Area of ​​the Mongol Empire. Empire of Genghis Khan: borders, campaigns of Genghis Khan. Temujin (Genghis Khan): history, descendants. Decline of a great empire

The purpose of the enterprise is to present something like a mapped guide to the geopolitical changes in Mongolian Eurasia of the 13th-14th centuries: who ruled, where and when; how the borders of states and regions were drawn; what territories passed from hand to hand and by whose efforts (and how) all this happened. Otherwise, in the existing literature (even the most detailed - Grousset's) much is missed.
This reference book presents its material in the form of maps with detailed text commentary attached, adding lists of rulers. It would probably be pointless to read such a reference book in a row (unless the reader is already a ready-made fan of the Mongol Empire); but from it the user can, with details inaccessible to him from other publications, find out “who, where, when” ruled, fought, lost and conquered within the Pax Mongolica.

1) map 1: Mongol Empire in 1227

2) cards 2-3: Mongol Empire in 1248: internal divisions and general situation

The text of the commentary to the cards is 1-2 cm.

Text of the commentary to the map 3 cm.

3) map 4: Mongol Empire by the beginning of 1252

Text of the commentary to the map 4 cm.

4) cards 5-6: Empire under Monke Khan :

Map 5: Mongol Empire in 1257.

The indigenous and vassal lands of the official extraordinary (until 1260-61) possession of Hulagu are highlighted in dark purple and light purple, respectively.

Map 6: Empire at the time of Monke's death.

The text of the commentary to the cards is 5-6 cm.

5) For tables of rulers in a greatly expanded form, see

Comments on cards 1-2

Structure of the Mongol Empire in 1248

The “Great Mongol State” (Eke Mongol Ulus, the official self-name of the Mongol Empire) was a rather complex formation in structure and itself consisted of several uluses. These were:
- 1) Root (Ijagur-in) ulus, which included the Mongolian and some surrounding lands, which Chinggis transferred into hereditary possession to his youngest and beloved son Tolui. The “extraterritorial” imperial capital of the Khagans, Karakorum, was also located on the territory of Idzhagur-in ulus. As a result, if the khan was not from the clan of Tolui himself, a kind of dual power ensued in the ulus: an alien Chinggisid was established in Karakorum, to whom all the Toluid princes henceforth obeyed as a kind of “acting” head of their house. This was exactly the situation on the eve of the death of Khagan Guyuk, since he was the son of Ogedei.
- 2-4) hereditary uluses of three other Chinggisid clans, originating from the remaining sons of Chinggis Khan, i.e. Uluses of Jochi, Chagatai and Ogedei.
- 5) possession of the Uyghur Idykut in East Turkestan with centers in Beshbalyk, Kara-Khojo (Turfan) and Hami. Nominally it amounted to the so-called the “fifth ulus” of the empire (Genghis Khan gave such an honor to the Uyghurs because they voluntarily submitted to him immediately after his election as Great Khan), but in reality they were just a semi-autonomous administrative appendage to the khagan’s possessions; looked after him from Gansu.
- 6) territories that were part of the direct “official administration” of the khagan, regardless of which branch of the Chinggisids occupied this post. These were: Northern China, Tibet and Tangut, as well as the hereditary possessions of the brothers of Genghis Khan, covering the lands north of the Yellow River and further in the Amur basin.
The one of the Chinggisids who held the post of Great Khan merged under his direct control the Root Ulus, the “official lands” of the Great Khan and his own hereditary possessions, which gave him an absolute advantage over the rulers of the other four uluses (the three Chinggisids and Uyghuria). In addition, the special civil-financial administration of the khagan extended to the Uyghur ulus and the southern part of the Chagatai ulus (Maverranakhr and East Turkestan), and the civil-financial and military administration extended to the southern (Iranian, see below) part of the Jochi ulus. Thus, these territories turned out to be a zone of double subordination, and it was believed that the khagan officials disposed of them with the permission of the corresponding ulus ruler (who, for ease of administration, also carried out his own orders through them). In particular, by 1248, such khagan administration in Maverranakhr, East Turkestan and Uyghuria was in charge of Masud Bek, who in 1241 replaced his father Mahmud Yalavach in this post (endowed with the same powers in the khagan lands of Tangut and China). As a result, the sphere of the khagan’s own power, independent of the five clan uluses, was officially called “Iran, Turkestan and China”, and in the first two divisions of this sphere, the khagan power was considered temporary and partial (supplementing the local ulus), and in the third - complete and permanent. Thus, in 1251, renouncing the throne of the Great Khagan, Batu declared that he could not add Iran, Turkestan and China to his colossal possessions (characteristically, he did not name Mongolia, since the Khagan ruled it “by proxy,” as would be replacing the actual head of the Tolui clan, to which she, in fact, belonged). If we take into account that the khan was also recognized as the supreme ruler in the territory of all uluses in general, it turned out that, say, in Iran, in the person of his governors, he obeyed himself with the permission and through the nominal agency of Khan-Juchid. If the Mongols really wanted to engage in civil government, this system would become a source of constant tension; but it was completely uninteresting to them, and all the difficulties of “dual control” boiled down to the fact that the same tribute collectors, collecting taxes in the territories under their jurisdiction, sent part to the khagan, part to the ulus ruler, and part, as tax farmers, kept for themselves .
The unity of the state was supported by all-Mongolian kurultai - congresses of all Chinggisids, some all-empire structures for managing the army, khan officials, a unified system of communication with postal stations and labels issued to all local vassal rulers on behalf of the khan. In particular, the army included units that were directly subordinate to the khagan, regardless of his clan affiliation (the “great army”, ulug kul), and units assigned to the hereditary troops of one or another Chinggisid. According to Yasa, such units could not be torn away from their owners, but could be temporarily regrouped and reassigned within the framework of imperial campaigns. So, in 1262-63. in Bukhara, which was part of the Chagatai ulus, there were, in addition to the Chagatai troops, Jochid units, Toluid units and units of the “great army” (Ulug Kul). On the Indian border approx. 1260 there was an imperial army, staffed mainly by Juchid contingents, but subordinate to the khagan's brother, Toluid Hulagu.

