The Jin Dynasty collapsed in 1234 when the Mongols captured Caizhou, the town where Wanyan Shouxu had fled. In 1234, three armies commanded by Ögedei's sons Kochu and Koten, as well as the Tangut general Chagan, invaded southern China. With the assistance of the Song Dynasty, the Mongols finished off the Jin in 1234. In the West, Ögedei's general Chormaqan destroyed Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the last shah of the Khwarizmian Empire. The small kingdoms in Southern Persia voluntarily accepted Mongol supremacy. In East Asia, there were a number of Mongolian campaigns into Goryeo Korea, but Ögedei's attempt to annex the Korean Peninsula met with little success. The king of Goryeo, Gojong, surrendered but later revolted and massacred Mongol darughachis (overseers); he then moved his imperial court from Gaeseong to Ganghwa Island. As the empire grew, Ögedei established a Mongol capital at Karakorum in northwestern Mongolia.

 

Background

 

Ögedei was the third son of Genghis Khan, and was considered to be his father's favorite son, ever since his childhood. As an adult Ögedei was known for his ability to sway doubters in any debate in which he was involved, simply by the force of his personality. He was a physically big, jovial, and very charismatic man, who seemed mostly to be interested in enjoying good times. He was intelligent and steady in character. His charisma was partially credited for his success in keeping the Mongol Empire on the path that his father had set. Ögedei was also known to be a humble man, who knew his human limitations, did not believe himself to be a genius, and was willing to listen and use the great generals that his father left him, as well as those he himself found to be most capable. Like all Mongols at his time, he was raised and educated as a warrior from childhood, and as the son of Genghis Khan, he was a part of his father's plan to establish a world empire. His military experience was notable for his willingness to listen to his generals, and adapt to the circumstances. He was an extremely pragmatic person, much like his father, and looked at the end, rather than the means. His steadiness of character and dependability were the traits that his father most valued, and that gained him the role of successor to his father, despite his two older brothers.

 

Aftermath of Ögedei's death

 

Ögedei's death in 1241 brought the Mongol invasion of Europe to a premature end. The commanders heard the news as they were advancing on Vienna, and withdrew for the Ikh kurultai in Mongolia, never again to return so far west.

His son Güyük Khan eventually succeeded him after the five-year regency of his widow Töregene Khatun. But Batu Khan, Khan of the Kipchak Khanate in Russia, never accepted Guyuk, who died on the way to confront him. It was not until 1255, well into the reign of Mongke Khan, that Batu felt secure enough to again prepare to invade Europe. Fortunately for the Europeans, he died before his plans could be implemented. His son intended to carry them out, but he also died, and in 1258, Batu's brother Berke, ascended to the Kipchak Khanate. A Muslim, he was more interested in stopping his cousin Hulagu from doing any more damage to the Holy Land than invading Europe. Historians mark the decline of the united Mongol Empire from Ogedei's death, though Mongke's ascension halted the interfamilial fighting for a time.

At the death of Mongke, Mongke's youngest brother Arik Boke was declared the Great Khan. Then there was four-year long civil war between Arik Böke and Kublai Khan, who was also Mongke's brother. Eventually, Kublai Khan won. Kaidu, a descendant of Ogedei, refused to recognize Kublai Khan as the Great Khan. This started many battles between Kaidu and Kublai Khan. After Kaidu's son, Ogedei's line basically finished in the struggle for power. The unity of the Mongols ended because of the power struggle among the various Mongol princes. Kublai Khan's descendants were recognized as the Great Khan only in Mongolia and China and the surrounding areas.

 

Ögedei Khan helped to consolidate the Mongol Empire, which did much to link communities and peoples that previously had little or no contact. This period has been described as the Pax Mongolia. In particular, he opened up communication between East and West. On the one hand, Europeans saw the Mongols as a threat, although Europeans in the West appear to have been content to let the Hungarians and others in Eastern Europe serve as a buffer-zone, containing the threat to the East. On the other hand, the Mongols' arrival on the borders of the European space from the East reminded Europeans that a world existed beyond their horizons. The political stability that Ögedei established throughout Asia re-established the Silk Road, the primary trading route between East and West. Before long, Marco Polo was traveling this route, followed by others. The Mongols absorbed local customs wherever they settled, and so helped to build bridges between some of the world's cultures. Trade with the east became so important that when the Ottoman Empire, which stood between East and West, made it difficult and often impossible to use land routes, Europeans were strongly motivated to find alternatives to overland travel, sending navigators to explore the sea routes to Asia.