Far East Kingdoms

Great Khans of the Mongols
AD 1206 - 1294

Mongol Tribes All Modern States Central Asia China Korea

The Mongols appear to have been born out of an amalgam of native Turkic and Tungusic groups in north-eastern Central Asia and East Asia. Early Turkic groups display an affinity with or links to Indo-Iranian tribes, as well as to proto-Mongol groups. The famous Mongol foundation epic, the Secret History of the Mongols, states that the Mongols reached the steppe from over the 'Tengis' - the sea or lake - twenty-two generations before the birth of 'Chingiz Khan' in AD 1162.

Mongols briefly became powerful in what is today's Mongolia around 1130, defeating neighbouring tribes and forcing the Jin to pay tribute. In 1160 they were destroyed by the neighbouring Tartars and their clans fought each other for local superiority. Mongol power collapsed until a new figurehead could be found to reunite the clans. The uniquely-titled Chingiz Khan did just that - known as Temujin for much of his life - becoming the first of the 'Great Khans' of the Mongol empire.

His father was a powerful clan leader named Yesukhei (or Yesugei). He led the Borjigin clan and was a descendant of a khan of the short-lived Khamag Mongol kingdom of the twelfth century. He was killed when Temujin was still young, poisoned by Tartars who were constant enemies of the Mongols. Temujin attempted to claim his father's position as leader of the Borjigin, but the tribesmen refused to be led by someone so young, and he and his family were cast adrift.

Temujin and his brothers grew up in the wilderness, hunting for their own food and becoming hardened mounted warriors. A dispute in which he and another brother killed Begter, one of his half-brothers, over hunting spoils cemented his position as a ruthless commander.

By the time he was a young man, Temujin commanded a small group of Mongol warriors. He won favour with Toghril Khan of the Kerait tribe and was able to build up his forces into a powerful army. The Onggirat (or Qongirat/Qongrat) tribe also followed him closely, being his mother's tribe, as well as that of Temujin's first wife.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward Dawson, from The Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan: His Triumph and his Legacy, Peter Brent (Book Club Associates, 1976), from The Mongols: A Very Short Introduction, Morris Rossabi (Oxford University Press, 2012), from the BBC documentary, The Secret History of Genghis Khan, broadcast 28 December 2011), from the New World Encyclopaedia, from Crimean Tatars, H B Paksoy, from The Origins of Northern China's Ethnicities, Zhu Xueyuan (Beijing 2004), from The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade, Susan Wise Bauer (2010), from Genghis Khan, Paul Ratchnevsky (Thomas Nivison Haining, Trans & Ed, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1991), and from External Links: Origins of the Volga Tatars, and Tatar.net (dead link), and The True Origin of the Mongols?, John Man (Oxford Alumni, 28 July 2020).)

1206 - 1227

Born c.1162. 'Great Khan' Mongol. Died after fall from horse.

1209 - 1210

Having already united the Mongol clans and created a kingdom which covers territory which roughly corresponds to modern Outer Mongolia, Chingiz now campaigns against the Hsi-Hsia.

The Mongols are offered tribute to placate them and, with their tents flooded, they accept. The payment of tribute by defeated enemies becomes a habit, encouraging Chingiz to turn his thoughts towards the further conquest of such weak opponents.

This portrait shown Chingiz Khan in his later years, by which time he had built up an empire which covered much of eastern and Central Asia, as well as stretching into Eastern Europe

1211 - 1216

The hated Jin empire in northern China is attacked, but the initial invasion is foiled when Chingiz is wounded and retires to Mongol lands. In 1213, he divides his army in three, the other two sections falling under the command of his sons.

The Jin empire is devastated by this three-pronged attack, and its capital at Zhongdu (modern Beijing) is captured in 1214. The following year areas of territory to the north of the Huang He (Yellow River) fall under Mongol control.

1217 - 1218

Tiring of the campaign against the Jin, Chingiz sends his general, Chepe, westwards to overthrow the empire of the Qara-Khitaï. This opens the way towards Mongol interaction with Khwarazm and Persia. Further Mongol raids take place into Korea.