Territory of the Mongol Empire in 1248.

Ijagur-in ulus included most of the Khalkha-Mongolia (east of Khangai), the Baikal region and Southern Siberia (the Angara basin, which was called the “Angara region”; Tuva; the indigenous lands of the Khakassians - Kyrkyz along the Upper Yenisei; the valley of the middle Yenisei, t i.e. the southern part of the country of Bargu [which embraced the watershed of the Ob and Yenisei and the left bank of the Yenisei to the ocean]). The ulus reached the external borders of the Empire only in the north, where its border ran north of the Angara and Baikal and across the upper reaches of the Lena. Nothing is really known about the tribal formations bordering the Mongols here, and the Mongols were not at all interested in them.
After the death of Tolui in 1242, the head of the Toluids was Monke, his son, but power in the ulus was exercised instead, according to the rules set out above, by the Ogedeiid Khagan Guyuk.
The lands of the Khan's administration included a number of principalities and governorships. Manchuria and the Amur basin were divided into the ancestral fiefs of the Chinggis brothers. The northern border of this territory ran approximately along the watershed of the Lena and Amur to the Pacific Ocean, covering the river basin. Hongtongjiang (the name of the Amur below the confluence with the Sungari); The Mongol administrative unit of Helan Shui-Tatar was located on the northern and southern sides of this river.
A special strategic belt was formed by the governorships surrounding the Idzhagur-in ulus from the south. Thus, Gansu, Tangut and all the Mongol conquests in Tibet and Sichuan constituted the governorship of Hadan (Godan), the son of Ogedei, who managed his inheritance virtually independently. Other governorships were located in Northern China.
In the south, the lands of the Khan's administration reached the outer borders of the Empire. The border with Song China, formed during the defeat of the Jurchen Jin Empire by the Mongols and the subsequent Mongol-Sung clashes of the 30s and 40s, ran from the Yellow Sea through Henan and the northern outskirts of Sichuan (Xian remained in the hands of the Southern Song). Then the border turned sharply to the south, covered Amdo and Kham and reached the Tsangpo bend, covering the triangle of Balpossy (in the west) - Mon (in the south) - Kongpo (in the east); all these areas, starting with Amdo, were conquered by Hadan Khan, son of Ogedei, with his commander Dorcha-Darkhan in 1239-1240 (which was preceded by intense, unsuccessful negotiations between the Mongols and the largest Tibetan sects in 1239). The neighbors of the Mongols here were: Tibet proper, i.e. a complex conglomerate of separate monastic theocracies, stretching from the Tsangpo bend to the sources of the Indus; the Tibetan formations between Tsangpo and Saluen, cut off from this system by the campaign of 1240, and, finally, the Tibetan monarchies in Ladakh and Guge, which were never part of it. It should be added that in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, two more minor Tibeto-Burman “kingdoms” existed as a buffer between the Mongols and Dali (a state in the territory of present-day Yunnan).
Since the beginning of 1242, the Mongols were in a state of another war with the Sunami, but by the time of Guyuk’s death there were no real active actions. With Tibet, on the contrary, a very important political game was being played. After three years of negotiations, Hadan in 1247-1248 met at his headquarters with Sakya Pandita, one of the highest hierarchs of Tibet (the head of the Sakya monastic hierarchy), and entered into close friendship with him; Intensive negotiations began to prepare for the inclusion of Tibet in the system of Mongol power. Finally, Koryo (Korea) in 1247 refused to pay tribute to the khagan, ending its short (from 1239) vassalage to the Mongols, and from 1247 they carried out annual raids on it.
