Kublai Khan

(noun)

The fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and founder of the Yuan dynasty in China as a conquest dynasty in 1271; he ruled as the first Yuan emperor until his death in 1294.

Related Terms

Examples of Kublai Khan in the following topics:

  • Kublai Khan

    • Kublai Khan came to power in 1260.
    • Kublai Khan made significant reforms to existing institutions under the Yuan Dynasty.
    • They met Kublai Khan and lived amongst his court to establish trade relations.
    • The scheme of the "Muslim trebuchet" (hui-hui pao), invented during Kublai Khan's rule.
    • A portrait of a young Kublai Khan by Anige, a Nepali artist in Kublai's court.

  • The Mongal Invasions

    • The dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, yet he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu.
    • The Rise of Kublai Khan and the the Mongol Invasions of China
    • Kublai convened a kurultai in Kaiping that elected him Great Khan.
    • Instability troubled the early years of Kublai Khan's reign.
    • A portrait of the founder of Yuan dynasty, the Mongolian Kublai Khan.

  • Trade and Currency Under the Yuan

    • Kublai Khan promoted commercial, scientific, and cultural growth.
    • Kublai expanded the Grand Canal from southern China to Daidu in the north.
    • Mongol rule was cosmopolitan under Kublai Khan.
    • The Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan issued paper money backed by silver, and again banknotes supplemented by cash and copper cash.
    • Chagatai Khan Kebek renewed the coinage backed by silver reserves and created a unified monetary system through the realm.

  • The Southern Song Era

    • Under the leadership of Ögedei Khan (r.1229–1241), Mongol forces conquered both the Jin dynasty and Western Xia dynasty.
    • Although Hulagu was allied with Kublai Khan, his forces were unable to help in the assault against the Song due to Hulagu's war with the Golden Horde.
    • Kublai made preparations to take Ezhou, but a pending civil war with his brother Ariq Böke—a rival claimant to the Mongol Khaganate—forced Kublai to move back north with the bulk of his forces.
    • Kublai Khan officially declared the creation of the Yuan dynasty in 1271.
    • The former emperor would eventually be forced to commit suicide under the orders of Kublai's great-great grandson Gegeen Khan, who feared that Emperor Gong would stage a coup to restore his reign.

  • Decline of the Yuan Dynasty

    • In time, Kublai Khan's successors lost all influence on other Mongol lands across Asia, while the Mongols beyond the Middle Kingdom saw them as too Chinese.
    • The Ming army pursued the ex-Yuan Mongol forces into Mongolia in 1372, but were defeated by the latter under Biligtü Khan Ayushiridara and his general Köke Temür.
    • Eight years later, the Northern Yuan throne was taken over by Biligtü Khan Ayushiridara, a descendant of Ariq Böke, instead of the descendants of Kublai Khan.

  • Overview of the Mongol Empire

    • The empire unified the nomadic Mongol and Turkic tribes of historical Mongolia under the leadership of Genghis Khan, who was proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206.
    • It also ensured that it was easy to create an army in short time and gave the khans access to the daughters of local leaders.
    • The grandchildren of Genghis Khan disputed whether the royal line should follow from his son and initial heir Ögedei or one of his other sons.
    • After long rivalries and civil war, Kublai Khan took power in 1271 when he established the Yuan Dynasty, but civil war ensued again as he sought unsuccessfully to regain control of the followers of Genghis Khan's other descendants.
    • By the time of Kublai's death in 1294, the Mongol Empire had fractured into four separate empires, or khanates.

  • The Song Dynasty

    • Buddhism would not see a true revival in Chinese society until the Mongol rule of the Yuan Dynasty, with Kublai Khan's sponsorship of Tibetan Buddhism and Drogön Chögyal Phagpa as the leading lama.

  • Technological Advancements Under the Song

    • The application of new weapons employing the use of gunpowder enabled the Song to ward off its militant enemies—the Liao, Western Xia, and Jin with weapons such as cannons—until its collapse to the Mongol forces of Kublai Khan in the late 13th century.

  • Administrative Reform in the Mongol Empire

    • She set the stage for the ascension of her son, Güyük, as Great Khan, and he would take control in 1246.
    • He and Ögedei's nephew Batu Khan (both grandsons of Genghis Khan) fought bitterly for power; Güyük died in 1248 on the way to confront Batu.
    • Another nephew of Ögedei's (and so a third grandson of Genghis Khan's), Möngke, then took the throne in 1251 with Batu's approval.
    • Möngke's rule established some of the most consistent monetary and administrative policies since Genghis Khan.
    • The ruler's death sparked the four-year Toluid Civil War between his two younger brothers, Kublai and Ariq Böke, and also spurred on the division of the Mongol Empire.

  • Genghis Khan

    • Before Genghis Khan became the leader of Mongolia, he was known as Temujin.
    • It was then that he assumed the title of Genghis Khan, meaning universal leader, marking the start of the Mongol Empire.
    • Genghis Khan died in 1227 under mysterious circumstances in possession of one of the largest empires in history.
    • Genghis Khan as portrayed in a 14th-century Yuan-era album.
    • Outline the major cultural contributions and complex role played by Genghis Khan in the development of the Mongol Empire