Fragmentation of the Mongol Empire and Yuan rule

Mongol Empire and its fragmentation

The establishment of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) by Kublai Khan accelerated the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire. The Mongol Empire fractured into four khanates including the Yuan dynasty in China and Mongolia, and the three western khanates, i.e. the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate and the Ilkhanate, although later Yuan emperors were seen as the nominal suzerains of the western khanates.

Official pass with 'Phags-pa script

The transition of the capital of the Mongol Empire from Karakorum to Khanbaliq (Dadu, modern-day Beijing) by Kublai Khan in 1264 was opposed by many Mongols. Thus, Ariq Böke's struggle was for keeping the center of the Empire in Mongolia homeland. After Ariq Böke's death, the struggle was continued by Kaidu, a grandson of Ogedei Khan and de facto ruler of the Chagatai Khanate until 1301 as well as lord Nayan in 1287, although the Mongolian steppe was controlled by Kublai Khan and his successors after the Toluid Civil War.

Kublai invited lama Drogön Chögyal Phagpa of Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism to spread Buddhism throughout his realm (the second introduction of Buddhism among the Mongols). Buddhism became the de facto state religion of the Mongol Yuan state. In 1269, Kublai Khan commissioned Phagpa lama to design a new writing system to unify the writing systems of the multilingual empire. The 'Phags-pa script, also known as the "Square script", was based on the Tibetan script and written vertically from top was designed to write in Mongolian, Tibetan, Chinese, Uighur and Sanskrit languages and served as the official script of the empire.

Kublai Khan announced the establishment of the Yuan dynasty in 1271. The Yuan dynasty included Mongolia homeland, the territories of the former Jin and Song dynasties and some adjacent territories such as a major part of southern Siberia. Kublai established a government with institutions resembling the ones in earlier Chinese dynasties such as the Zhongshu Sheng to lead the civil administration in the Yuan realm, yet at the same time introduced a hierarchy of reliability by dividing the subjects of the Yuan dynasty into 4 ranks. The highest rank included the Mongols, the second rank included the peoples to the west of Mongolia, the third rank included the subjects of the former Jin dynasty such as Northern Chinese, the Khitans and Jurchens, and the lowest rank comprised the subjects of the former Song dynasty such as the Han ethnic group in South China.

The division of the Mongol Empire, c. 1300, showing the khanates of the Golden Horde (yellow), the Chagatai Khanate (gray), the Yuan dynasty (green) and the Ilkhanate (purple).

As for Mongolia itself, since the Mongolian Plateau is where the ruling Mongols of the Yuan dynasty came from, it enjoyed a somewhat special status during the Mongol Yuan dynasty, although the capital of the dynasty had been moved from Karakorum to Khanbaliq (modern Beijing) since the beginning of Kublai Khan's reign, and Mongolia had been turned into a province known as the Lingbei Branch Secretariat by the early 14th century. After the capture of the Yuan capital by the Ming dynasty founded by Han Chinese in 1368, the last Yuan emperor Toghon Temür fled north to Shangdu, then to Yingchang and died there in 1370. The Mongols under his son and successor Biligtü Khan Ayushiridara retreated to the Mongolian steppe and fought against the Ming. Mongolia homeland became the ruling center of the Northern Yuan dynasty which would last until the 17th century.

Mongol Empire and Pax Mongolica

The frontiers of the Mongol Empire on the background of the modern political map and the territories presently populated by Mongols

The 1228 Congress of nobility known as Kurultai enthroned Ogedei, who had been nominated by Genghis Khan. Ogedei Khan made Karakorum on the river Orkhon the capital of the Mongol Empire. Karakorum had been a military garrison of Genghis Khan since 1220. The existence of 12 Buddhist temples, 2 Muslim mosques and 1 Christian church in city Karakorum indicates the tolerance of the Mongols to all religions. The construction of the city was supervised by Otchigin, the youngest brother of Genghis Khan. Ogedei Khan established an effective postal yam system with well-organized posts (‘’örtege’’). The system connected the various regions of the whole Empire. Ogedei Khan settled down the rebellions in the countries conquered during his father and led an army himself to put down a revolt in Korea.

Silver Tree of Karakorum (modern time imitation)

Ogedei Khan completed the conquest of the Jin dynasty in 1231–1234. He sent princes headed by Batu, son of Zuchi, to the west, and they conquered the Bulgar kingdom on the Volga river and 14 principalities of Rus in 1236–1240, invaded the principalities of Poland, the kingdom of Kingdom of Hungary, Moravia (then part of the Holy Roman Empire), and the area of Moldavia in 1241–1242 and approached the Adriatic sea.

