Fall of Jin

Main article: Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty

Jade ornament with flower design, Jin dynasty, Shanghai Museum.

Starting from the early 13th century, the Jin dynasty began to feel the pressure of Mongols
from the north. Genghis Khan first led the Mongols into Western Xia territory in 1205 and
ravaged it four years later. In 1211 about 50,000 Mongol horsemen invaded the Jin Empire
and began absorbing Khitan and Jurchen rebels. The Jin army had a half million men[citation
needed]
with 150,000 cavalry but abandoned the "western capital" Datong (see also the Battle
of Yehuling). The next year the Mongols went north and looted the Jin "eastern capital", and
in 1213 they besieged the "central capital", Zhongdu (present-day Beijing). In 1214 the Jin
made a humiliating treaty but retained the capital. That summer, Emperor Xuanzong
abandoned the central capital and moved the government to the "southern capital" Kaifeng,
making it the official seat of the Jin dynasty's power.

In 1216, a hawkish faction in the Jin imperial court persuaded Emperor Xuanzong to attack
the Song dynasty, but in 1219 they were defeated at the same place by the Yangtze River
where Wanyan Liang had been defeated in 1161. The Jin dynasty now faced a two front war
that they could not afford. Furthermore, Emperor Aizong won a succession struggle against
his brother and then quickly ended the war and went back to the capital. He made peace with
the Tanguts of Western Xia, who had been allied with the Mongols.

Many Han Chinese and Khitans defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin dynasty. Two
Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze and Liu Heima (劉黑馬),[20] and the Khitan Xiao Zhala (蕭
札剌) defected and commanded the three tumens in the Mongol army.[21] Liu Heima and Shi
Tianze served Genghis Khan's successor, Ögedei Khan.[22] Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led
armies against Western Xia for the Mongols.[23] There were four Han tumens and three
Khitan tumens, with each tumen consisting of 10,000 troops. The three Khitan generals
Shimo Beidi'er (石抹孛迭兒), Tabuyir (塔不已兒), and Xiao Zhongxi (蕭重喜; Xiao Zhala's
son) commanded the three Khitan tumens and the four Han generals Zhang Rou (張柔), Yan
Shi (嚴實), Shi Tianze and Liu Heima commanded the four Han tumens under Ögedei
Khan.[24][25][26][27][better source needed]

Shi Tianze was a Han Chinese who lived under Jin rule. Inter-ethnic marriage between Han
Chinese and Jurchens became common at this time. His father was Shi Bingzhi (史秉直). Shi
Bingzhi married a Jurchen woman (surname Nahe) and a Han Chinese woman (surname
Zhang); it is unknown which of them was Shi Tianze's mother.[28] Shi Tianze was married to
two Jurchen women, a Han Chinese woman, and a Korean woman, and his son Shi Gang was
born to one of his Jurchen wives.[29] His Jurchen wives' surnames were Monian and Nahe, his
Korean wife's surname was Li, and his Han Chinese wife's surname was Shi.[28] Shi Tianze
defected to the Mongol forces upon their invasion of the Jin dynasty. His son, Shi Gang,
married a Keraite woman; the Keraites were Mongolified Turkic people and considered as
part of the "Mongol nation".[29][30] Shi Tianze, Zhang Rou, Yan Shi and other Han Chinese
who served in the Jin dynasty and defected to the Mongols helped build the structure for the
administration of the new Mongol state.[31]

The Mongols created a "Han Army" (漢軍) out of defected Jin troops, and another army out
of defected Song troops called the "Newly Submitted Army" (新附軍).[32]

Genghis Khan died in 1227 while his armies were attacking Western Xia. His successor,
Ögedei Khan, invaded the Jin dynasty again in 1232 with assistance from the Southern Song
dynasty. The Jurchens tried to resist; but when the Mongols besieged Kaifeng in 1233,
Emperor Aizong fled south to the city of Caizhou. A Song–Mongol allied army looted the
capital, and the next year Emperor Aizong committed suicide to avoid being captured when
the Mongols besieged Caizhou, ending the Jin dynasty in 1234.[16] The territory of the Jin
dynasty was to be divided between the Mongols and the Song dynasty. However, due to
lingering territorial disputes, the Song dynasty and the Mongols eventually went to war with
one another over these territories.

In Empire of The Steppes, René Grousset reports that the Mongols were always amaz

ed at the valour of the Jurchen warriors, who held out until seven years after the death of
Genghis Khan.