Kublai Khan was the fourth son of Tolui, and his second son with Sorghaghtani Beki. As his grandfather Genghis Khan advised, Sorghaghtani chose a Buddhist Tangut woman as her son's nurse, whom Kublai later honored … See more

Kublai received a message from his wife that his younger brother Ariq Böke had been raising troops, so he returned north to the Mongolian Plateau. Before he arrived, he learned that Ariq Böke had held a kurultai (Mongol great council) at the capital See more

Although Kublai restricted the functions of the kheshig, he created a new imperial bodyguard, at first entirely ethnic Han in composition but later strengthened with Kipchak, Alan (Asud), and Russian units. Once his own kheshig was organized in 1263, Kublai put … See more

During the conquest of the Jin dynasty, Genghis Khan's younger brothers received large appanages in Manchuria. Their descendants strongly supported Kublai's coronation in 1260, but the younger generation desired more independence. Kublai enforced … See more

In 1251, Kublai's eldest brother Möngke became Khan of the Mongol Empire, and Khwarizmian Mahmud Yalavach and Kublai were sent to China proper. Kublai received the See more

Great Khan of the Mongols
The mysterious deaths of three Jochid princes in Hulagu's service, the Siege of Baghdad (1258), and unequal distribution of war spoils strained the Ilkhanate's relations with the Golden Horde. In 1262, Hulagu's complete … See more

After Kublai Khan was proclaimed Khagan at his residence in Shangdu on 5 May 1260, he began to organize the country. Zhang Wenqian, a … See more