Kublai Khan was the grandson of Genghis Khan and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China. Kublai was elected great khan at a kurultai in Shangdu in 1260, in an election that was disputed by rival branches of the family for decades afterward. Kublai eventually won the Toluid Civil War against his younger brother Ariq Böke, and he was the unquestioned ruler of the eastern part of the empire by 1264.
Kublai was one of the most important figures in the history of the Mongol world. He was a sophisticated, multilingual ruler with a strong interest in Chinese culture, and he was committed to the idea of a Yuan Dynasty that combined Mongol military power with Chinese administrative experience. He made his capital at Khanbaliq (modern Beijing) and adopted many features of the Chinese imperial system, including the title of emperor and the apparatus of the Confucian bureaucracy. The Yuan Dynasty that he founded in 1271 was the wealthiest and most populous of the four major khanates of the Mongol world, and it was the cultural and political center of the Mongol world for the next century.
The Early Life of Kublai
Kublai was born in 1215, the son of Tolui, the fourth son of Genghis Khan, and Sorghaghtani Beki, a Nestorian Christian of the Onggirat clan. Kublai grew up in the imperial court, and he received a traditional Mongol education that included training in horseback riding, archery, and warfare. Kublai was reportedly a serious, thoughtful, and pious man, with a strong interest in Chinese culture and religion.
Kublai was given several important commands in his early career. He was appointed governor of North China in 1251, and he was responsible for the administration of the northern territories of the Mongol Empire. Kublai was a popular governor, and he was known for his fair and efficient administration. Kublai was also a major patron of Chinese culture, and he was a major supporter of the Confucian scholars of North China.
The Toluid Civil War
The Toluid Civil War of 1260-1264 was the central political crisis of the mid-thirteenth century, and it was the event that made Kublai the ruler of the eastern part of the Mongol Empire. The war was fought between Kublai and his younger brother Ariq Böke, and the outcome of the war was a major turning point in the history of the Mongol world.
Kublai won the war, and the victory established the Toluid branch of the imperial family as the ruling line of the empire. The victory also marked the beginning of the era of the four khanates, and it marked the end of the unified Mongol state. Kublai was the unquestioned ruler of the eastern part of the empire, and he used his new power to found the Yuan Dynasty in 1271.
The Founding of the Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty was founded in 1271, when Kublai 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 founding of the Yuan Dynasty was a major innovation. Kublai adopted many features of the Chinese imperial system, including the title of emperor (huangdi), the use of the Chinese calendar, and the use of the Confucian bureaucracy. Kublai was a sophisticated, multilingual ruler, and he was able to combine the Mongol military tradition with the Chinese administrative tradition. The combination was a major factor in the success of the Yuan Dynasty.
The Conquest of the Song Dynasty
The conquest of the Song Dynasty was the major military achievement of the Kublai era, and it was the event that completed the Mongol conquest of China. The Song Dynasty had ruled southern China since 960, and it was a major cultural and economic power. The Mongols had been attacking the Song Dynasty since the 1230s, but the conquest was not completed until 1279.
The conquest of the Song Dynasty was a long, difficult affair. The Song had a large army, a sophisticated navy, and a string of fortified cities along the Yangtze River. The Mongols eventually overcame the Song defenses through a combination of military pressure, diplomatic maneuvering, and a major naval campaign in the South China Sea. The conquest of the Song Dynasty was completed in 1279, and the last Song emperor, Bing, committed suicide.
The Reign of Kublai
The reign of Kublai was marked by a series of major achievements, including the conquest of the Song Dynasty, the development of a sophisticated system of paper money, the expansion of the yam postal system, and the patronage of Tibetan Buddhism. Kublai was also a major patron of culture, and he supported a number of major artistic and literary projects, including the compilation of the official history of the Mongol Empire.
Kublai was also a major figure in the international politics of the thirteenth century. He sent envoys to the courts of Europe, including the famous mission of Rabban Bar Sauma, a Nestorian Christian who was sent to the courts of Europe in 1287-1288. The mission was an attempt to form an alliance with the European powers against the Mamluk Sultanate, and it was one of the most ambitious diplomatic missions of the medieval world.
Kublai was also the host of Marco Polo, the Venetian merchant who spent more than two decades at the Yuan court. Marco Polo’s account of his experiences, the “Travels of Marco Polo,” was widely read in Europe and was one of the main sources of European knowledge of China and the Mongol world for several centuries.
The Legacy of Kublai
Kublai Khan is remembered as one of the most important figures in the history of the Mongol world. He was the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, the conqueror of the Song Dynasty, and the patron of a major cosmopolitan culture that combined Mongol, Chinese, Tibetan, and Persian traditions. Kublai was also a major figure in the development of the Mongol imperial tradition, and he established a number of important political institutions that became the basis of the Yuan Dynasty.
The legacy of Kublai is also visible in the modern world. The most obvious is in the modern Chinese state, where Kublai is remembered as one of the major rulers in the history of the country. The other examples include the modern Mongolian state, where Kublai is remembered as a national hero and as the founder of the Yuan Dynasty. Kublai is also a major figure in the popular culture of East Asia, and he is the subject of a number of novels, films, and television series.
Sources
- Morris Rossabi, Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988) — the standard biographical treatment.
- John Man, Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Legacy (London: HarperCollins, 2004), ch. 14–16.
- David Morgan, The Mongols (2nd ed., Oxford: Blackwell, 2007), ch. 6.
- John W. Chaffee, Banners and the Borderlands in Yuan China (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2012).
- Herbert Franke and Denis Twitchett, eds., The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907–1368 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
- Henry Yule, trans. and ed., The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian (3rd ed., London: Murray, 1903, repr. 2014).