Khubilai Khan's Forgotten Fleet: The Mongol Invasion of Java

In 1292, Khubilai Khan launched a massive naval expedition not against Japan, but against the distant island kingdom of Singhasari on Java. This episode follows the Mongol fleet of over 1,000 ships as it sails from Quanzhou to the Indonesian archipelago, allied with the Srivijaya remnant state of Malayu Dharmasraya. We delve into the tangled politics of Java: the ambitious king Kertanagara, the rebel Jayakatwang who overthrew him, and the Mongol general Shi Bi caught in a web of alliances and betrayals. The invasion ends in a stunning Mongol defeat at the hands of Raden Wijaya, Kertanagara's son-in-law, who then founds the Majapahit Empire. Why did Khubilai send his armada so far south? What did the Mongols actually know about Java? And how did this failure reshape Southeast Asian history? This episode pieces together Chinese, Javanese, and Persian sources to tell the story of the Mongols' last great amphibious campaign. #MongolEmpire #KhubilaiKhan #Java #Singhasari #Kertanagara #RadenWijaya #Majapahit #ShiBi #MongolInvasionOfJava #SoutheastAsia #HistoryOfIndonesia #YuanDynasty #NavalHistory #13thCentury #PaxMongolica #SilkRoad #FexingoHistory #History #GenghisKhan #KublaiKhan Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo