The Tumu Incident and the Chinggisid Legacy in Inner Asia

When the Oirad Mongols defeated the Ming and captured their emperor at Tumu in 1449, they could have invaded Central China and perhaps brought down the still young Ming state, but did not. By examining the significance of the Chinggisid legacy both for the Mongols and the Ming, Johan Elverskog (Southern Methodist University) explains why.

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