URTUULY

c. 1279

The Empire at its Greatest Extent · Эзэнт гүрний оргил

From 1260 the empire divided into the Yuan, the Golden Horde, the Ilkhanate and the Chagatai ulus. In 1279 Kublai extinguished the Song, and the combined Chinggisid realms peaked at ~24M km² by the early 14th century. A 1304 peace made Yuan supremacy nominal; the four khanates were functionally independent states.

The Song fell in 1279. By Taagepera's count the combined area was 22M km² at 1280, 23.5M at 1294 and at most 24M at 1309, the last formal reunification. The peak is a span, 1279–1310, not a year.

The popular '24M km² in 1279' conflates Taagepera's actual table: ~22M at 1280, ~23.5M at 1294, maximum ~24M at 1309.

This period has a page and its sources; the scroll-through chapter is not written yet.

Events

The Toluid Civil War Заавар, эх сурвалж биш

1260–1264

Kublai and Ariq Böke were proclaimed great khan within weeks of each other in 1260; after four years Ariq Böke submitted. The unified empire was over.

The Yuan proclaimed Заавар, эх сурвалж биш

1271

Kublai named his state the Yuan (Zhongdu, today's Beijing, was made the capital in 1264; the new city begun beside it in 1267 was named Dadu, or Khanbaliq, in 1272), taking the form of a Chinese imperial dynasty.

The Song extinguished: the territorial peak

1279 · the sources disagree about this

The battle of Yamen ended the Southern Song; all China came under the Yuan. The combined Chinggisid realms measured ~22M km² at 1280, peaking near ~24M km² by 1309.

The common '24M km² at 1279' conflates Taagepera's 1280/1294/1309 values.

The Japan invasions fail Заавар, эх сурвалж биш

1281

The 1274 landing was abandoned and the great fleet of 1281 was destroyed by a typhoon, the kamikaze; whether a storm also ended the first invasion is disputed. The limits of expansion were reached.

The inter-khanate peace Заавар, эх сурвалж биш

1304

The 1304 treaty established nominal Yuan supremacy over the western khanates; in practice all four were sovereign.

The Yuan driven from China Заавар, эх сурвалж биш

1368

Ming forces took Dadu (Khanbaliq); Toghon Temür fled north: the start of the Northern Yuan. The Ilkhanate had disintegrated after 1335; the Golden Horde fragmented in the 15th century; the last Chagatayid khan, of Yarkent, was deposed in 1705.

People

  • Kublai Khan 1215–1294 — Founder of the Yuan Заавар, эх сурвалж биш
  • Ariq Böke d. 1266 — Great khan proclaimed at Karakorum Заавар, эх сурвалж биш
  • Toghon Temür 1320–1370 — Last Yuan emperor in China Заавар, эх сурвалж биш

Sources