The Snow Lion and the Dragon:
Tibet-China Relations continues .....

At this point, since the Chinese claim that both Chinggis and Kublai were Chinese, it is necessary to examine at least the early part of the Mongol conquest of China. For thousands of years, steppe nomads to the north of agricultural China had been raiding and invading China, some setting up local kingdoms while others looted and went back. The Great Wall of China was built by a series of Chinese rulers specifically to keep these ‘barbarians’ out and ‘beyond the walls’. When Chinggis Khan invaded North China in 1211 CE, then ruled by a Jin emperor, he was one of a long series of nomad chiefs to invade this rich
area.

The Mongols were very different from the Jin-ruled agricultural Chinese, who had a well-equipped and large army of 65,000 cavalry and 85,000 infantry, against which the Mongols had a total of 65,000 horsemen. But the well-drilled rapid movements of the Mongols and their skilful use of surprise, their chief weapon, brought confusion into the Chinese armies. They were bewildered by the ability of the Mongols to cover immense distances with amazing speed, which allowed them to concentrate superior force suddenly at selected points.

To be continued......