Kublai Khan
1215 – 1294 Mongol Great Khan of the Mongols, founder of the Yuan dynasty
Grandson of Genghis Khan who completed the Mongol conquest of China and founded the Yuan dynasty.
- Affiliations
- Mongol Empire, Yuan dynasty
Kublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, became Great Khan and completed the long Mongol conquest of China by destroying the Southern Song in 1279. He founded the Yuan dynasty and moved the capital to Dadu, on the site of modern Beijing, ruling as a Chinese-style emperor while keeping Mongols and other foreigners in top positions above the Han majority. His court welcomed foreign travellers, and the account by Marco Polo spread its fame to Europe. His costly failed invasions of Japan and Southeast Asia, and heavy spending, strained the empire he built.
Connections
- family of Genghis Khan — Grandfather of Kublai Khan.
- family of Genghis Khan — Grandson of Genghis Khan.
In the timeline
- 1200 – 1299 Marco Polo in Kublai Khan's China central figure
- 1211 Mongol invasions of China begin the khan who completed the conquest
- 1260 Yuan dynasty paper currency mentioned
- 1271 Kublai Khan founds the Yuan dynasty the founding emperor
- 1274 – 1281 Mongol Invasions of Japan mentioned
- 1275 Marco Polo in China the emperor at whose court Polo served
- 1279 Fall of the Southern Song the conqueror
- 1279 Kublai Khan conquers Song southern China central figure