Kublai Khan sent fleets against Japan twice, in 1274 and in 1281. The second invasion was the largest seaborne attack until the Second World War: some 140,000 Mongol, Chinese and Korean soldiers on thousands of ships. The Japanese samurai held them off for almost two months behind a stone wall at Hakata Bay until a typhoon wrecked much of the fleet in August. The Japanese called the storms kamikaze, 'divine winds'. The costs of defence without spoils to reward the warriors weakened the Kamakura shogunate, which fell in 1333.
Before and after
- 1279Kublai Khan completes the conquest of China
- c. 1280sConstruction of Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd
- c. 1280sPolynesian navigators settle New Zealand
- c. 1280Eruption of Quilotoa
- 1281The Mongol invasions of Japan
- 29 October 1281Second Battle of Homs
- from 1282 to 1302War of the Sicilian Vespers
- from 30 March 1282 to 12 December 1816Kingdom of Naples
- 30 March 1282Sicilian Vespers
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 711 CE to 1492Al-Andalus
- 27 November 1095Pope Urban II calls the First Crusade
- 1206Temujin is proclaimed Genghis Khan
- 15 June 1215Magna Carta
- from 24 May 1337 to 9 October 1453Hundred Years' War
- 2 January 1492The fall of Granada ends Muslim rule in Spain
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 13th century.