Kublai Khan
Also called: Qubilai Khan · Topic: Nomadic Empires: The Mongols · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
Qubilai (Kublai) Khan was a grandson of Genghis Khan from the Toluyid line. He became Grand Khan in Peking in 1260. After this the empire broke up into independent family lines. Under him the Mongols conquered all of China by 1279, and his line ruled it as the Yuan dynasty. He matters because he shows how Mongol rulers changed from raiders into rulers of farming societies.
Example
In the 1230s some Mongols wanted to kill the peasants of north China and turn their fields into pasture for animals. By the 1270s Qubilai Khan presented himself as the protector of peasants and cities instead.
Don't confuse with
- Genghis Khan: Qubilai's grandfather. He founded the empire and was proclaimed Great Khan in 1206.
- Hulegu: Qubilai's brother, who ruled Iran, not China.
Related concepts
- Hulegu
- Sack of Baghdad
- Abbasid caliphate
- Il-Khanate
- Battle of Ain Jalut 1260
- Ulus
- Golden Horde
- Karakorum
- Yuan dynasty