History › Middle ages
Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)
1206 (Genghis Khan proclaimed) – 1368· Empire, kingdom or state· Asia
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
The largest connected land empire in history, built by Genghis Khan and his heirs across Asia and into Europe in the 1200s.
See it on the History map →What happened
In 1206 Temüjin united the steppe tribes and was proclaimed Genghis Khan. Mongol horse archers, organized in units of ten up to ten thousand, took northern China, Central Asia, Persia and Russia, and reached Poland and Hungary in 1241. His grandson Kublai finished conquering Song China in 1279. By then the empire had split into four khanates. Its relay-post system and protection of merchants opened trade across Eurasia, but its conquests killed millions.
Why it matters
It linked East and West as never before, moving goods, ideas, technology and disease across Eurasia, and redrew the map of China, Russia and the Middle East.
How we know
The Secret History of the Mongols; Persian histories like Rashid al-Din's; Chinese, Russian and Arabic chronicles; travelers like Marco Polo and William of Rubruck.
Still debated
Death tolls are very uncertain, with estimates in the tens of millions; why the Mongols turned back from central Europe in 1242 is also debated.
Inside this (4)
Connections (8)
▸Great Wall of China failed to keep out Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)Mostly agreed
The connection
When Genghis Khan attacked the Jin dynasty of northern China in 1211, its frontier walls and ditches did not stop him. Some border peoples paid to guard them, such as the Ongud, had already sided with the Mongols, and Mongol armies forced or bypassed the passes. The wall standing then was not today's Ming wall.
When and how
Northern China, 1211–1215, when Genghis Khan's armies broke through and took the Jin capital Zhongdu, today's Beijing.
How sure are we?
Chinese and Persian histories of the campaign; archaeology of the Jin-era border walls, a separate line from the later Ming wall.
Debates and open questions
Historians debate what walls were really for: stopping armies, slowing raids, or controlling trade and people at the border.
▸Song dynasty was conquered by Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)Well documented
The connection
Song China held out against the Mongols for over 40 years with walled cities, river fleets and gunpowder weapons. Kublai Khan, who proclaimed the Yuan dynasty in 1271, took the twin cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng in 1273 using Persian siege engineers, then the capital Hangzhou in 1276. The last Song loyalists died at sea off Yamen in 1279.
When and how
Central and southern China, 1235–1279; Kublai Khan against the Song court; the final naval battle off Yamen, in today's Guangdong.
How we know
The Yuan History and Song records; Rashid al-Din's Persian account of the counterweight catapults used at Xiangyang.
Debates and open questions
Casualty figures are uncertain and estimates vary widely; historians also debate how much court politics weakened Song resistance.
▸Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan) unified the trade routes that spread the Black DeathMostly agreed
The connection
By uniting most of Eurasia, the Mongols made long-distance travel safer and busier, so goods, people, rats and fleas moved farther and faster. In 1346 an army of the Golden Horde, a Mongol successor state, besieged the Genoese port of Caffa in Crimea while plague raged in its camp. Ships leaving Caffa helped carry it to the Mediterranean.
When and how
The Mongol trade network across Central Asia, 1330s–1340s; the siege of Caffa in 1346 by Jani Beg, khan of the Golden Horde.
How sure are we?
Ancient DNA tracing the plague strain to Central Asia; Gabriele de' Mussi's account of Caffa; chronicles showing plague following trade routes.
Debates and open questions
De' Mussi's story that the Mongols catapulted corpses into Caffa is famous but unconfirmed; he was not there, and rats could explain the spread.
▸Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan) dealt a heavy blow to Islamic Golden Age (Baghdad's House of Wisdom)Well documented
The connection
In 1258 Hulagu, Genghis Khan's grandson, sacked Baghdad, killed the last Abbasid caliph and massacred much of the population; estimates of the dead vary widely, from about 90,000 to several hundred thousand. Libraries were destroyed. Earlier Mongol campaigns had already ruined great Central Asian and Persian cities such as Merv and Nishapur.