1219 - 1221

After the shah of Khwarazm decapitates Chingiz Khan's ambassador, the emirate is attacked twice by the Mongols under the command of Chingiz himself, plus Subedei, aided by two sons, Chaghadai and Ogedei.

The Qutub Minar was constructed largely between 1199-1220 as one of the first architecturally-grand structures of the newly-founded sultanate of Delhi

Ghurid Southern Khorasan is also attacked, and Khwarazm is reduced to its western section covering northern Mesopotamia and western Persia. Bukhara and then Samarkand are captured by the Mongols and chaos results, with thousands being massacred or sold into slavery.

1221 or 1223

After being defeated, Emir Ala ad Deen Muhammed of Khwarazm flees west with Subedei and a large force following. The emir dies a fugitive but Subedei continues north into territory around the Caspian Sea and into the lands of the Rus.

Rus and Cuman forces assemble which greatly outnumber Subedei's men, but they are defeated at the River Kalka (or Khalka). Subedei extends his expedition farther to attack the Volga Bulgars before he returns to Mongolia in one of the greatest exploratory campaigns of the era.

Farther south, Khwarazm has survived to an extent, and has even profited from the Mongol control of the caravan trade. The rise there and in formerly Seljuq Persia of Shah Jalal al-Din Mingburnu poses a challenge for the Mongols.

The Battle of the River Kalka in 1221 or 1223 (both dates are reported) was a valiant Rus effort to stem the westwards tide of Mongol advance, but due largely to the refusal of Mstislav 'the Bold' to wait for all of his allied forces to assemble before leaping into battle, it opened the gates to full invasion

The two sides come together at the Battle of the Indus and Jalal ad-Din is defeated. Khwarazm is occupied between Samarkand and the Indus, and Persia also falls, to be inherited by the Il-Khans in 1256.

1223

The kingdom of Georgia is subordinated. The Alani, living to the north, put up a stiff resistance which sees them driven from their valleys but otherwise undefeated. Eastwards, the death of Mukali, Chingiz' commander in northern China, allows the Jin to begin to fight back.

1226 - 1227

Although they had been defeated in 1210, the Hsi-Hsia had not been properly subjugated. Now, with the Jin fighting back against Mongol dominance, they refuse to pay tribute, so the aging Chingiz conducts one final campaign against them, overthrowing them. Their Tarter state is subsumed within the Mongol empire.

1227

Shortly afterwards, Chingiz dies, not in battle but following a fall from his horse. A regent is appointed to oversee the succession. The empire is effectively divided into four sections, or ulus (inheritances), each governed by one of the sons of Chingiz. They remain politically united under the great khan, but their existence establishes the basis of future independent Mongol kingdoms.

The Hsi-Hsia (Xia) were the target of no less than five campaigns by Chingiz Khan until they were finally defeated and destroyed as a recognisible entity in AD 1227, after which their remnants were incorporated into the Mongol empire

1227 - 1229

Son and regent. Governor of Khwarazm & Persia.

1227 - 1229

Ogedei is the selected successor to Chingiz, and is officially proclaimed as such in 1229. While he and his successors still control the entire empire, they largely concentrate their attention on Mongolia and China.

The rest is governed by the other sons of Chingiz.

The north-western section is handed to Jochi and it is Jochi's son, Batu Khan, who inherits the westernmost section of this ulu as the Blue Horde, with Orda Ichen leading the eastern section as the White Horde (collectively known as the Golden Horde). Chagatai Khan (the second son) inherits Mughulistan, while Tolui governs Persia.

Shiban is too young when his father dies to gain any territories himself, despite being one of Juchi's sub-commanders of the White Horde. Instead, his descendants, the Shaibanids, carve out their own territory in fifteenth century Turkestan.

The River Ob in Siberia generally marked the eastern border of the later khanate of Sibir which was formed out of this Mongol territory, while the Shaibanids migrated southwards to found a khanate of their own

1229 - 1241

Brother and 'Great Khan'.

1231 - 1234

Control over the kingdom of Georgia is reaffirmed by a new invasion under Ogedei Khan which also overruns the remnants of Khwarazm (centred on modern Azerbaijan). The latter becomes part of Persia and its territories which are under the governance of Tolui.

