The four khanates of the Mongol Empire became formally independent from the central empire over the course of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, in a process that was closely connected to the Toluid Civil War of 1260 to 1264. The process was gradual, and the precise moment of independence is a matter of scholarly debate, but the major milestones are clear.
The civil war marked the end of the unified Mongol Empire and the beginning of the era of the four khanates. Before the civil war, the four khanates were subordinate to the central empire and were ruled by princes who were required to attend the kurultai of the great khan and to recognize his suzerainty. After the civil war, the four khanates were effectively independent, and the great khan was no longer able to command the obedience of the other khanate rulers.
The Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty was formally established in 1271, when Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, proclaimed a new Chinese-style dynasty with himself as emperor. The proclamation was a major political event, and it marked the formal independence of the eastern khanate from the central empire. The Yuan Dynasty was, in many ways, the most powerful of the four khanates, and it was the one that most successfully claimed the legacy of the unified empire.
The Yuan Dynasty, however, never quite abandoned the claim to be the universal Mongol Empire. Kublai and his successors continued to use the imperial title of “Great Khan” and to claim the suzerainty of the other khanates. The claim was more theoretical than practical, but it was an important part of the political identity of the Yuan Dynasty.
The Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate was the first of the four khanates to become effectively independent. Founded by Hulagu Khan in 1256, the Ilkhanate was originally a subordinate khanate of the central empire, with Hulagu owing obedience to the great khan. The Toluid Civil War, however, drove a wedge between the Ilkhanate and the central empire, and the Ilkhanate gradually asserted its independence. The Ilkhanate began to mint its own coinage in 1295, and the Ilkhan Ghazan formally adopted Islam in the same year, signaling the final break with the Mongol religious traditions.
The independence of the Ilkhanate was a major turning point in the history of the Mongol world. The Ilkhanate was the most culturally sophisticated of the four khanates, and its independence meant that the central empire had lost control of the western part of the Eurasian world. The Ilkhanate eventually formed an alliance with the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, the traditional enemy of the Mongol Empire, and the two powers joined forces against the Golden Horde.
The Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was the most reluctant of the four khanates to accept the authority of the central empire. The Golden Horde had been a major power in its own right since the reign of Batu Khan, and it had been involved in the Toluid Civil War on the side of Ariq Böke. The Golden Horde gradually became independent from the central empire over the course of the late thirteenth century, and by the early fourteenth century it was effectively a fully independent state.
The independence of the Golden Horde was also marked by its conversion to Islam. Berke Khan, the first Muslim khan of the Golden Horde, had converted in the 1250s, and the conversion of the khan and the ruling class was completed in the early fourteenth century. The conversion of the Golden Horde to Islam was a major political event, and it brought the Golden Horde into the Islamic world and made it a natural ally of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.
The Chagatai Khanate
The Chagatai Khanate was the last of the four khanates to become independent. The Chagatai Khanate had been a subordinate khanate of the central empire throughout the thirteenth century, and it was only in the early fourteenth century that it began to function as an effectively independent state. The Chagatai Khanate was the smallest and most politically unstable of the four khanates, and its independence was more a consequence of the weakness of the central empire than of any deliberate political decision on the part of the Chagatai khans.
The Chagatai Khanate was eventually split into eastern and western halves, and the two halves went in different political directions. The eastern part, sometimes called the Moghulistan, was more conservative and remained closer to the Mongol steppe traditions; the western part, centered on Transoxiana, was more settled and Islamicized. The Chagatai Khanate was eventually absorbed by the Timurid Empire in the late fourteenth century.
The Long-Term Consequences
The independence of the four khanates marked the end of the unified Mongol Empire and the beginning of a new political order in Eurasia. The four khanates continued to be connected by shared descent and shared customs, but they were increasingly separated by religion, language, and political interest. The unity of the steppe, which had been the basis of the original Mongol conquests, was preserved more in theory than in practice, and the political reality was one of four separate states, each pursuing its own interests.
The independence of the four khanates also marked the beginning of the end of the Pax Mongolica. The four khanates continued to maintain the postal system and the trade routes, but the political unity that had made the Pax Mongolica possible was increasingly difficult to maintain. By the mid-fourteenth century, the Pax Mongolica was breaking down, and the overland trade routes of Eurasia were becoming more dangerous and less heavily used.
Sources
- David Morgan, The Mongols (2nd ed., Oxford, 2007).
- Peter Jackson, The Mongols and the West, 1221–1410 (London, 2005).
- Timothy May, The Mongol Conquests in World History (London, 2012).