When and how
Baghdad, February 1258, under Hulagu Khan; earlier, Khwarazm and Khorasan in 1219–1223 under Genghis Khan.
How we know
Persian historians like Juvayni and Rashid al-Din, who served the Mongols; Arabic chronicles; archaeology at ruined cities like Merv.
Debates and open questions
Whether 1258 truly ended the Golden Age is debated: Hulagu himself funded the great Maragha observatory under Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, and learning continued in Cairo and Persia.
▸Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan) was expelled from China by Ming dynastyWell documented
The connection
Mongol Yuan rule in China weakened in the 1300s through famines, Yellow River floods, runaway paper-money inflation and succession fights. Rebel armies such as the Red Turbans rose up. One rebel leader, Zhu Yuanzhang, founded the Ming and took the Yuan capital Dadu (Beijing) in 1368. The Mongols fled to the steppe, where they remained a threat.
When and how
China, 1351–1368; Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor, took Dadu in 1368, and the last Yuan emperor fled north to Mongolia.
How we know
The Yuan History compiled under the Ming; Ming court records; Korean records, since Goryeo watched the change closely.
Debates and open questions
How much resentment of foreign Mongol rule, versus economic collapse and natural disasters, drove the revolt is debated.
▸Mughal Empire claimed descent from the rulers of Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)Well documented
The connection
Babur descended from Timur (Tamerlane) on his father's side and from Genghis Khan through his mother. The dynasty called itself Gurkani, after Timur's title 'royal son-in-law' of Genghis's line; 'Mughal' is simply Persian for Mongol. The lineage gave prestige and legitimacy, though the Mughals spoke Turkic and Persian and saw themselves mainly as Timurids.
When and how
Central Asia and India, 1500s; Babur, born in 1483 in the Fergana Valley, ruled Kabul before invading India.
How we know
Babur's memoir and Mughal genealogies trace both lines; historians accept his descent from Timur and Genghis Khan.
Debates and open questions
How much Mongol traditions, rather than Persian and Indian ones, actually shaped Mughal government is debated.
▸Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan) failed twice to invade Kamakura shogunate: Japan's first samurai governmentWell documented
The connection
After Japan refused Kublai Khan's demand for submission, Mongol, Chinese and Korean forces invaded Kyushu in 1274 and, with a far larger fleet, in 1281. Samurai held the beaches and a defensive wall at Hakata Bay, and storms wrecked much of the fleet, at least in 1281. Japanese later called these winds kamikaze, 'divine winds'.
When and how
Hakata Bay, northern Kyushu, 1274 and 1281; the Kamakura regent Hōjō Tokimune led Japan's defense; Korea's Goryeo kingdom was forced to build many of the ships.
How we know
Japanese records and the illustrated scrolls of the samurai Takezaki Suenaga; wrecked Mongol ships found off Takashima island since the 1980s.
Debates and open questions
How much storms, versus samurai resistance, decided the outcome is debated; the cost of defense also weakened the shogunate, which fell in 1333.
▸Tsarist Russia and the Russian Empire rose from princedoms long ruled by the Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)Well documented
The connection
Mongol armies conquered the Rus' princedoms, including Kyiv, in 1237–1240. Through the Golden Horde, a Mongol successor state, they took tribute for about 240 years. Moscow's princes rose by collecting that tribute for the khans; Ivan III stopped paying in 1480. Russia later conquered the Horde's successor khanates and kept some Mongol practices in taxation, postal relays and diplomacy.
When and how
Today's Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, 1237–1480; Batu Khan, the Golden Horde's capital at Sarai, and Moscow's princes from Ivan I to Ivan III.
How we know
Russian chronicles, Mongol and Persian sources, tribute records, and Russian words borrowed from Turkic-Mongol languages, such as dengi, 'money'.
Debates and open questions
Historians debate the 'Tatar yoke': whether Mongol rule made Russia autocratic and isolated, or whether its influence has been exaggerated.