Kublai Khan conquers the Dali kingdom

1253

At the head of a Mongol army dispatched by his brother Mongke, Kublai crossed the high gorges of Yunnan and subdued the Dali kingdom of the Bai people. The conquest opened a southern avenue into Song China and gave Kublai his first taste of administrative rule. He spared the local king and ruled through existing Bai elites, a pragmatic approach he would later apply across China.