Within a year or so (1235) much of Southern Khorasan is also conquered, including several minor principalities which include the Nasrids of Seistan.

In the same year, Ogedei Khan, with Subedei and Tolui, launches a fresh campaign against the Jin. After a series of setbacks, the Mongols approach the Jin capital at Kai-feng in 1234 with twenty thousand Song Chinese auxiliaries. The city is taken and the Jin fall, ending the northern empire and its rule of the steppe.

Within just thirty years, Mongol warriors had travelled as far afield as central China and Eastern Europe, and south-west into Iran, turning the Mongol empire into the largest single controlling force in history

1235

Korea is invaded for the first time with the serious intent of conquering it instead merely of raiding there. In the same year, construction of the Mongol imperial capital at Karakorum is completed. While not a great city in terms of its size, it is an impressively multicultural and diverse place with a flourishing trading centre.

1237 - 1239

Batu Khan of the Blue Horde begins the invasion and conquest of the lands of the Rus, with Subedei agreeing to accompany him. They cross the Volga and take the city of Riazan after a five-day catapult assault.

Then they take Kolumna and Moscow, and defeat the grand duke of Suzdal leading the most powerful force in the northern half of the Rus lands. During the invasion, Kyiv is conquered by Danylo Romanovych of Halych-Volynia, creating another target for a Mongol attack.

Cumans and Kipchaks (possibly one and the same people according to details shown for the blue and white hordes), and other nomadic groups flee the Rus lands to seek refuge in Hungary. As Batu Khan sees these people as his subjects, news of their departure is not welcomed and plans are laid to pursue them.

Batu Khan extended the borders of Mongol power into the lands of the Rus, bringing them under the domination of the Golden Horde for a century

Novgorod survives the tidal wave of conquest because the Mongols are unable to find a route through the marshes. Instead, they attack Kozelsk, which inflicts an unusual defeat on their vanguard before falling. Its entire population is slaughtered as an example. Kyiv also falls after a brave defence, even though Prince Michael of Kyiv flees beforehand. The city is largely destroyed.

1241 - 1242

Batu Khan and Subedei turn their attention farther into Europe. They enter Galicia, capturing the capital and destroying the cathedral there and ending any hopes that the Galicians may have had of holding onto Kyiv.

Both Poland and Hungary are also conquered, with European defeats at Liegnitz and the River Sajo (the Battle of Mohi). Austria, Dalmatia, and Moravia also fall under Mongol domination, and the tide seems unstoppable.

A force under the command of Kadan, son of Ögedei Khan, enters Bulgarian lands. Archaeological evidence shows that at least a dozen forts are burned in this period, and the Bulgarians are forced to accept that they will have to pay tribute. Subsequent events mean that the Mongols are content to leave the Bulgarians alone afterwards.

The White Horde ruled the territory between Lake Balkhash and the Volga, while initially continuing to push westwards as part of the greater Golden Horde

The death of Ögedei Khan causes the Mongols to withdraw, with Batu Khan intent on securing his conquests in the lands of the Rus thanks to the possibility that his rival, Guyuk Khan, could be elected great khan.

1241 - 1246

Regent and wife of Ogedei.

1243

Almost immediately after he has succeeded his father as malik, Shams-uddin seizes Herat during an unstable period of Mongol domination. Doing so as a Ghurid subject, he submits to the Mongols and is accepted as their Kartid governor of the city and its surroundings.

1245

The Seljuq sultanate of Rum is overcome by Baiju in a limited incursion into the region, and is reduced to vassal status by the Mongols. The Seljuqs of Rum begin to disintegrate, despite attempts to retain the sultanate's cohesiveness.

An illustration of a mounted Kipchack warrior, typical of the waves of westward migrants who swept in from the Kazak steppe during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, largely pushed that way by the sudden creation of the Mongol empire

1246 - 1248

Son of Ogedei and Toregene. 'Great Khan'.

1246

The election of Guyuk Khan as great khan confirms Batu Khan's fears, so he consolidates his territories to the north of the Caspian Sea and establishes a capital at Sarai Batu (Old Sarai). He converts his territories into a khanate (the equivalent of a kingdom) which becomes known as the Blue Horde.

