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The battle of Ain Jalut fought in 1260 marked the apogee of the mongol empire
The spirit of conquest, was still strong within the mongols but it would be spent on their civil wars
which happened due to dynastic spats and
differences in faith
The mongols continued to dominate, asia for the next century but
Their internal conflicts would eventually stop the growth of their realm and then shatter it
The great khan Mun Ker died in 1259 while campaigning against the Song
His youngest, brother Ariq was in the capitol Karakoram, while Kublai and hulagu, were campaigning
Instead of returning home Kublai decided to finish his fight against the song
Ariq declared himself the great khan, with the support of the noble houses, who saw. Kublai as too, soft because of his buddhist beliefs
Upon learning this Kublai declared himself khan, and marched against his brother starting a civil war
Meanwhile to the west the muslim leader of the golden horde burqa, wasn't going to forgive the sacking of baghdad
he used the fact that Hulagu, was on his way to china to start raiding the territories of the Illkanate
the territory of the house of chagatai
Separated the two civil wars within the mongol empire but it would be used as a political chip in the conflict
The empire was now divided into five parts
The war between Ariq and Kublai, is known as the Toluid civil war
We know very little about this conflict but it started in 1260 and lasted for four years
During this war Kublai made the crucial decision to leave southern, China and focus on the north
While the song were retaking some of their lost territories with nearly no resistance
Ariq attacks the western Xia territories but, was repelled
Kublai, then advanced on Karakoram, which, was left abandoned and raised it to the ground
at the same time both Ariq and Kublai attempted to place their candidates on the throne of the Chagatai Khanate
Ariq intercepted Kublai's nominee and assassinated him Chagatai's grandson Alghu, was made the khan
However when Ariq's situation deteriorated Alghu declined to help him in the war. And even killed his, envoy
Kublai failed to use that to his advantage as he had to pull back his forces to parts of china, which were an open rebellion
This allowed Ariq to go, to war against, Alghu, and while he, did win this conflict over the Chagatai Khanate he
did so with heavy casualties
As a result many of his allies deserted him including his, own son who stole the seal of the great khan
And delivered it to Kublai
Left with, no supporters or supplies Ariq travelled to Xiangdu alone and personally surrendered himself to his brother
Kublai, became the new great khan
Apart from bringing discord to the empire this civil war pushed
Kublai, towards an even stronger affiliation with the Chinese troops bureaucrats and population
Meanwhile Hulagu, and Berke were fighting, along their borders in the Caucuses and Khorasan
Hulagu, returned to the area in 1262
In the same, year his son Abaqa moved into the Golden Horde's territory, via central Asia, who had suffered a defeat
Emboldened Berke's army supported, by Ariq counter-attacks but lost decisively somewhere to the east of the Caspian, sea
Hulagu, then decided to use the route taken. By Subatai, and moved into the Hord's territory, using the pass of Durban
Initially this campaign looks promising and the enemy retreated under the pressure
Hulagu, sent a portion of his force led. By, his son to pursue the foe
They, came upon a deserted but world provisioned camp, and decided to rest and feast
This, however was a trap and they were surprised, by the main force of the Golden Horde
After heavy fighting the Illkanate's troops began to retreat over the frozen Terek river
But the ice cracked under the weight of men and horses and many drowned in the freezing water
Hulagu, was forced to retreat to the south and Berke regained much of his lost territory
Neither side had enough strength to continue the war and when Ariq surrendered to Kublai the Golden Horde
Also, accepted his authority
in
1265 Hulagu passed, away followed by Berke in 1266
that ended the hostilities
But still the mongol empire was broken and the legacy of Genghis, was represented. By four different states
With the civil wars over Kublai Khan, worked tirelessly to transform the Mongol Empire into the Yuan Dynasty
The capital, was moved to a city. Called Khanbaliq or Dadu which would later become Beijing
In 1271 Kublai declared himself emperor he and his descendants slowly became more Chinese than
Mongol
he built over 20,000 public schools was a patron of the arts and
Constantly met with people from all around the world including Marco Polo
The emperor issued
incorruptible paper bills backed, by silver
Which were accepted across the entire Mongol Empire something unheard of until then
