Mongol invasion of China in the context of "Northern Song dynasty"

The Song dynasty (/sʊŋ/ SUUNG) was a unifying imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao, Western Xia and Jin dynasties in northern China. After retreating to southern China following attacks by the Jin dynasty, the Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty.

The dynasty's history is divided into two periods: during the Northern Song (北宋; 960–1127), the capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and the dynasty controlled most of what is now East China. The Southern Song (南宋; 1127–1279) comprise the period following the loss of control over the northern half of Song territory to the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song wars. At that time, the Song court retreated south of the Yangtze and established its capital at Lin'an (now Hangzhou). Although the Song dynasty had lost control of the traditional Chinese heartlands around the Yellow River, the Southern Song Empire contained a large population and productive agricultural land, sustaining a robust economy. In 1234, the Jin dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song. Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, died in 1259 while besieging the mountain castle Diaoyucheng in Chongqing. His younger brother Kublai Khan was proclaimed the new Great Khan and in 1271 founded the Yuan dynasty. After two decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai Khan's armies conquered the Song dynasty in 1279 after defeating the Southern Song in the Battle of Yamen, and reunited China under the Yuan dynasty.

Between 1205 and 1210, and again in 1225-1227, the Mongol Empire embarked on a series of military campaigns that ultimately led to the destruction of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty in northwestern China. Hoping to both to plunder and acquire vassalage, Genghis Khan commanded some initial raids against the Western Xia before launching a full-scale invasion in 1209. This was the first major invasion conducted by Genghis, and his first major incursion into China.

The Mongols began a siege of the Western Xia capital Yinchuan that lasted nearly a year, during which the Mongols tried to divert a river to flood the city, but accidentally flooded their own camp instead. Ultimately, Emperor Xiangzong of Western Xia surrendered to the Mongols in January 1210, marking the beginning of a decade of Western Xia vassalage under the Mongols, where they provided support for the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty. However, when Genghis invaded the Islamic Khwarazmian Empire in 1219, the Western Xia attempted to break away from Mongol vassalage and form alliances with the Jin and Song dynasties. Angered by the betrayal of the Western Xia, Genghis Khan began a second campaign against them, sending a punitive expedition into Western Xia in 1225. Genghis intended to annihilate the entire Western Xia culture: he methodically destroyed their cities and countryside, and began besieging Yinchuan in 1227. In December, near the end of the siege, Genghis Khan died of unknown causes, which has been presented by some accounts as being the result of wounds he had suffered against the Western Xia. Following Genghis's death, Yinchuan fell to the Mongols, and most of its population was massacred.

The Song dynasty (/sʊŋ/ SUUNG) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao, Western Xia and Jin dynasties in northern China. After retreating to southern China following attacks by the Jin dynasty, the Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty.

The dynasty's history is divided into two periods: during the Northern Song (北宋; 960–1127), the capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and the dynasty controlled most of what is now East China. The Southern Song (南宋; 1127–1279) comprised the period following the loss of control over the northern half of Song territory to the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song wars. At that time, the Song court retreated south of the Yangtze and established its capital at Lin'an (now Hangzhou). Although the Song dynasty had lost control of the traditional Chinese heartlands around the Yellow River, the Southern Song Empire contained a large population and productive agricultural land, sustaining a robust economy. In 1234, the Jin dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song. Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, died in 1259 while besieging the mountain castle Diaoyucheng in Chongqing. His younger brother Kublai Khan was proclaimed the new Great Khan and in 1271 founded the Yuan dynasty. After two decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai Khan's armies conquered the Song dynasty in 1279 after defeating the Southern Song in the Battle of Yamen, and reunited China under the Yuan dynasty.