former.
When Mangku Kaan, after his enthronement (1251), determined at a
great _Kurultai_ or Diet, on perfecting the Mongol conquests, he
entrusted his brother Kúblái with the completion of the subjugation
of China and the adjacent countries, whilst his brother Hulaku
received the command of the army destined for Persia and Syria. The
complaints that came from the Mongol officers already in Persia
determined him to commence with the reduction of the Ismailites,
and Hulaku set out from Karakorum in February, 1254. He proceeded
with great deliberation, and the Oxus was not crossed till January,