Kublai, transformed the vast network of
1,400 postal stations to work as trading outposts as, well opening. China to the world like never before
This, spread ideas
Gunpowder other inventions and unfortunately the black death
he created a highly efficient centralised government, and
transformed the army
Gone were the days of the horde his army now consisted of a small corps of Mongol warriors and a massive number of
Chinese troops
Kublai, decided to take on the Song, again, but he knew, that he had to adopt new strategies
Song, china, had no hope of stopping the Mongols in open battle but. They, had some of the best fortresses of their time
The best of those, was the one in Xiangyang, which had supplies for years and had tall doubled walls
Kublai, knew that in order to fulfill his grandfather's vision of conquering, China, he had to evolve his army
5000 Yuan ships were built and crews of experienced north Chinese and Korean sailors were recruited with
The purpose of taking the rivers of China, and blocking enemy supplies
This, new navy came with 70,000 trained marines and was a testament to how adaptable the Mongols were
The siege of Xiangyang went on for six years as it held the most valuable position in China, and it's defenders knew that if the city
Fell the whole of China, would follow
Multiple attempts were made by the Song to break out from or reinforce the city, but they didn't stand a chance
what finally, broke the fortress was a new design of counterweights trebuchet that
Was able to fire 300 kilogram stones from a distance of 500 meters
Xiangyang, which had held out for years fell in days in 1273
Kublai's forces quickly swept through southern, china, and although their position was now
Hopeless the song court raised, eight-year-old Zhao Bing to the throne
The, Song sent emissaries to negotiate a peace but
They, were rejected they ran from city to city seeking salvation and eventually boarded a huge fleet
Kublai, moved his navy to attack the Song vessels and the decisive battle of this campaign happened at Yamen on March 19th
1279
The remainder of the Song fleet consisted of 1,000 ships but most of them were transports with a vast number of civilians on board
Meanwhile Kublai's fleet, had around 300 warships manned by 20,000 experienced marines and he
Also, had the advantage of holding the nearby lands and supplies
Some within the Song forces suggested that the navy should first claim the mouth of the bay to
Secure their line of retreat to the west
Their commander Zhang Shi Ji turned down this suggestion in order to prevent his soldiers from fleeing
The, battle he ordered the burning of all palaces houses and forts on land for the same reason
Next the entire fleet of 1,000 ships
Was to be chained together forming one horizontal line with the emperor's ship at the center this
Was done to prevent desertion and to show that it was the last stand
The battle started with the Yaun forces filling small, boats with combustible materials and sending them towards the Song formation
The, Song anticipated, this movie and already painted, their ships with mud
They, were also equipped with large poles that used to prevent the fire ships from coming to close
The Yuan then blockaded the bay from either side
And forced the chinese to each try food and drink river water for a few days
There still was not enough to break their spirits
Seeing as their enemy wouldn't budge the Yuan divided their force into four units and began attacking
From all sides on separate smaller fronts as
The, Song ships were changed together they were sitting ducks unable to change formation and work together
The Yuan hit them from the north when the tide, was low
and from the south when it was high not allowing their main moment to rest
Still the chinese fought bravely and inflicted heavy casualties on the mongols with, their arrows
Suddenly these attacks stopped
Festive music and laughter started coming from cooper's ships
Thinking that the Yuan were now distracted the Song warriors decided to rest
However this music was a signal for a general attack
The, whole Yuan navy, was sent into the center under the cover of arrow fire
All the Song soldiers could, do from the flanks, was watch as their comrades were being slaughtered, by the thousands including civilians
Seeing that all hope, was lost one of the Song emperor's close advisors grabbed him and jumped into the water committing suicide
Zhao Bing would be the last Song emperor
China, was once again unified under the Yuan the first foreign dynasty to do so
Although, the mongol realm was now shattered the story of Genghis's descendants, was far from over
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Thank, you for watching the final episode in the first season on the history of the mongols
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