In 1268, the Mongols launched their second colossal invasion of China. Mongol forces were now led by Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan. Kublai Khan’s army blockaded the Yangtze River and began advancing on the cities of the southern Song. The Song were well defended with their modern gunpowder weapons, such as rockets and flamethrowers. The Mongol armies changed their fighting tactics and surrounded the great walled Song cities, cut off supplies and starved them. For four years the sieges continued until the Mongols were victorious. Every Song city that fought against the Mongols was destroyed. The only chance for survival was unconditional surrender. By the end of the fourteenth century, the vast empire was divided into four Mongol kingdoms: • Kublai Khan ruled China — the Yuan dynasty. • Hulegu ruled Persia — the Ilkhanate. The closing defeat of the southern Song came in 1276. The Mongols again used their siege tactics to destroy the Song navy. For two weeks they encircled the Chinese fleet and blocked all supplies. With the last Song forces weakened, the Mongols attacked on a morning shrouded in rain and fog. Mongol victory was swift. Among the thousands of Chinese who died on that day was the last Song emperor, a child named Bing, and his empress mother. Mongol victory was complete when Kublai Khan declared himself the first foreign emperor of China. By this time, the Mongol army had conquered territory stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Persian Gulf and from Hungary to Korea. • Batu Khan ruled southern Russia — the Golden Horde. • Chagatai ruled Central Asia — the Chagatai Khanate.
SOURCE4 A map of the Mongol Empire near its peak in 1280
Novgorod
Vassal states
Suzdal
(1237)
Moscow
(1237)
(1236)
Bulgar
PRINCIPALITIES OF RUSSIA
POLAND
Kiev
GOLDEN HORDE
Crakow
(1240)
Pest
New Sarai
(1241)
Karakorum (1235–72)
(1241)
(1257)
Gram
(1241)
Old Sarai
KARA-KHITAI EMPIRE
HUNGARY
(1242)
(1220)
Utrar
Beijing (Ta-tu) Shangdu
Constantinople
(1215) (1272)
UIGHURS
Bukhara
Samarkand
(1220)
(1220)
XI XIA EMPIRE
(1265)
Tabriz
Ning Xia
RUM (SELJUKS)
JIN EMPIRE
Konya
Maragha
CHAGATAI KHANATE
KOREA
Sultaniyya
JAPAN
(1260)
(1306)
(1271)
Xiang Yang
Kaifeng
KHWARAZMIAN EMPIRE ILKHANATE
Baghdad
(1234)
Vassal states
(1259)
EMPIRE OF THE GREAT KHAN
Hangzhou
CALIPH OF BAGHDAD
(1276)
MAMLUK EMPIRE
SONG EMPIRE
DELHI SULTANATE
Guangzhou
BAGAN
Key
ANNAM
ILKHANATE UIGHURS
Mongol khanate
KHMER
Nation incorporated into Mongol Empire
MAMLUK EMPIRE
Nation outside Mongol Empire (c. 1280)
(1236) Bulgar
City (year of capture)
(1265) Tabriz
Capital of khanate (year made capital)
Expansion under Genghis Khan
Expansion under Genghis Khan’s successors
0
1000
2000
3000
Approximate area of khanate (c. 1280)
kilometres
Source: Map drawn by Spatial Vision
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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