Battles & Wars › Medieval wars › Genghis Khan
Siege of Zhongdu (Beijing)
1213 – June 1215· Battle· Asia & Pacific
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Genghis Khan's armies blockaded and took Zhongdu, the capital of China's Jin dynasty, on the site of modern Beijing.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Zhongdu was the capital of the Jin dynasty, founded by the Jurchen people of Manchuria. After their victory at Yehuling, the Mongols besieged it in 1213. Its walls were too strong to storm, so they blockaded it and plundered the countryside. In 1214 the Jin emperor bought peace with a princess, gold, silk and horses, then moved his court south to Kaifeng. Genghis treated the move as a betrayal. Starving, Zhongdu fell in June 1215, and much of it burned.
Why it matters
It was the Mongols' first capture of a great walled capital. Its loss crippled the Jin, who fell in 1234, and Kublai Khan later built his capital, Khanbaliq, beside the ruins.
How we know
The official Jin and Yuan dynastic histories, the Secret History of the Mongols, and Persian historians such as Juzjani and Rashid al-Din. A Khwarazmian envoy who passed soon after described the ruined city.
Still debated
How much of the city was destroyed and how many died are unknown.
Connections (3)
▸Battle of Yehuling (Badger's Mouth) opened the road to Siege of Zhongdu (Beijing)Well documented
The connection
At Yehuling, the Badger's Mouth pass northwest of Zhongdu, the Mongols destroyed the main Jin field army in 1211. With few troops left to face them in the open, the Jin retreated behind city walls, and Mongol raiders roamed north China, leading to the siege of the capital in 1213.
When and how
Mountain passes northwest of modern Beijing, autumn 1211; Zhongdu besieged from 1213.
How we know
The Jin and Yuan dynastic histories record the defeat and the Mongol advance on the capital that followed.
Debates and open questions
Jin army sizes at Yehuling, sometimes given as hundreds of thousands, are probably exaggerated, and the battle's exact place and date are uncertain.
▸Genghis Khan took the Jin capital in Siege of Zhongdu (Beijing)Well documented
The connection
Genghis Khan led the 1213 campaign that surrounded Zhongdu. He accepted peace and tribute in 1214, but when the Jin emperor moved his court south to Kaifeng, he sent his army back. His generals, joined by Khitan defectors from the Jin, took the starving city in June 1215 while he camped to the north.
When and how
Zhongdu, near modern Beijing, 1213–1215; Genghis Khan against the Jin emperor Xuanzong.
How we know
The Secret History of the Mongols, the Yuan and Jin dynastic histories, and Persian accounts agree on the dates and outcome.
Debates and open questions
Historians debate whether Genghis aimed to rule north China or mainly to extract tribute and loot; he left much of it to local allies to govern.
▸Siege of Zhongdu (Beijing) taught the Mongols Chinese siege engines like the Trebuchet (traction and counterweight)Mostly agreed
The connection
Steppe horsemen could not take walled cities on their own. In the Jin wars the Mongols recruited or captured Chinese and Khitan engineers who built traction trebuchets, siege towers and fire weapons. These engineers, later joined by Muslim specialists with counterweight trebuchets, became a permanent Mongol siege corps.
When and how
North China, 1211–1215 and after; later, Muslim engineers built counterweight trebuchets for Kublai Khan at Xiangyang, 1273.
How sure are we?
Chinese and Persian sources record Mongol siege-engineer units and named engineers; Rashid al-Din and the Yuan History describe their use.
Debates and open questions
How much the Mongols learned at Zhongdu itself, versus earlier against the Western Xia, is unclear; Zhongdu fell mainly to blockade and hunger.