russians kill the ambassadors - a second Mongol embassy arrives to declare war • the Mongols were still under the Khan ’ s orders to suppress the Volga Bulgars , but this cannot be safely done with enemies in their rear - the elimination of the Russian threat was a military necessity • Subutai and Jebe leave 1 , 000 men under the command of Hamabek on the east bank of the Dnieper to delay the Russian crossing for as long as possible - this rearguard was able to inflict heavy casualties but was eventually overwhelmed and destroyed and Hamabek was captured and executed • May 1223 - the Mongols are slowly retreating over land they had excellent knowledge of north of the Sea of Azov - their mobility allowed them to easily outpace the Russian forces but they had decided on a confrontation with them - on 31 May 1223 they stopped along the western side of the river Kalka ( Kalmyus ) • Battle of the Kalka River - the Mongol forces , numbering at this point perhaps 23 , 000 - exterminate the combined Cuman - Russian armies - some 40 , 000 Russian and Cuman soldiers are killed - the Mongol tactics and weaponry , with which the Russians had no prior experience , are superior to the rather unorganized assault by the allied armies - the Mongols pursue the remnants of the allied forces to the Dneiper • the Prince of Kiev had retreated with his army mostly intact 150 miles back to the Dnieper , not having been part of the reckless charges at Kalka ; however they were overtaken by the Mongols and eventually massacred in their fortified camp • the Prince of Rostov stopped and returned with his army to Suzdal upon the news of the defeat at Kalka to prepare for an attack , but it never came - the Mongols had resumed their march east This Mongol campaign had destroyed perhaps as many as 200 , 000 soldiers of various nations and never lost a major battle . At this point in history , the Mongol army was the finest army in the world - it was professional , extremely well trained and equipped , a Mongol rose through the ranks based on his merit rather than his position in Mongol society , and generals such as Jebe and Subutai along with the Great Khan had developed revolutionary tactics all controlled with iron discipline . It ' s mobility was unmatched by any other military force . The utilization of the Mongolian horse ( steppe pony ) allowed for survival of their steeds in areas where other horses would starve or die from conditions . The Mongol commanders also realized the quality of their army and were not impressed by the mere size of the opposing forces of their enemies . In this way they could stand and hold , and their various tactics would often cause an enemy to break and retreat in a panic that inevitably lead to a route from Mongol mounted archers and lancers . They often employed siege engines and engineers from China and Persia in their ranks to enable them to take fortified cities - however , this would not have been practical on the fast - campaign of Jebe / Subutai . This was the army now marching to face the Bulgars on the Volga . The Volga Bolgars / Bulgars had built up a powerful state in the second half of the 7th century between the Sea of Azov and the Kuban valley . They were apparently of Turkic origin and related to the Kutrigur Huns . Some of them migrated to Europe , forming an empire there in the Balkans . The rest slowly moved northward in the direction of Kama and Kazan to found Great Bulgaria . The Volga Bulgars on the Volga - Kama region embraced Islam in 922 , becoming an important trade center between the Islamic world and Europe . The Volga Bulgars formed a settled civilisation with towns and Islamic culture till the Mongol invasion . Although there were peaceful relations with Kievan Rus in the 10th and 11th centuries , the principality of Vladimir - Suzdal was expanding its domain on the middle Volga during the 12th century , and their attempts to monopolize the Volga trade resulted in hostilities with the Volga Bulgars . Various Bulgar towns and villages were conquered by the Russians - Brjahimov ( old Bulgar ) , which forced the Bulgars to establish a new capital at Bilar ( Biljarsk , Biler ) , and eventually the most important Bulgar town on the eastern side of the Volga , Osel , was captured . The Bulgar state had been weakened by these conquests . Battle . During the mopping - up operations of the Mongols on the Dnieper , a messenger arrived from the Great Khan ordering Subutai and Jebe to return to the Volga river , locate Jochi and return with him to Mongolia . According to historian John Chambers , " " The delayed arrival of the reinforcements which were at last advancing towards the Volga and the absence of Jochi from a preliminary briefing with his father had not been due to illness . Jochi was an imaginative and determined commander , as his campaigns in Khwarizm