Batu's brothers, Orda and Shiban had also participated in his European campaign, and they now form their own khanates. Orda's khanate, located to the east of the Blue Horde, becomes known as the White Horde, while Shiban's khanate is the relatively obscure Shaibanids.

Although both the Blue Horde and White Horde are in effect independent, they continue to acknowledge the suzerainty of the great khan, thereby preserving the illusion of cohesion within the empire.

1248

With rising tensions between Guyuk Khan and Batu Khan, it is only the great khan's early death which prevents a civil war from erupting between them. Oghul Ghaymish becomes regent during the election process to select the next great khan, but the mighty empire has been shown to be prone to disunity.

As Haraiva, Harev, and Herat the city and its surrounding lands have served many masters and has undergone periods of flourishing fortunes and turbulent destruction

1248 - 1251

Regent.

1250

Following a siege, Aleppo is captured and destroyed by the Mongols while the sultan of Egypt, al-Muazzam, is commanding there. Unusually, the defeated defenders are allowed to live.

1251 - 1259

Son of Tolui and cousin of Ogedei. 'Great Khan'.

1252

The invasion begins of the Southern Song empire, the last of the three Chinese powers to remain independent and unconquered to date. Mongke leads the campaign himself, while entrusting a Near Eastern campaign to Hulegu.

1253 - 1258

Hulegu and his Il-Khan Mongols begin the campaign which sees him enter the Islamic lands of Mesopotamia on behalf of Mongke. Ismailis (assassins) have been threatening the Mongol governors of the western provinces, so Mongke has determined that both they and the Abbasid caliphs must be brought to heel.

Hulegu takes Khwarazm, and quickly establishes dominion over Mosul, and Badr ad Din Lu'lu is allowed to retain governance of the city as he aids the Mongols in other campaigns in Syria. Hulegu's next conquest is Baghdad, in 1258. The caliph and his family are massacred when no army is produced to defend them.

Inheriting the Persian section of the Mongol empire through his father, Tolui, Hulegu Khan led the devastating attack which ended the Islamic caliphate at Baghdad, but he also brought the eastern Persian territories under his firm control (he is seen here with his wife)

1257

The Mongol general, Uriyangkhadai, demands that Trần Thái Tông of Dai Viet allows his forces passage so that they can attack the Southern Song through their weaker southern border.

The Viet ruler is not impressed by the demands, jailing three successive Mongol envoys. Uriyangkhadai invades the kingdom, defeating the native forces in two large battles over two days: at No Nguyen (today's Viet Tri on the River Hong), and at the Phu Lo bridge. The Tran nobles are forced to evacuate the capital to avoid capture.

After nine days of mopping-up operations, the Mongols head for Song territory to attack the real target while the Tran dynasty is forced to send tribute every three years to the court of the Mongol empire.

1260

The Mongol army marches on Aleppo and it quickly falls (within a week). This time most of the inhabitants are killed or sold into slavery and the Great Mosque and the defensive citadel are razed.

The citadel at Aleppo supplied Ali I with a powerful defensive position from which he hoped to expand his domains, although his seizure of Damascus proved to be short-lived

When the army arrives at Damascus the city surrenders immediately as Yusuf has already fled to Gaza. Samaria is captured, with the garrison of Nablus being put to the sword, and Gaza is taken. Yusuf is captured and killed while a prisoner.

Hulegu withdraws from Syria once he learns of Mongke's death, leaving behind a minor force. Baybars of Egypt sends a Mameluke army against this and defeats it at the Battle of Ain Jalut.

Damascus is freed five days later and within a month most of Syria is in Baybars' hands. With the political climate in the Mongol empire becoming unstable, Hulegu settles in Persia as the first independent ruler of the Il-Khanate.

At Karakorum, there is disagreement about the choice of successor. The two claimants, Kublai Khan and Ariq-Boke, engage in a Mongol Civil War which lasts four years. During this period, Hulegu's slaughter of so many thousands of Muslims at Baghdad has enraged Berke Khan of the Blue Horde.