After his 16-year reign, Ogedei Khan died in 1241 under suspicious circumstances. A rivalry for the throne began between the faction of the houses of Zuchi and Tului on one side and the faction of the houses of Chagatai and Ogedei on the other side. The Kuriltai of 1246 elected Guyug, son of Ogedei, as Great Khan. Guyug Khan died in 1248.

The traveller from Italy Giovanni da Pian del Carpine arrived in 1246 and later he wrote the book Historia Mongolorum quos nos Tartaros appellamus. The faction of Zuchi-Tului houses won the Kuriltai of 1251 electing Mönghe, son of Tului, as Great Khan. Mönghe Khan sent his cousin Hulagu to conquer Iran. Hulagu completed the conquest of Iran in 1256 and conquered Baghdad, Caucasus and Syria in 1257–1259. Willem van Ruysbroeck of Flanders arrived in 1254 and later wrote his account Itinerarium fratris Willielmi de Rubruquis de ordine fratrum Minorum, Galli, Anno gratia 1253 ad partes Orientales.

Mönghe Khan died in 1259, without leaving behind a son. The Kuriltai of 1260 elected Ariq Böke, a younger brother of Mönghe Khan, as Great Khan. The same year, Ariq Böke's elder brother Kublai, who was warring in China to conquer the Song Dynasty, elevated himself into Great Khan in city Shangdu (or known as Kaiping). The Toluid Civil War was fought between the two brothers from 1261 to 1264 until Ariq Böke surrendered.

The Mongol Empire had an establishing effect on the social, cultural and economic life of the inhabitants of the vast Eurasian territory in the 13th and 14th centuries. It enabled exchange of knowledge, inventions and culture between the West and East. This epoch is called Pax Mongolica.

In Mongolia, the legacy of Genghis Khan was a superior law code, a written language, and a historical pride.

Formation of the Mongol Empire

Genghis Khan's conquest

Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire and the states that emerged from it played a major role in the history of the 13th and 14th centuries. Genghis Khan and his immediate successors conquered nearly all of Asia and European Russia and sent armies as far as central Europe and Southeast Asia.

Genghis Khan abolished the organization of the former tribes and confederations and reformed the country into 95 mingats. In this system, a group of households large enough to mobilize ten warriors was organized into an arbatu, 10 arbatus were organized into a zagutu (100 warriors), 10 zagutus constituted a mingat (1,000 warriors) and 10 mingats constituted a tumetu or tumen (10,000 warriors). This decimal system was a long-tested system that had been inherited from the period of the Xiongnu. With an assumption that each household consisted of four persons and every adult male was a warrior, it can be estimated that the entire population of Mongolia was at least 750,000 people and the nation possessed 95,000 cavalrymen.

The newly unified Great Mongol State became an attractive force for many neighbouring peoples and kingdoms. Beginning from 1207, the Uighur state, Taiga people of the river Yenisey and the Karluk kingdom joined Mongolia. The urgent task of Genghis Khan was strengthening the independence of his young nation. For a century, the southeastern neighbour Jin dynasty had been provoking the Mongolic tribes against one another in order to eventually subjugate them. With a purpose of testing the military strength of his state and preparing for a struggle against the Jin dynasty, Genghis Khan conquered the Tangut empire Xi-Xia, which pledged vassalage.

In the year, Mongolia, with over 90,000 cavalrymen, started a war with the Jin dynasty which had a multi-million population. At this stage, the Mongols passed over the Great Wall, invaded Shanxi and Shandong provinces, and approached the river Yellow River. The "Altan (Golden) Khaan" (Jin Emperor) surrendered in 1214 and gave Genghis Khan his princess and tribute of gold and silver to his warlords. Genghis Khan gave out to his warriors the tribute of the Jin Emperor loaded on 3000 horses. However, the Jin dynasty continued hostility against Mongolia, hence Genghis Khan ordered his warlord Guo Wang Mukhulai of the Jalair clan to complete the conquest of the Jin dynasty and returned to Mongolia.

Later, the warlord Jebe of Besud clan defeated Kuchulug who had become the Gur-Khan of Qara Khitai. His power was weak as he, a Buddhist, persecuted the indigenous Muslim population.