The Ulus of Ogedei had no access to the external borders of the Empire. It included Southern Altai and Western Mongolia (Tarbagatai, Emil, Kobuk and upper Irtysh basins). The khan's headquarters was located near Chuguchak, in the city of Omyl (Emil), once built by the Kara-Kitai, then abandoned, and now rebuilt by Ogedei. The head of the Ogedeid family until 1248 was Guyuk.
From a geopolitical point of view, the Ogedey Ulus consisted of two parts: western (Southern Altai and the region of the Emil River and the Tarbagatai Mountains) and eastern (Mongolian Altai and the areas north of it). The eastern part was inhabited mainly by the four-tribal people of the Oirats - a Mongol-speaking people, in the 12th century. living near Lake Khubsugul and further to the sources of the Yenisei, but in XIII settled to the southwest, to the former territory of the Naimans defeated by Genghis, to the Mongolian Altai and beyond. The western part of the ulus (as well as the Ili-Irtysh interfluve, which continues even further to the west, already belonging to the Jochids) was inhabited by a special group of Eastern Kypchaks, called “Kyrgyz” (where the current Tien Shan Kyrgyz come from), and according to the official Mongolian lists of ethnic territories - Kimaks (after the name of one of the main Kipchak tribes, which in the 10th century headed a special state on the Upper Irtysh - the Kimak Kaganate); this community was formed back in the 9th century. in the area between the Upper Irtysh and Tarbagatai as a result of the penetration here of groups of real, Yenisei Kyrgyz (Kyrkyz-Khakas, inhabitants of the Minusinsk Basin) and their mixing with the local Kipchak-Kimak tribes. A major khan of the Eastern Kypchak (Kyrgyz) Banduchar, who had a headquarters in Altai, in the region of modern. Zmeinogorsk, or further to the southwest, in the Ili-Irtysh interfluve, voluntarily submitted to Genghis, and his people were converted into a ten-member organization, and the region came under the control of Jochi. The range of the Kyrgyz as a whole was cut in two by the interulus border of 1227, its western part went to Jochi, and the Emil-Tarbagatai region to Ogedey. Most of the Oirats, as we remember, still lived in their indigenous territory east of the Mongolian Altai, on the territory of the Toluid ulus, so the Oirats were distributed among different uluses.
The ulus of Chagatai covered primarily the former power of the Karakitai and Kuchluk of Naiman (the country of Homil in Mongol monuments), and in general - Maverranakhr with the south of Khorezm, most of Semirechye and Eastern Turkestan to Turfan (exclusively). The last major center of the ulus in the east was Aksu. Three groups of Karluk Turks (in Semirechye, Fergana and on the Tibetan border) since the time of Chinggis were considered autonomous and as such were included in the tribal system of the ulus. The ulus reached the external borders of the state only in the south, where they walked along the western Kunlun and the southern spurs of the Pamirs. The headquarters of the Chagatai horde was located west of Almalyk (modern Gulja or Yining) in Xinjiang, and was called Kuyash and Ulug-if (Ulug-ui - “Big House”). The Ili valley with the main city of Almalyk formed the central part of his possessions and was called “Il-Alargu” or “Il-Alarguzi”. In Maverranakhr, real power was wielded rather by the tax farmer Mahmud Yalavach, who was directly appointed by the Khan Ogedei, than by Chagatai. In 1238, Chagatai, without the consent of the khagan, removed Mahmud. Hagan reproached his brother, but transferred Maverranakhr to him for direct civilian administration, transferring the tax collection to Mahmud's son, Masud Bek, and at the same time expanding his powers to the entire Ulus of Chagatai. Chagatai died in the same year 1241 as Ogedei, but a little later, bequeathing the throne to his grandson Khara-Hulagu, the son of Mutugen. After the election of Guyuk, Ogedei's son, as the new khagan, Guyuk deposed Khara-Hulagu, declaring that during the life of his son, his grandson could not inherit the throne, and gave the Chagatai ulus to Chagatai's eldest son, Yesumonke. So, from 1246/47, by the will of Guyuk, Esumonke ruled the ulus; he drank, not paying attention to the affairs that his wife was in charge of, and soon had to take his nephew Buri as his co-ruler. Yesumonke's headquarters was located in Almalyk.