had shown , but his headstrong independence had made him unreliable . . . He ( the Khan ) had hoped that under the influence of his two most distinguished generals Jochi might return to " ( the Khan ' s ) " camp where they could flaunt a family loyalty that would crush any hope of intrigue " ( by Jochi ' s detractors . ) " Jochi brought a single tumen ( 10 , 000 men ) to reinforce the army of Jebe / Subutai , meeting on the west bank of the Volga . The old directive was no longer in force per the orders from the messenger , but the return journey home gave them the opportunity to reconnoiter the north - western boundaries of the Mongol Empire . They reduced the Bulgars on the west bank of the Volga before an attack was made further north . The entire historical record of the " Battle of Samara Bend " consists of a short account by the Arab historian Ibn al - Athir , writing in Mosul some 1100 miles away from the event . According to the expert - opinion of historian Peter Jackson , the most accurate translation of the passage is contained in D . S . Richards ' book , " The Chronicle of Ibn al - Athir for the Crusading Period from al - Kāmil fī ’ l - ta ' rīkh . Part 3 : The Years 589 – 629 / 1193 – 1231 , The Ayyūbids after Saladin and the Mongol Menace . , vol . 3 " , quoted below : " Account of the Tatars ' return from the lands of the Rus and the Qipjaq to their ruler " " After the Tatars had treated the Rus as we have described and plundered their country , they withdrew and went to the Bulghars in the year 620 [ 1223 - 1224 ] . When the Bulghars heard of their approach , they laid ambushes for them in several places . They then marched out to engage them and drew them on until they had passed the ambush site . They emerged behind their backs , so that they were caught in the middle . They fell to the sword on every side . Most of them were killed and only a few escaped . " " There is another version , however . They numbered about four thousand and they set out for Saqsin on the way back to their ruler , Chingiz Khan . The lands of the Qipjaq became free of them and the survivors returned home . " In Peter Jackson ' s expert - opinion , the second passage relates to the size of Jebe / Subutai ' s army , not the number of Mongol " survivors " from the ambush - however , there is no mention in the alternative tale of any encounter with the Bulgars . In this history , no mention is made of who commanded the military probe that was ambushed , or how large it was . Historian A . H . Halikov identifies the Bulgarian army commander as Ilgam Khan . Based on the record of Jebe and Subutai ' s entire careers , masters of ambush themselves , a military conundrum exists in that a weakened Bulgar state would be able to defeat them . However , if Jochi was in command , it may be significant that upon the return of the Mongol force to Mongol territory , Jochi entered his father ' s tent , interrupting an audience , knelt before the throne , and placed Jenghiz ' s hand upon his forehead , the Mongol stance for utter submission . Various historical secondary sources - Morgan , Chambers , Grousset - state that the Mongols actually defeated the Bulgars , Chambers even going so far as to say that the Bulgars had made up stories to tell the ( recently crushed ) Russians that they had beaten the Mongols and driven them from their territory . However , historian Peter Jackson points out there is no reason to doubt Ibn al - Athir , and that Chambers ' may be indulging in speculation . Historian Zimonyi Istvan takes the stance that the Mongols suffered a reverse : " " The Mongols first attacked the Volga Bulgars immediately after their victory in the battle of Kalka in 1223 . They were then entrapped and defeated by the Volga Bulgars . The Mongols made minor raids against the southern and eastern border of the Volga Bulgar country in 1229 and 1232 " . " Whatever the case , after this battle the Mongols skirted the Urals defeating the Saxin tribes ( east Saxons ) there and then moved south to defeat the eastern Cumans ( Kanglis ) , where the Cuman army was destroyed , their khagan killed , and they were forced to pay a large tribute to the Mongols . This would hardly have been possible if the Mongol force had been severely damaged at the " Battle of Samara Bend . " Numbers . The details about the Bulgar ambush have not survived . Aftermath . The reverse ( if one indeed occurred ) at the " Battle of Samara Bend " did not stop the Mongol expedition from reducing the Saxin tribes and defeating the Kanglis afterwards . Laden with tribute , the Mongols then returned home . However , Jebe Noyan - one of the Khan ' s greatest generals and friends - died of a fever on the Imil River in Tarbagatai on the journey . In 1236 the Mongols under Batu and Subotai returned to Bulgaria and made it part of the Mongol Empire .