Genghis Khan intended to develop friendly relations with the Khwarezm Empire, which was on a junction of the trade routes connecting the East and the West and dominated Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan. Genghis Khan considered himself a supreme ruler of the East and Khwarezm Shah a supreme ruler of the West. Khwarezm Shah had an opposite view that there should be only one ruler on earth as there is only one sun in the sky.

The execution of 450 envoys and tradesmen of Genghis Khan by Khwarezm Shah 1218 was an announcement of war. The Mongol troops invaded Khwarezm Empire in 1219. Although Khwarezm Shah possessed an army outnumbering the Mongol troops dozen of times, he lacked the courage and initiatives to unite his forces and fight back.^{[citation needed]} The Mongol troops sacked cities Otrar, Buhara, Merv and Samarkand. Shah's warlord Temur-Melik led a daring resistance when the Mongol troops besieged city of Khujand. Shah's son Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu courageously battled with the Mongol army in 1221, but was defeated and escaped to the river Ind.

Pursuing Khwarezm Shah in 1220, the scout groups of warlords Jebe and Subedei bagathur of Uriankhai clan conquered northern Iran. They invaded Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia in 1221 and entered the territories of the Kipchak Khanate in Crimea and grasslands of the northern Black Sea. The Kipchaks allied with the troops of the principalities of Rus gave battle to the 30,000 cavalrymen of Jebe and Subedei on the river Kalka in May 1223, but were defeated and were chased up to the river Dnieper.

The Tangut kingdom denied its obligation as a vassal state to take part in the western campaign of Genghis Khan. Shortly after returning to Mongolia, the Mongol army invaded the Tangut state in 1226 and conquered the capital Zhongxing (中兴府), located in modern Yinchuan. The Tangut kingdom completely surrendered in March 1227.

Mongolic Khitans and Tuyuhuns or Monguor people (1227) came under rule of the Mongol Empire after conquest of the Tanghut's Western Xia and Tungusic Jin Empires. The Qara Khitai was conquered by the Mongols under Genghis Khan in 1218.

The 16-year conquests of Genghis Khan resulted in the formation of the Mongol Empire. He died on 16 August 1227 and was buried at site Ihe Ötög on the southern slopes of the Khentii mountain range.

Consolidation of the Mongol state

Geoglyph portrait of Chinggis Khaan on Mt. Bogd Khan

Temujin (1162–1227) defeated and subjugated the "Three Mergids" in 1189 with the support of Tooril Khan of Kereit, the blood brother of his father. Another ally who helped Temujin in this venture was his own blood brother Jamukha of Jadaran clan. The Mergids had attacked the home of Temujin and captured his wife Börte of Hongirad tribe revenging for a much earlier event in which Temujin's father Yesukhei deprived a Mergid chief Chiledu his bride Hoelun of Olkhunut tribe, who became the mother of Temujin. The striving of Temujin to free his wife became a reason for the campaign against the Mergids. After the defeat of the Mergid, the reputation of Temujin rose rapidly and the leading members of the Khamag Mongol aristocracy enthroned him with title Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan), as the ruler of Khamag Mongol. It is speculated to be an ancient form of the word "Tenggis"—ocean, sea.

A conflict of the Tatars with the Jin dynasty became a favorable opportunity for Temujin and Tooril Khan to defeat them in alliance with the Jurchens. At this point, Tooril Khan was granted the title Wang (王, Chinese for "king") by the Jin court and since then became known as Wang Khan. By the year 1201, the Taichuud and Jurkhin tribes were defeated and subjugated. Influential aristocrats of many other tribes and confederations were joining Temujin.

In 1201, a crisis ignited in the Keraite khanlig, in which the siblings of Tooril Wang Khan allied with Inancha Khan of Naiman and defeated Tooril. Wang Khan regained power in his kingdom with the support of Temujin. Temujin finally defeated and subjugated the Tatars in 1202. Nilha (childish) Sengum, son of Wang Khan, envied Temujin as his power was growing and persuaded his father to battle against Temujin. This venture led to a victory of Temujin and conquest of the Kereit Khanlyk. Wang Khan escaped alone into the southern deserts of the Naiman khanlig, where he was caught by the Naiman patrols, who killed him irritated as he claimed himself as Wang Khan.