The coins pictured here are typical of those which were issued by the Mameluke Burjis in Egypt during a little over a century of rule, although their control was far from certain and extended barely beyond Egypt itself at times

War also erupts between these two, with the side-effect that Berke is forced to cancel a planned invasion of Europe. Alughu is appointed to take control of the Chaghatayid khanate by Ariq-Boke, deposing Orqina Khatun in the process. He also takes advantage of the unstable situation by revolting against Ariq-Boke's rule of the west and gaining the allegiance of the governors of Transoxiana.

1260 - 1294

Brother. Born 1215. 'Great Khan'. Shih Tsu in China in 1280.

1260 - 1264

Brother. Rival great khan in Karakorum. Defeated. Died 1266.

1260 - 1264

The Mongol empire is engulfed in its two simultaneous civil wars: Hulegu and Berke in the west, and Kublai and Ariq-Boke in the east. Both Kublai and Ariq-Boke are elected great khan in 1260 at two separate khuriltai, with Kublai basing himself in China and Ariq-Boke at Karakorum.

When Kublai is victorious in 1264, he retains China as his main base, implying (or perhaps establishing) China as the most important Mongol possession. When Ariq-Boke dies just two years later, in 1266, his side of the struggle is continued by Kaidu of Mughulistan, grandson of Ogedei Khan.

Kublai Khan gradually conquered the various regions of medieval China to establish a separate Mongol dynasty there known as the Yuan, although he remained the figurative head of the Mongol empire

1267 - 1279

The Southern Song are conquered, and with that the great khans concentrate their rule almost entirely on China itself (from this point the list of Mongol great khans is repeated under the Chinese Yuan dynasty, and see feature link).

The Mongol dynasty is christened Yuan by Kublai Khan in 1279, from which time he is emperor of the Chinese and great khan of the Mongols.

1279

However, effective control of a single Mongol empire has ended, with each of the main ulus (inheritances) now being ruled independently, albeit with nominal control being exercised by the great Kublai during his lifetime.

1274

The first Mongol invasion of Japan is defeated through bad weather conditions, with the outnumbered Japanese facing superior and much more modern forces. The defeat is an unexpected one for the otherwise near-universally victorious Mongols.

This illustration of the first Mongol attempt to invade Japan shows the Mongol fleet being smashed to pieces by the 'divine wind' that saved the Japanese - the equivalent to the contrary winds which prevented Napoleon Bonaparte from crossing the English Channel

1277 - 1278

Burma is invaded, and a puppet government is installed there. While it is a victory, it is far from the total conquest and domination which previous great khans would have expected.

1281

The second Mongol invasion of Japan is again defeated through bad weather conditions. The Mongols suffer around seventy-five per cent casualties and a clear limit is set on their expansion in Asia. Japan praises the kamikaze, or 'divine wind', which has twice saved it from invasion.

1284 - 1288

The second Mongol invasion of Dai Viet begins under the command of Toghan, a son of Kublai Khan and a general of his newly-formed Yuan dynasty. They advance simultaneously from the north (the main force) and south (through Champa). The Dai Viet wisely defend and retreat, rarely engaging in heavy combat until circumstances favour them.

Those circumstances turn so that the southern Mongol force is defeated in pitched battle in April 1285, while the northern force is persuaded through gifts (including the provision of a spare princess) to hold off.

The third Mongol invasion starts in 1287. This time the battle-hardened Dai Viet are ready. The invasion is decisively defeated in 1288 and Mongol ambitions for southern expansion are extinguished.

Initial Mongol interest in Dai Viet seemed purely designed to be able to use it as a conduit for troops to outflank the Southern Song, but following their fall in 1279, invasion and permanent occupation was on the cards

1294

With the death of Kublai Khan the Yuan dynasty survives under his successor, but the Mongol empire effectively ceases to exist. There are no further khakhans (great khans), and command of the empire's territory is now permanently divided into four distinct and fully independent kingdoms.

1294

The most prestigious kingdom is that of the Yuan Mongols in China, whose territory incorporates Mongolia and much of southern Siberia. They also govern Tibet through the institution of the Xuanzheng Yuan, and keep Korea as a tributary state.

The three Central Asian collectives are the Golden Horde (which at this time is made up of the Blue Horde and White Horde), the Il-Khanate, and those Mongols who dominate the eponymous Mughulistan.