Siege of Caizhou

Siege of Caizhou
Part of Mongol–Jin War and Jin–Song Wars
DateDecember 1233 – February 9, 1234
LocationCaizhou (present-day Runan County, Henan Province, China)
Result
  • Decisive Mongol victory
  • Emperor Aizong commits suicide; Wanyan Chenglin killed in battle
  • Jin dynasty ends
Belligerents
Jin dynasty Mongol Empire
Southern Song dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Emperor Aizong of Jin
Wanyan Chenglin
Ögedei Khan

The siege of Caizhou between 1233 and 1234 was fought between the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty and the allied forces of the Mongol Empire and Southern Song dynasty. It was the last major battle in the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty. They had fought for decades beginning in 1211, when the Mongols first invaded under the command of Genghis Khan.[1] The Jin capital, Zhongdu (present-day Xicheng and Fengtai districts, Beijing), had been besieged in 1213,[2] then captured by the Mongols in 1215. In the intervening years, the Jin dynasty moved its capital to Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan Province).[3] Ögedei Khan, the successor to Genghis Khan, rose to power after his predecessor died in 1227.[4] In 1230, the war effort against the Jin dynasty recommenced.[5] Emperor Aizong, the Jin ruler, fled when the Mongols besieged Bianjing.[6] On February 26, 1233, he reached Guide (present-day Shangqiu, Henan Province), and then moved on to Caizhou (present-day Runan County, Henan Province),[6][7] on August 3.[6] The Mongols arrived at Caizhou in December, 1233. The Southern Song dynasty had rebuffed Emperor Aizong's plea for assistance, and joined forces with the Mongols. The Southern Song dynasty ignored Emperor Aizong's warning that they would become the Mongol Empire's next target.[6]

Emperor Aizong tried to escape, but eventually committed suicide when he realised that the likelihood of escaping from Caizhou was no longer plausible.[6] Before his death, he had abdicated his throne to Wanyan Chenglin, a general and descendant of the Jin imperial clan, on February 9, 1234. Caizhou was breached by Mongol and Song forces on the same day,[6] and Wanyan Chenglin died in the ensuing melee, ending a reign that spanned less than a day.[6][8] The Jin dynasty came to a close with the fall of Caizhou.[9] The Southern Song dynasty was eager to exploit the destruction of the Jin dynasty by annexing Henan. They did not succeed and were repelled by the Mongols.[10]

References

Citations

  1. Franke 1994, p. 252.
  2. Allsen 1994, p. 351.
  3. Franke 1994, p. 254.
  4. Allsen 1994, pp. 265-366.
  5. Allsen 1994, p. 370.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Franke 1994, p. 264.
  7. Mote 1999, p. 248.
  8. Mote 1999, p. 215.
  9. Franke 1994, p. 265.
  10. Allsen 1994, p. 372.
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