Now that the Mongols again had a sovereign they gave more force to their conquests along those vast lines of action which Jinghis had explained on his deathbed. Three great expeditions were arranged at the Kurultai of election: An army of thirty thousand was sent to destroy the rising power of Jelal ud din, who had returned from lands south of the Indus and regained some part of his father’s dominions. A second army of similar numbers was sent under Kuyuk and Subotai to conquer the Kipchaks and other peoples. This Juchi would have done had he followed the advice of his father. On the third expedition Ogotai the Grand Khan set out with Tului and other princes to end the Kin Empire. These expeditions we will follow in the order mentioned. CHAPTER IX PERSIA AT THE TIME OF JINGHIS KHAN’S DEATH When Jinghis had returned to his birthplace Persia was left as a desert behind him. This was true of all Eastern parts of it, especially. “In those lands which Jinghis Khan ruined,” exclaims the historian, “not one in a thousand is left of the people. Where a hundred thousand had lived before his invasion there are now scarce one hundred. Were nothing to stop the increase of population from this hour till the day of Judgment it would not reach one tenth of what it was before Jinghis Khan’s coming.” The ruin inflicted by that dreadful invasion spread terror on all sides. People stunned by the awful atrocities committed in Persia, believed that the Mongols were dog-headed and devoured human flesh as their daily and usual nourishment. Mohammed, the Shah of Persia, had three sons to whom portions had been given. Jelal ud din, the eldest of these sons, had sought a refuge at Delhi. At Sutun Avend Rokn ud din, the second son, had been slain by the Mongols, while Ghiath ud din, the third son, had retired to Karun, a Mazanderan stronghold, and saved himself. When the Mongols had gone from the country Persian Irak was the cause of a conflict between the two Turk leaders Edek Khan and Togan Taissi the Atabeg. These rivals divided the province between them at last, and, since Ispahan fell to the former, Ghiath ud din wished to win him as a vassal. He therefore promised Edek his sister in marriage, but while settling the terms of agreement Edek was slain by his rival, the Atabeg, Togan. Ghiath marched against Ispahan promptly, received Togan’s homage, and gave him the sister just promised to Edek. In quick time he thus found himself master of Irak, Mazanderan and Khorassan. Jelal ud din when defeated at the Indus, which he swam with such daring, had been pursued fiercely in India by Jinghis Khan’s warriors until he was very near Delhi.