the Burmese chronicles of ‘the king who fled the Chinese’. Chinese and
Burmese accounts differ on the outcome of the invasion. The Chinese
claimed a victory when the Mongol cavalry stampeded the Burmese
elephant corps in a great battle east of Bhamo, but the invaders were
forced to retire without achieving any of their aims: the Burmese were
not defeated, nor was their capital taken; King Narathihapate was not
punished, nor was tribute forthcoming.^5
For these reasons another invasion was ordered in 1287, led this
time by Khubilai’s grandson, Esen Temür. Once again the
Mongol/Chinese force met stiff resistance. Meanwhile Pagan was
plunged into political crisis. King Narathihapate was poisoned by one
of his sons, while another seized the throne and offered to pay tribute
to China. This was apparently enough to convince the invaders to
withdraw before reaching Pagan. The impact on Burma had been dev-
astating, but since the Pagan dynasty continued for almost another
eighty years, the Mongol invasions alone can not be held responsible
for its collapse. Pagan was not destroyed, and while the Mongols were
not militarily defeated, climate and environment took their toll and
the two invasions were hardly worth their cost.
The next land invasions of mainland Southeast Asia took place in
1285, and between 1287 and 1289, both directed against Vietnam.
Both, however, were linked to Khubilai’s attempts to punish Champa as
well. King Jaya Indravarman VI had been reluctant to accede to Khu-
bilai’s demands that Champa send a tributary mission to the Yuan court,
led by the king in person. Like the Vietnamese, the Cham played for
time. To punish Cham procrastination, and to avenge claimed ill treat-
ment of his envoys, Khubilai ordered an attack on Champa by sea. In
1281 a fleet of one hundred ships bearing 5000 men under the
command of Sogetu, one of Khubilai’s leading generals, sailed from
Canton and landed in the vicinity of the Cham capital at Vijaya.
The Cham response was similar to the Vietnamese. The elderly
Cham king abandoned his capital and retreated into the mountains,
while the crown prince resorted to spirited guerrilla warfare. So fierce
Mongol expansionism