Aguda founds the Jin dynasty

January 1, 1115

The Jurchen chieftain on the Amur frontier proclaimed himself emperor of a new dynasty, declaring independence from the Khitan Liao he had just defeated. Within a dozen years his horse archers would be smashing through the Great Wall and sacking the Song capital. The Jin state fused Jurchen tribal organization with Chinese bureaucratic practice, creating a hybrid polity that would govern northern China for over a century.