1. As Emperor of China, Kublai Khan encourages foreign trade.3
12.3 The Mongol Empire
As Emperor of China, Kublai Khan encourages foreign trade.

2. Kublai Khan Become Emperor
A New Emperor
Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis, becomes great khan in 1260.
Kublai conquers China by 1279.

3. Beginning a New Dynasty
Kublai established the Yuan Dynasty ( ), a period of peace and prosperity.
Kublai adopts Chinese ways, and builds capital at Beijing.

4. Failure to Conquer Japan
In 1274 and 1281, Kublai tries but fails to conquer Japan.
The Massive second invasion was destroyed by a typhoon.

5. Mongol Rule in China The Mongols and the Chinese
Mongols live separately from Chinese and follow own laws.
Mongols keep top government posts, and put Chinese in local positions.
Kublai extends Grand Canal to Beijing, and builds a highway.

6. Foreign Trade
Trade increases under Kublai, sending Chinese products to other lands.
Kublai invites merchants from other lands to China.

7. Marco Polo at the Mongol Court
Venetian trader, Marco Polo, visits China in 1275.
Polo returns to Venice in 1292; tells stories of what he saw in China.
Fabulous cities, fantastic wealth
Burning “black stones (coal) to heat Chinese homes
Kublai Khan’s government and trade in Beijing
These stories were gathered in a book, but most readers doubt its truth.

8. Mongol rule and Mongol Peace
Khanates (1299)
Use of local elites (Persian merchant was the great Khan’s ambassador to the Mongol Il-khan in Persia.)
Tax farming
Mongol rulers tended to focus on feasting, hunting, and internal disputes rather than day-to-day governing.
Very flexible and tolerant: “But just as God has given different fingers to the hand, so He has given different religions to people.”

9. Effects on Overland Trade
Linked Christian, Muslim and Chinese worlds in one Pax Mongolica

10. Effects on Overland Trade
Encouraged Silk Road trade
Patrols and passports
Paid high prices at Karakorum and financed caravans
Marco Polo ( )
Traveled with father and uncle to the East, made a fortune, and went back ( )
Great influence on European attitudes towards the East
New Ideas from China went west:
Paper and paper money, gunpowder, coal, movable type, passports, high-temperature furnaces, medicine, etc.

11. Marco Polo c. 1254-1324 (aged 69)Venice, Italy

12. Mongol Conquests in Russia
Fall of Kiev, 1240
“Mongol Yoke”?
Batu (r ) established “Golden Horde” rule
Mongol capital at Sarai
Taxes eventually farmed out to local princes.
Rise of Novgorod and Moscow
Alexander Nevskii (lived around ) argued for cooperation with Mongols rather than resistance.

13. The limits of Mongol rule
Mamluk Egypt
Slaves into warriors
In 1250 Mamluks rebelled
by 1254 placed own ruler on the thrown.
September 1260 at the Battle of Ain Jalut (Syria), Mamluks turned back Mongol armies.
Mamluks were Turks and Circassians.
Used midfa (hand cannon)
Stopped Mongol expansion into Africa.

14. Mongol Empire’s Impact on Eurasia
Movement of peoples, trade, ideas across Eurasia
New innovations and ideas reached Europe (without the military devastation); increased European interest in the East, raised by works of Polo, Rubruck, and others.
Brought new peoples to power: rise of Turkic dominance in the Muslim world (Ottomans, Delhi Sultanate, Mamluks), and new elites in the Slavic world.
Created the first (and only) foreign dynasty in China.
Opened the path for the plague.

15. The End of Mongol Rule Declining Power Yuan Dynasty Overthrown
Failed expeditions to Southeast Asia show weakness of Yuan Dynasty.
High taxes cause resentment.
Yuan Dynasty Overthrown
Kublai dies in 1294; successors are weak.
In 1300s, rebellions break out, leading to formation of Ming Dynasty.

16. Decline of the Mongol Empire
Mongol rule collapses in Persia in the 1330s; in Central Asia in the 1370s.
By the end of the 1300s, only Mongol rule in Russia remains, the Golden Horde.

17. Timeline of China’s Dynasties, 500-1500