In Uyguria, the Idykut Kyshmain died in 1242, and Salyn-tegin, the brother of Ogedei’s widow, was appointed the new Idykut, which, in fact, led to the gradual elimination of Uyguria as a special ulus of the empire.
The ulus of Jochi embraced the north-west of the Empire and from 1227 was ruled by Batu, the son of Jochi, the eldest of the Chinggisids. This ulus was a real territorial giant even by Mongolian standards. The core of the ulus in the 1220s was the territory of the Irtysh region, in Mongolian sources - Tokmok (Tungmak, from *Tun-kimak? - the region inhabited by the Eastern Kypchak-Kyrgyz, see above). According to the will of Chinggis himself, the entire ulus as a whole covered "Tokmok and Kipchak", that is, according to another description, all the lands west of the line Amu Darya - Khorezm (inclusive) - Sygnak - Sauran (inclusive) - Kayalyk north of Ili (inclusive , leaving part of the northern Semirechye in the hands of the Jochids) - the border of the Chagatai, Ogedey and indigenous uluses.
However, in reality, Batu Khan was given control only over the northern half of this vast territory, up to the Caucasus (including Derbent) and Khorezm (inclusive, except for the southern part of the country with Kyat, which belonged to the Chagataid). The southern, Iranian half was subject to temporary emergency management by officials of the khagan himself. At the same time, we repeat, it was believed that this Khagan administration ruled exclusively with the permission of Batu, and when the conquests were completed, it would give way to the Jochid administration itself.
Under the direct authority of Batu were the spaces of Western Siberia, Dasht-i-Kipchak, Volga Bulgaria, Mordovians, Visu (Perm), Yugra and Samoyed in the Pechora basin (the Mongols made a special raid on Pechora in 1242, reaching from there to the Arctic Ocean itself, but without gaining a foothold there; however, the Pechora Samoyeds, at least partially, have since been considered subjects of the Mongols) and, finally, the forest-steppe southeastern strip of Russian principalities (Bolokhov lands in the South-West of Russia, the southern part of the Kiev region) was torn away into direct citizenship of the Mongols from Russia with Kanev (there was a Mongol garrison there, while Kiev was already considered a Russian city), most of the Pereyaslav region and the region along the border of the Chernigov and Ryazan principalities up to the Oka, including the region of the future Tula and Yelets).
This entire huge space was divided into the Volga Ulus with its center in Sarai (White, or Ak-Orda for the Mongols and Turks, Blue, or Kok-Orda for the Persians, “Golden Horde” in Russian = western, right wing of the Jochi Ulus) and Zayaitsky ulus with the main urban center in Sygnak (Blue Horde in Mongolian and Turkic, White Horde in Persian = eastern, left wing of the Jochi Ulus; Batu’s elder brother Orda-Ichen ruled there). The discrepancy in the color designations of the hordes is due to the fact that the Turks and Mongols designated the west as white and the east as blue; among the Iranians, on the contrary, the east was “white” and the west “blue”. The border between the Volzhsky and Zayaitsky uluses ran along the Urals, the upper Yaik, and then south to the Aral Sea, leaving the Lower Yaik basin, Mangyshlak and Khorezm to the Volga ulus. Both uluses themselves were divided into two according to the same system of “wings”: Volzhsky - into the eastern ulus of the Sarai Khan and the western ulus of the Beklyaribek (supreme dignitary and commander-in-chief), Zayaitsky - into the south-eastern Central Asian ulus, directly belonging to the Zayaitsky Khan (the eastern wing of the Zayaitsky Horde, the valley of the middle Syr Darya, and from there the steppes to Ishim, Irtysh and the Balkhash region) and the northwestern, Kazakh-Siberian ulus of Batu’s other brother - Sheiban (the western wing of the Zayaitskaya Horde, east of Yaik along the Irgiz, with winter camps along the banks of the Syr Darya at the mouths of the river .Chui and Sary-su and Karakum [possibly up to the very border of Khorezm!], and in the northeast to the Irtysh, Chulym [and, not excluded, to the western spurs of Altai]; this ulus was generally defined as the territory lying between the Volga horde and Central Asian, the main ulus of the Zayaitskaya Horde. Sheiban himself died in 1248, and the ulus was inherited by his son Bahadur).
