The Khans

     In the Mongol Empire, there were five important Khans that ruled in the 13th century. These five men shaped and sculpted the empire into possibly the most powerful military force in the world. These five men were Genghis, Ogedei, Guyuk, Mongke, and Kublai Khan.

     Genghis Khan was born in 1167 under the name of Temujin. His father, Yesugei, was a descendant of the khan from the old Mongol empire and he was also the chief of the Kiyat clan. After the death of Temujin’s father, Temujin was to be his heir. But due to his age, the members of Kiyat selected their own leader, ousting Temujin and his family. They were forced to live in the mountains and left for dead. During this time, Temujin and his family lived on a very limited diet of insects and berries. They also encountered many clans as well. For instance, Temujin was captured by the Tayichi’uts but spared his life and, another time, the Merkids, kidnapped Temujin’s wife at the age of 16.(1) Temujin sought revenge with the help of Jamuqa, one of the coalition leaders of the Mongols. With Jamuqa’s help, Temujin defeated the Merkids and was reunited with his wife.(2) After the defeat of the Merkids, Temujin began to become more power hungry as the two groups defeated more and more clans. He later broke his ties with Jamuqa and was soon defeated by Jamuqa’s clan, resulting in being exiled once again and not returning for another ten years. But once Temujin had returned, he regained control and took over clans all over Mongolia, including Jamuqa’s. Temujin eventually reunites all the Mongol tribes under his rule in the year of 1206. His dream to conquer the world would soon come into effect. (Conquests Page)

     Genghis Khan’s rule came to an end with his death in the year of 1227. However, his legacy would continue on with the rule of Ogedei in 1229, his third son. Through Ogedei’s rule, the expansion of the Mongol empire continued. A major conquest during this time was the defeat of the Jin Dynasty in 1234. Genghis’ goal was to defeat the Jin Empire but was unable to. Ogedei also rebuilt Karakorum and used it as the capital for the Mongol empire.(3) During Genghi’s reign, Karakorum was used as a military base camp. When Ogedei was appointed to be the next Khan, the other sons of Genghis Khan benefited as well. His second son Chaghatai was given the land of Central Asia and his youngest son, Tolui, received land in their home territory, Mongolia. Ogedei not only conquered the Jin Dynasty, he also took control of Persia, Korea, Poland, Hungary, and most of Russia with the help of Batu Khan and Subedei. He died in 1241 of alcoholism.

     The next person to succeed Ogedei was Guyuk, a short lived khan. His reign only lasted three years, from 1246 to 1249. The reason there was a gap from Ogedei’s death in 1241 till Guyuk was elected in 1246 was because various other princes stalled the process of selecting the khan in hopes of being picked themselves.(4) Batu, who fought under Ogedei, was among them. Eventually, conflicts arose between Batu and Guyuk. Guyuk then began to believe that Batu and his high officials were conspiring against him and possibly starting up a coup. Guyuk executed his high officials and called for Batu’s arrest in 1249. But before any arrest could be made, Guyuk died in 1249.

      Mongke succeeded Guyuk in 1251. Originally, Batu was the favorite in being elected the next khan, but Batu declined and elected Mongke instead. Much like Genghis Khan, Mongke wanted to gain control of the world. His passion for military control was very similar in the ways Genghis had done it during his reign. The main agenda that Mongke wanted to deal with was the campaign in China. He wanted to take over the Song Dynasty and was doing a successful job at that. Mongke’s forces pillaged through China and went as south as the northern part of Vietnam. Unfortunately, before the China campaign could be finished, Mongke died in 1259.

     In 1260, Kublai, Mongke’s brother, came into power. However, Kublai’s come to power came with it some problems of its own. Arik Buka, Kublai’s younger brother, opposed Kublai’s election as khan. A four year civil war broke out between the two groups in 1261 and Kublai came out victorious.(5) One of the greatest achievements of Kublai Khan was the defeat of the Song Dynasty in 1279. The defeat of the Song Dynasty paved way for Kublai’s new dynasty in China, the Yuan Dynasty. After the development of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai decided to move the capital to the city of Peking (current day Beijing). Kublai was successful in ruling China not because he was ruthless, but quite the opposite. He was a realistic person, knowing well enough that taking over more cities would result in a control conflict. So Kublai did not have the same mindset that his predecessors had. Kublai was also smart about the take over of China since he knew the importance of leaving a minimum amount of destruction and preserving cities and land. This act led the Southern Chinese peasants to show loyalty towards their new leader, or the “Yuan”, as Kublai had self appointed himself as. Kublai Khan died in 1294.

 

Military Generals

     The Khans themselves were great military leaders but without the aid of the military generals of the Mongol army, the success of the mighty Mongol empire would not be nearly as strong. Two military generals have proven themselves to be worthy of their existence, Batu Khan and Subedei.

      Batu Khan was the famous general in charge of the Golden Horde. Batu was the grandson of Genghis Khan and received many traits of the great leader. He was an excellent strategist and tactician and led the way in the invasion of Europe alongside another great general, Subedei. Batu also used the city of Saray as the seat of power for the Golden Horde. During Batu’s invasion of Europe, the death of Ogedei caused the invasion to halt because Batu did not want Guyuk to become the next Khan. (Explained above) Batu died in 1255 but the Golden Horde would live on under his son and his grandson.

     Subedei was the other great general, often fighting and collaborating alongside Batu. He served as the master chief of staff to Genghis Khan and was highly intelligent and disciplined. He too commanded the European campaign and assisted Batu in conquering many countries including Holand and Poland.(2)

 

 

(1) David Morgan, The Mongols (1986) p.59
(2) Imperator Invictus, All Empires, ‘The Mongol Empire’ http://www.allempires.com/empires/mongol/mongol1.htm.
(3) David Morgan, The Mongols (1986) p.114
(4) U.S. Library of Congress http://countrystudies.us/mongolia/16.htm.
(5) David Morgan, The Mongols (1986) p.117