Bayan of the Baarin
Mongol general
1236 CE to 1295 CE
Bayan of the Baarin (1236–January 11, 1295), also known as "Bayan chingsang" or, to Marco Polo, as "Bayan Hundred Eyes" (probably from a misunderstanding of Chinese: Bǎiyǎn), is a Mongol general.
He commands the army of Kublai Khan against the Song Dynasty (960–1279) of China, ushering in the Song collapse and the conquest by the Yuan Dynasty of southern China.
"Bayan" literally means "rich" in the Mongolian language.
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The Far East
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Kublai is able to turn his full attention to the war in China in 1268.
A series of campaigns, distinguished by the skill of Bayan (grandson of Subutai), culminated in 1276 in the capture of Hangzhou, the Song capital.
It takes three more years to subdue the outlying provinces.
The last action of the war—a naval battle in Guangzhou Bay, in which the remnants of the Song fleet are destroyed by a Mongol fleet made up of defectors from the Song navy—takes place in 1279.
Kublai now turns his full attention to subjugating the Song Dynasty in 1268.
The Battle of Xiangyang, a six-year battle between the Song and the Mongol forces, begins in what is today Hubei.
Bayan, grandson of the late renowned General Subedei, has won many battles, seizing many large cities.
The six-year long Battle of Xiangyang ends on January 31, 1268, when the commander of the Song Dynasty's forces surrenders to Kublai Khan's Yuan Dynasty.
The battle is the first in which firearms are used in combat.
The two hundred thousand multiethnic troops of the Yuan Dynasty, headed by Bayan, face, in March 1275, a Chinese Song Dynasty army of one hundred thousand led by the Song Chancellor Jia Sidao.
The result is a decisive victory for the Yuan Dynasty.
The invading forces capture the Song city of Suzhou.
Soon after, the much-vilified Jia Sidao is stripped of rank and title, and killed by one of his own guards as he is sent to exile in Fujian by the Song court.
Lin'an (Hangzhou), the never-before ravaged Song capital in Zhejiang, falls to the Mongol army under Bayan in February 1276.
The Southern Song court, in their rush to flee the capital city of Lin'an to avoid Mongol invaders approaching Fuzhou, leaves Emperor Gong behind to be captured.
The court and hundreds of thousands of Song citizens flee from Hangzhou to …
…Fujian, where hopes of resistance center on two young princes, Emperor Gong's brothers.
The older boy, Zhao Shi, who is nine years old, is declared Emperor Duanzong of Song.
A twenty-kilometer stone wall defending the coast of Hakata Bay in Fukuoka is completed in 1277; it is built in response to the attempted invasion of Japan by the Yuan Dynasty in 1274.
Some fifty thousand leaders and citizens of the Southern Song Dynasty of China become the first recorded inhabitants of Macau, as they seek refuge from the invading armies of the Yuan Dynasty when Fuzhou falls in 1277,
They also stay for a short period in …
…Kowloon.
The exiled Chinese dynasty flees from Fuzhou to Quanzhou, where Zhang Shijie, the Grand General of Song, hopes to borrow boats to continue their flight.
However, the Muslim merchant Fu Shougeng refuses their request, prompting Zhang to confiscate Fu's properties and flee on stolen boats with the Song court.
In fury, Fu slaughters the imperial clan and many officials in Quanzhou and surrenders to the Yuan, strengthening the Mongols' naval power.
At this point of the war it is obvious the Song do not stand a chance when fighting the Yuan head-on.
Zhang Shijie decides to build a vast fleet with what remains, to allow the Song court and soldiers to move from place to place until the situation improves.