Mongol invasions of Vietnam

Mongol invasions of Đại Việt and Champa[a]
Part of the Mongol invasions and Kublai Khan's campaigns
Mongol Yuan campaigns against kingdoms of Southeast Asia.[1]
Date 1258, 1283–1284, 1285 and 1287–88 Location Champa and Đại Việt (modern-day Vietnam) Result See Aftermath section
Belligerents
Mongol Empire (1258) Yuan dynasty (1283–85 and 1287–88)	Đại Việt Champa Chinese exiles and deserters
Commanders and leaders
1257–1258: Möngke Khan Uriyangkhadai Aju Qaidu[b] Chechegtu 1283–1285: Kublai Khan Sogetu † Nasr ad-Din Yiqmis Li Heng [zh] † Toghon[2] Qutuq[3] Ariq Qaya [ug] Omar Liu Gui Aqatai 1287–1288: Toghon Omar (POW) Trần Ích Tắc Abači † Liu Chun-Ching Fan Yi   Esen-Temür Nasr ad-Din Zhang Wenhu [vi] Aoluchi	1257–1258: Trần Thái Tông Lê Tần 1283–1285: Trần Thánh Tông Trần Nhân Tông Trần Hưng Đạo Trần Quang Khải Trần Quốc Toản † Trần Bình Trọng † Trần Ích Tắc   Phạm Ngũ Lão Nguyễn Khoái Đỗ Hành Zhao Zhong Indravarman V Prince Harijit 1287–1288: Trần Nhân Tông Trần Hưng Đạo Trần Quang Khải Trần Khánh Dư Phạm Ngũ Lão
Strength
First invasion (1258): ~3,000 Mongols 10,000 Yi people (Atwood estimate)[4] 5,000 Mongol and 20,000 Yunnanese troops (Taylor estimate)[5] ~30,000 Mongols 2,000 Yi people (Vietnamese estimate)[6] Second invasion (1285): ~80,000–300,000 (some speak of 500,000) in March 1285[7] Third invasion (1288): Remaining forces from the second invasion, Reinforcements: 70,000 Yuan troops 21,000 tribal auxiliaries 500 ships[8] Total: 170,000[9]	Second invasion of Đại Việt and Champa (1283–1285): 30,000 Chams[10] c. 100,000 Vietnamese[11]
Casualties and losses
1285: 50,000 captured[12] 1288: 90,000 killed or drowned[13]	Unknown

Four major military campaigns were launched by the Mongol Empire, and later the Yuan dynasty, against the kingdom of Đại Việt (modern-day northern Vietnam) ruled by the Trần dynasty and the kingdom of Champa (modern-day central Vietnam) in 1258, 1282–1284, 1285, and 1287–88. The campaigns are treated by a number of scholars as a success due to the establishment of tributary relations with Đại Việt despite the Mongols suffering major military defeats.^[14][15][16] In contrast, modern Vietnamese historiography regards the war as a major victory against the foreign invaders.^[17][14]

The first invasion began in 1258 under the united Mongol Empire, as it looked for alternative paths to invade the Song dynasty. The Mongol general Uriyangkhadai was successful in capturing the Vietnamese capital Thang Long (modern-day Hanoi) before turning north in 1259 to invade the Song dynasty in modern-day Guangxi as part of a coordinated Mongol attack with armies attacking in Sichuan under Möngke Khan and other Mongol armies attacking in modern-day Shandong and Henan.^[18] The first invasion also established tributary relations between the Vietnamese kingdom, formerly a Song dynasty tributary state, and the Yuan dynasty. In 1283, Kublai Khan and the Yuan dynasty launched a naval invasion of Champa that also resulted in the establishment of tributary relations.

Intending to demand greater tribute and direct Yuan oversight of local affairs in Đại Việt and Champa, the Yuan launched another invasion in 1285. The second invasion of Đại Việt failed to accomplish its goals, and the Yuan launched a third invasion in 1287 with the intent of replacing the uncooperative Đại Việt ruler Trần Nhân Tông with the defected Trần prince Trần Ích Tắc. By the end of the second and third invasions, which involved both initial successes and eventual major defeats for the Mongols, both Đại Việt and Champa decided to accept the nominal supremacy of the Yuan dynasty and became tributary states to avoid further conflict.^[19][20]

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