Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan or Khubilai Khan (1215-1294), Mongol military leader, was Khan (1260-1294) of the Mongol Empire and founder and first Emperor (1279-1294) of the Yuan Dynasty.
Born the second son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki and grandson of Genghis Khan, he succeeded his brother Möngke in 1260 as ruler of the Mongol Empire. Kublai Khan's brother was Hulagu, the conqueror of Persia and founder of the Ilkhanate.
The empire was separated into four khanates, each ruled by a separate khan and overseen by the Great Khan. The Kipchak Khanate (also called the Golden Horde) ruled Russia; the Ilkhanate ruled the Middle East, the Chagatai Khanate ruled over western Asia, and the Great Khanate controlled Mongolia and eventually China. The empire reached its greatest extent under Kublai with his conquest of China, completed with the final defeat of the Song Dynasty in 1279. He ruled well, promoting economic growth with the rebuilding of the Grand Canal, repairing public buildings, extending highways and introducing paper currency. He encouraged Chinese arts and demonstrated religious tolerance, except to Taoism. His capital was at Beijing (then Cambuluc or Dadu 大都 lit. big capital). The empire was visited by several Europeans, notably Marco Polo in the 1270s who may have seen the summer capital in Shangdu (上都 lit. upper capital or Xanadu?).
He conquered Dali (Yunnan) and Goryeo (Korea). Under pressure from his Mongolian advisors Kublai attempted to conquer Japan, Myanmar and Vietnam. All those attempts failed and the cost of these expeditions and the paper currency he created caused inflation.
Kublai Khan in fiction
