How did the Mongols, the ancestors of the Mughals, capture China? One mistake of the Chinese king changed history
These days, there is a lot of discussion about Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in India. The Mughals were actually descendants of Mongols from the maternal side and Timur from the father’s side. The ancestors of these Mughals, the Mongols and Timur, attacked India before establishing the Mughal Empire and also targeted the neighboring country China and finally established the Mongol Empire by ending the Song Dynasty there. The full Mongol rule in China began on 19 March 1279. On its anniversary, let us know how the Mughals captured China and established the empire.
The Song Dynasty ruled China for more than three centuries. The Song Empire began in China in the year 960. However, this empire was constantly facing non-Chinese invaders in the north and west.
After years of fighting, in 1127 the Jurchens limited the Song Empire to the south and started a new empire in North China. Despite this, external pressure on the empire did not decrease and in the early 1200s the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, began attacking South China.
The Mongols attacked China several times
Genghis Khan is considered the first great khan of the Mongols, i.e. the universal ruler, who united the nomadic tribes of the plains of Asia. He prepared a coordinated army of these tribes and gradually established his hold on Asia from the Black Sea to the Korean Peninsula. That is why Genghis Khan is also called a great military genius in history. China too could not escape from these Mongols and to capture it, the Mongols attacked the dynasties of China several times between the years 1205 to 1279.
Song ruler arrests Kublai Khan’s envoy
The Mongols also began to threaten the Southern Song under the leadership of Kublai Khan. However, the Song Empire then had a chance to stop fighting the Mongols. Kublai Khan tried to make peace and even sent an envoy to discuss this, but the head of the Song Empire arrested him. This led to Kublai Khan launching attacks on the Song Empire in 1267.
China completely came under the control of Mongols
After capturing Xiangyang in 1273, the Mongols reached the Yangzi River and had the clear path to expand into the Song Empire. Over time, the Mongols captured more and more Song territory and the Song emperors moved south. Eventually, the Song emperor took refuge in Guangzhou and then fled to the mainland by boat.
In March 1279, the Mongol navy surrounded and defeated the Song army. The last Song prince drowned in the fighting. Soon after, the Mongols captured the rest of China, and for the first time in history, China was completely under foreign rule.
However, rebellions against the Mongols also kept growing in China, so their rule did not last long in China. Shuyuan Chang captured the Mongol capital Beijing in the year 1369 and declared himself the ruler there. After this, the times took a turn and the rulers of China extended their rule to Inner Mongolia. The Mongols who had once ruled China, came under the rule of China.
Beijing is a gift from the Mongols
Beijing, the capital of China, is actually a gift of the Mongols. When the Mongols occupied China, the capital was in Khara Khoram. About 500 carts used to travel here every day to supply ration and clothes. Kublai Khan did not consider it suitable for the capital and built a new capital. This is known as Beijing today.
