Battle of Zhongdu
Part of the Mongol–Jin War

The siege of Zhongdu (modern Beijing), as depicted in the Persian Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani
Date1215
Location
Beijing, China
Result Mongol victory
Belligerents
Mongol Empire Jin Dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Genghis Khan Xuanzong
Strength
Unknown 6,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown Thousands massacred

The Battle of Zhongdu (present-day Beijing) was a battle in 1215 between the Mongols and the Jurchen Jin dynasty, which controlled northern China[1] along with Western Xia. The Mongols first invaded Western Xia in 1205–1210 before attacking the Jin. The Mongols won and massacred the Jurchen majority city of Zhongdu and continued their conquest of the Jin dynasty. Zhongdu became the main capital of the Jin dynasty under Wanyan Liang, Prince Hailing in 1153 when Wanyan Liang ordered the capital to be moved from the original capital Shangjing (present-day Acheng District, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province to Yanjing (Zhongdu) and destroyed the original palaces in Shangjing in 1157, moving many Jurchen Mengan Mouke into Zhongdu.[2]

History

The year 1211 marked the beginning of the war between the Mongols and the Jin Dynasty. The Jin Dynasty was able to hold Genghis Khan (Temüjin) and his Mongol army at bay for the first two years of the war.

The Jurchen Jin emperor Wanyan Yongji's daughter, Jurchen Princess Qiguo was married to Mongol leader Genghis Khan in exchange for relieving the Mongol siege upon Zhongdu (Beijing) in the Mongol conquest of Jin China.[3]

According to Ivar Lissner, the besieged inhabitants resorted to firing gold and silver cannon shot on the Mongols with their muzzle-loading cannons when their supply of metal for ammunition ran out.[4][5][6]

The battle for Beijing was long and tiresome, but the Mongols proved to be more powerful as they finally took the city on 31 May 1215, massacring its inhabitants. This forced Jin Emperor Xuanzong to move his capital south to Kaifeng. The Mongols however moved onto the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire in 1219–1221 in Central Asia and finish the Mongol conquest of Western Xia 1225–1227 before returning to the Jin. Kaifeng later fell to the Mongols after a siege in 1232-1233. The Jin then moved the capital to Caizhou before it fell in the Siege of Caizhou in 1233.

References

  1. ^ Tony Jaques (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-313-33537-2.
  2. ^ Jing-shen Tao, The Jurchen in Twelfth-Century China. University of Washington Press, 1976, ISBN 0-295-95514-7. page 44.
  3. ^ Broadbridge, Anne F. (2018). Women and the Making of the Mongol Empire (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-1108636629.
  4. ^ Ivar Lissner (1957). The living past (4 ed.). Putnam's. p. 193. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  5. ^ Wolter J. Fabrycky; Paul E. Torgersen (1966). Operations economy: industrial applications of operations research (2 ed.). Prentice-Hall. p. 254. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  6. ^ Wolter J. Fabrycky; P. M. Ghare; Paul E. Torgersen (1972). Industrial operations research (illustrated ed.). Prentice-Hall. p. 313. ISBN 978-0-13-464263-5. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

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