Tayan khan of Naiman and his son Kuchlug initiated a campaign against Temujin in 1204. They allied with Jamukha, who competed with Temujin for the power over the Mongolic tribes. The Naiman troops outnumbered the Temujin's troops. At night at the eve of the battle, Temujin ordered each of his warrior to light ten bonfires, thus deceiving and demoralising Tayan khan, who was a weak warlord. Temujin won the battle. Tayan khan was captured but died of his wound, Kuchlug retreated to the river Irtysh where he was overtaken by Temujin and defeated. After this battle, Kuchlug escaped to Gur-Khan of Kara-Kitai.

As the Khanlyk of Naiman was conquered, Khasar, brother of Temujin, found a dignitary named Tata Tunga, who spread the Uigur alphabet among the Mongols. This alphabet became the basis of the Classical Mongol script.

By 1206, all the tribes and confederations of Mongolian steppe had come under the leadership of Temujin. The success of Temujin in consolidation of the Mongols was due to his flexibility, his cherishing of his friends and his elaborated tactics. A congress of the Mongol aristocrats on the river Onon in 1206 enthroned Temujin as Chingis Khaan (Genghis Khan) as Emperor of all Mongolia.

Formation of the Mongol Empire

Confederations and khanates in the 12th century

Statue of Temujin in Dadal sum, Khentii the region of his birth

12th century Mongolia was characterized by rivalry between many tribes and confederations (khanligs or khanate). A confederation of tribes under the name Mongol was known from the 8th century. Some Shiwei tribes, though little is known, have been considered the ancestors of the Mongols according to ancient Chinese records. Term "Shiwei" was an umbrella term of the Mongolic and Tungusic peoples in the 6th to 12th centuries. During the 5th century, they occupied the area east of the Greater Khingan Range, what is the Hulunbuir, Argun (Ergune), Nen (Noon), Middle Amur, and the Zeya Watersheds. They may have been divided into five to twenty tribes. They were said to be dressed in fish skins. They may have been nomadic, staying in the marshy lowlands in the winter and the mountains during the summer. The burial was by exposure in trees. Their language is described as being similar to Manchu-Tungusic languages and Khitan. The Turkic Khaganate installed tuduns, or governors over the Shiwei and collected tribute. Other Shiwei may have stayed and become the Evenks. The Kitans conquered the Shiwei during the late 9th century. One Shiwei tribe, living near the Amur and Ergune rivers, was called the "Menggu" (Mongol).

A camp of a Mongolian tribe

The confederations of core Mongol tribes were transforming into a statehood in the early 12th century and came to be known as the Khamag Mongol confederacy. The people of Mongolia at this time were predominantly spirit worshipers, with shamans providing spiritual and religious guidance to the people and tribal leaders.

The Khamag Mongols occupied one of the most fertile areas of the country—the basins of the rivers Onon, Kherlen and Tuul in the Khentii mountains. The first known khan of Khamag Mongol is Khabul Khan from Khiyad tribe. Khabul Khan successfully repelled the invasions of Jin dynasty. He was succeeded by Ambaghai Khan from Taichuud tribe. Ambagai was captured by the Tatars while he came to deliver his daughter as a bride to the Tatar confederacy and was given to the Jurchens of Jin dynasty who cruelly executed him, nailing to a "wooden donkey". Ambagai was succeeded by Hotula Khan, son of Khabul Khan. Hotula Khan engaged in 13 battles with the Tatars endeavouring to avenge Ambagai Khan. Khamag Mongol was unable to elect a khan after Hotula died. However, Khabul's grandson Yesukhei baghatur was a major chief of Khamag Mongol.

Yesukhei was poisoned by the Tatars in 1171 when his eldest son Temujin was 9 years old. Shortly after Yesukhei died, Targudai of Taichuud moved away with the subjects of Yesukhei, leaving young Temujin, his mother and his younger siblings without support. Hence, Khamag Mongol remained in political crisis until 1189.

In the 12th century the Khamag Mongol Khanate, Tatar confederation, Keraite Khanate, Merkit confederation, Naiman Khanate were five major Mongolic tribal confederations and khanates in the Mongolian plateau.

The Tatar confederacy first appeared in recorded history in 732. The Tatars became subjects of the Khitan in the 10th century. After the fall of the Khitan empire, the Tatars experienced pressure from the Jin dynasty and were urged to fight against the other Mongol tribes. The Tatars lived on the fertile pastures around the lakes Hulun and Buir and occupied a trade route to China.

The Keraites between the mountain ranges of Khangai and Khentii were centered on the site of today's city Ulaanbaatar in the willow groves of the Tuul river. Markus was khan of the Keraites in the 12th century. Markus was succeeded by Tooril khan. In his feud with his brothers for the throne of the Keraites, he was repeatedly aided by Yesukhei Bagatur of Khamag Mongol.

