Qualla: Battle of Thị Nại Bay

Battle of Thị Nại Bay: Introduction

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lê Thy (thảo luận), CC BY 3.0. Kublai Khan had already seen Vietnam resist Mongol power by the time he turned his attention to Champa. An earlier overland campaign in 1257 — authorized by Möngke Khan and executed by general Uriyangkhadai, before Kublai's own reign — had sacked Thăng Long but ultimately withdrawn under scorched-earth pressure. But Champa, the Hindu maritime kingdom controlling the coast of what is now south-central Vietnam, had refused to submit to Mongol authority — and in Kublai's empire, refusal had consequences. In summer 1282, he sent Sogetu of the Jalairs, the governor of Guangzhou, south with 5,000 men, 100 ships, and 250 landing craft. They were headed for the harbor now called Qui Nhơn. What waited for them was a fortified wooden fortress, 10,000 Cham warriors, several war elephants, and around 100 Muslim-operated trebuchets.

Image: Lê Thy (thảo luận) | CC BY 3.0

Battle of Thị Nại Bay: The Grievance and the Fleet

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lê Thy (thảo luận), CC BY 3.0. The expedition had a stated rationale. Kublai declared that the elderly Cham king, Indravarman V, was blameless — the resistance came from his son Harijit and a Southern Chinese ally. Whether the distinction mattered to the men loading landing crafts in late 1282 is unclear. What...

Image: Lê Thy (thảo luận) | CC BY 3.0

Battle of Thị Nại Bay: The Night Landing and Morning Battle

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lê Thy (thảo luận), CC BY 3.0. Sogetu's forces landed at midnight on 13 February 1283. The assault came from three directions simultaneously: 300 soldiers under Cheng Pin and Chao Ta approached from the east; 1,600 troops under Chen Chung-ta, Li Ch'uan, and Su Ch'uan moved in from the north; and the main force...

Image: Lê Thy (thảo luận) | CC BY 3.0

Battle of Thị Nại Bay: The King Who Would Not Submit

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lê Thy (thảo luận), CC BY 3.0. Yuan forces reached Vijaya on 17 February 1283 and completed its capture approximately two days later. But victory at the bay was not the same as victory in Champa. Indravarman V did not surrender. Before evacuating into the western highlands, he executed two Mongol envoys — Yu Y...

Image: Lê Thy (thảo luận) | CC BY 3.0

Battle of Thị Nại Bay: A Bay That Carries the Memory

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lê Thy (thảo luận), CC BY 3.0. Thị Nại Bay is now the harbor of Qui Nhơn, the capital of Bình Định Province and a modern port city on Vietnam's South Central Coast. The wooden fortress is long gone. The trebuchets and war elephants exist only in Chinese military chronicles and Vietnamese historical records. Bu...

Image: Lê Thy (thảo luận) | CC BY 3.0