10. When the Mongols Were at Their Most Powerful
In the east, the Mongols continued Genghis Khan’s campaign against the Jin, in alliance with southern China’s Song Dynasty. Ogedei commanded in person until 1232, then returned to Mongolia and entrusted to subordinates the final mopping up operations, which terminated with the extinguishment of the Jin Dynasty in 1234. The Mongols then fell out with their Song allies, and a new campaign began against southern China. Simultaneously, Ogedei’s Mongols invaded the Korean Peninsula and asserted Mongol suzerainty. In the south, Ogedei’s armies invaded India, marched into the Indus Valley and on to the Delhi Sultanate, and occupied parts of today’s Pakistan and the Punjab. At the same time, another Mongol army marched into and subdued Kashmir.
In the west, Ogedei’s powerful armies marched out of the recently conquered Khwarezm to subdue the remainder of today’s Central Asia. They overran Khorasan, Afghanistan, Persia, and reached Mesopotamia. From there, they turned northward and conquered Armenia, Georgia, and the Caucasus region, then continued to reduce Russia to centuries of vassalage. Afterwards, they penetrated into Eastern Europe, captured Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and reached the Adriatic Sea. The Mongol forces in Europe under Subutai were drawing plans to continue the advance into Italy and Central Europe, when news arrived of Ogedei’s death. Europe was saved because Ogedei’s demise necessitated a halt to the campaign and a return to Mongolia for the selection of a new Khan.