The Mergid confederacy was located in the basin of the river Selenge. The Hori Tümeds and Buryats lived around the lake Baikal.

The Naiman confederacy was situated between the mountain ranges of Altai and Khangai. The Ongut tribes lived at the north of Gobi. Other tribes were Olkhunut, Bayud, Khongirad, Oirats and so forth. While most of the Mongolian tribes were Shamanists, Nestorian Christianity was practiced in a number of confederations such as Keraites and Ongut.

Khitan state (906–1125)

Liao dynasty in 1100

The Khitans were an ethnic group whose language was related to the Mongolic languages. Its ruler Ambagyan founded the Khitan Liao dynasty in 907. The Liao dynasty covered a significant portion of what is now Mongolia including the basins of the three rivers Kherlen, Tuul and Orkhon. The Khitans occupied the areas vacated by the Turkic Uyghurs bringing them under their control.

The Liao dynasty soon grew strong and occupied parts of Northern China, including the modern-day Beijing. By 925 the Khitan ruled eastern Mongolia, most of Manchuria, and much of China north of the Yellow River. By the middle of the 10th century, Khitan chieftains had established themselves as emperors of northern China; their rule was known as the Liao dynasty. The Khitan built cities and exerted dominion over their agricultural subjects as a means of consolidating their empire.

Stupa in the Khitan city Bars-Hot in Dornod, Mongolia

The territory of the empire consisted of two parts: one populated by pastoral herders in the north and the other populated by croppers in the south. The two parts of the empire actively traded with each other. Lubugu, a grandson of Ambagyan, and a scholar named Tulyubu developed a Grand Alphabet based on the Chinese hieroglyphics in 920. Later, Tela, a son of Ambagyan, developed a Minor Alphabet based on the Uyghur script. A printing technology developed in the Liao territory. The Khitan language was widely studied abroad.

A Tungusic people, the Jurchen, ancestors of the Manchu, formed an alliance with the Song dynasty and reduced the Liao dynasty to vassal status in a seven-year war (1115–1122). The Jurchen leader proclaimed himself the founder of a new era, the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). Scarcely pausing in their conquests, the Jurchen subdued neighboring Goryeo (Korea) in 1226[citation needed] and invaded the territory of their former allies, the Song, to precipitate a series of wars with China that continued through the remainder of the century. The Liao dynasty fell in 1125 and some Khitans fled west after their defeat by the Jurchens and founded the Qara Khitai (1125–1218) in present-day Xinjiang and eastern Kazakhstan with capital in Balasagun, near modern Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan. In addition, the Western Liao also controlled some highly autonomous vassalized states, such as Khwarezm, the Eastern and the Western Kara-Khanids, etc. In 1218, Genghis Khan destroyed the Qara Khitai, after which the Khitan passed into obscurity. The modern-day minority of Mongolic-speaking Daurs in China are their direct descendants based on DNA evidence^[24][25]and other Khitans assimilated into the Mongols (Southern Mongols), Turkic peoples and Han Chinese.

Medieval period

Uyghur state (744–840)

The Uyghurs, who were subjects to the Göktürks, revolted in 745 and founded the Uyghur Khaganate which replaced the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. The Uyghur kagan Bayanchur established Ordu-Baliq City on the Orkhon river in 751. The Tang Empire invited the Uyghurs to subdue the An Lushan rebellion in 755. Successful campaigns of the Uyghur Khaganate led to a peace with the Tang dynasty of China which paid compensation for the suppression of An in silk and grain for 12 years after 766.^[23] Though a faction of the Uyghurs were Buddhists, the Manichaeism became the official religion of the Khaganate in the 8th century. Nevertheless, the majority of the Uyghurs remained shamanists. The culture and economy of the Uyghur Kaganate were more advanced than those of its predecessors. The Uyghurs used a 12-month calendar and calculated the dates of solar and lunar eclipses. The Uyghurs developed their own writing system based on the Sogdian script. The Tang dynasty surreptitiously encouraged the Yenisei Kirghiz and the Karluks to attack the Uyghurs and the Uyghur Khaganate fell under an invasion of the Yenisei Kirghiz in 840.

The destruction of Uyghur Khaganate by Yenisei Kirghizes resulted in the end of Turkic dominance in Mongolia. According to historians, Kirghiz were not interested in assimilating newly acquired lands. The Kirghiz state was centered on Khakassia.