Mongols capture Zhongdu, Jin capital
1215
After a lengthy siege, Genghis Khan's armies stormed the Jin capital on the site of modern Beijing. For weeks fires burned through the wooden city. Survivors described bones heaped in the streets. The Jin court fled south to Kaifeng and the steppe rode west. A generation later Kublai Khan would choose the same site for his new capital of Dadu, future heart of the Yuan dynasty.
In context
Also in 1215 (4 other events on record)
- Magna Carta sealed at Runnymede · Europe · Politics
- Fourth Lateran Council convenes in Rome · Europe · Religion
- Inuit Thule culture expands across Arctic · North America · Exploration
- Aquinas's father plans his religious career · Europe · Religion
Before and after in East Asia
Before and after in War
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources