the north of the river. According to Chechen legends, the Khan gave the Chechens an ultimatum, demanding annual tribute and other things. The Chechens responded with "Everything for the Khan... But only, when we're not there anymore." According to the Persian historian Rashid al-Din Hamadani, the "Sassan people" managed to hold the Mongols back at the Terek River by winning 2 or 3 battles. However, with the fall of Derbent and the Kingdom of Georgia not long after, the Mongols were able to invade Durdzuketi from the east and south respectively. According to popular Chechen folktale, an emergency meeting was held in the capital of the Durdzuk Confederation, Tsontaroy, in which it was decided that an army led by Idig, a hunter, would stop the southern Mongol advance at Mt. Tebulosmta. The operation ended in a success, with Idig managing to halt the Mongol advance for the following 12 years. Despite it's legendary origins, the story corresponds to reports of western travellers, such as Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, who noted that the Alans defended a mountain for 12 years. The dates also correspond, as his work was released in 1250, meaning that the year the siege began, in 1238, is the same year of the start of the main Mongol campaign in Alania and Durdzuketi. Boturcha rebellion Before the start of the main Mongol invasion, the ruler of the village Boturcha, prince Botur (from the Dishniy clan of Chechnya), known as "Ela Botur" in Chechen and "Ele Badur" in the Chinese chronicle Yuan-Shi, conducted secret negotiations with the Mongol Empire, in which he discussed an independent state under his rule. At the start of the Mongol campaign in 1238, he and his family, such as his 2 brothers Matarsha and Utszorbu Khan came to Möngke Khan and expressed their obedience, thus declaring a rebellion against Khasi I, afterwhich he sent an army led by his brother Matarsha to Maghas in order to help the Mongols in besieging the city. This decision was supported by most of the Dishniy clan, especially Botur's family. Return of Navraz Navraz, a former king of Durdzuketi, after his defeat by Chechen rebels in 1191, he and his remaining army fled north of the Terek river, where he worked on rebuilding his former strength. With the arrival of the Mongols, Navraz accepted Mongol citizenship and actively took part in the invasion on the side of