As you learned in the previous lesson, after Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes and won their allegiance as khan (the Mongol word for "supreme leader"), he set his sights on China. Genghis Khan's army first destroyed the Turkut kingdom of Hsia in northern China, then broke through the Great Wall, which turned out to be a weak barrier against an army of determined horsemen. Genghis Khan and his cavalry headed toward the Jin Dynasty capital, Zhondu (modern-day Beijing).

The Jin had ruled China for several centuries and had always managed to fight off Mongol invaders when they arrived as individual tribes or clans. What Genghis Khan brought to Zhondu, however, was all Mongolia, united under one inspiring leader. The siege of Zhondu was an amazing victory for the Mongols, and a terrible tragedy for Zhondu's citizens. Learn more about the fall of Zhondu, only the first of the many cities that would fall to the Mongols, in this video.

In 1211, the forces of the Mongols appeared on the horizon at Zhondu. Genghis Khan’s men quickly surrounded the city and sealed it off. For a year the people rationed their dwindling food stores, as the soldiers of the city tried to drive off the invaders. When they ran out of ammunition, the soldiers of Zhondu melted down gold and silver items into projectiles for cannon. At last, the food, weapons, and hopes of the city were exhausted, and at that moment, in 1215, the Mongols attacked. “Man’s greatest fortune is to chase and defeat his enemies,” said Khan; “to seize all their possessions, and leave their married women weeping and wailing.” Legend has it that 60,000 women of Zhondu threw themselves from the city walls rather than be violated or enslaved by the new rulers of China.