The core of this entire territory was the Great Steppe, stretching from the Danube to Altai (Dasht-y-Kypchak, “Kypchak Steppe”), divided into three large ethno-geographical regions: the country of the Western Kipchaks (they are also Polovtsians in Russian, Komans-Kumans in European texts ) from the Danube to the Volga region; the country of the Kangls or Kangits (by language - eastern Kipchaks, by origin - Kipchakized Guzes and Pechenegs; the ancient self-name of the Pechenegs was “Kangar”, hence the common name “Kangls” for the Kipchak-speaking tribes of this region) from the Volga region to modern East Kazakhstan; the country of the Kimaks (the official name in the Mongolian lists) is also the region of the Central Asian Kyrgyz, formed on the basis of the Eastern Kypchak language tribes of the primordial Kimak-Kypchak area - the Upper Irtysh and Altai basin.
To the north of the Great Steppe lay other key regions of the Ulus of Jochi: the Volga-Don interfluve (Moksha, Mordovians, Burtases), Volga Bulgaria, Bajgard (Magyar, Great Hungary, also known as Bashkiria - the territory where the Hungarian-Magyars came from), Korola (Kerela ; this was the name of the region of the Southern Urals and Shibir - Western Siberia, which was sometimes included here, bordering Bashkiria in the west and the region of the Kimaks in the east); The Samoyed land was the extreme possession of Batu in the north.
Batu's headquarters was located in the Lower Volga, in Sarai; the centers of the eastern uluses were not permanent. Orda-Ichen's headquarters was located somewhere near Balkhash, in the territory of northern Semirechye (very close to the capital of Ulus Ogedei); later the Zayaik khans left this territory, and in the 14th century. moved to Sygnak. The Shaybanids, who were subordinate to them, held their headquarters in the Irgiz in the summer, and in the Syr Darya in the winter.
The outer limits of the Jochi ulus (without vassal territories) were: the Iron Gate line on the Danube - the border of the steppe and mountains in Wallachia (the southern slopes of the Transylvanian Carpathians were occupied by Wallachian principalities and voivodeships subordinate to Hungary) - the Hungarian border in the Eastern Carpathians - new, rounded in favor Mongols, the border of the steppe with Russia - the northern borders of the former Visu (Perm) at the headwaters of the Pechora and Vychegda - part of the Samoyed basin of the Pechora - the basin of the Irtysh and partly the Ob.
Various states to the west of these borders were vassals of Batu. These were:
- Russian state (“Kievan” Rus), vassal of the Mongols since 1242; in 1243 Batu confirmed her as the supreme ruler of the Vladimir prince Yaroslav, to whom he gave the Kiev table. Yaroslav, however, did not go to devastated Kyiv, but installed his boyar Dimitri Eykovich as governor there. In 1246 Yaroslav was poisoned at Guyuk's headquarters. He ordered to replace the deceased with his brother Svyatoslav, but Batu never approved this protege of the Ogedeiids. It should be noted that the Galician-Volyn prince Daniil submitted to Batu (and thereby recognized that his principality was part of the “Kievan” Rus, vassal to the Mongols under the auspices of the Vladimir princes) only at the turn of 1245/1246, and before that he resisted the Mongols. In February 1246, a mission arrived in Rus' from Batu and Guyuk, which carried out the first, “rough” census of the Russian lands subject to the Mongols and collected a rich tribute; then, perhaps, even Polotsk land paid for it.
- Bulgaria (Tarnovo kingdom) with its Balkan possessions (vassal since 1242);
- Georgia with its Armenian possessions (a vassal of the Mongols since 1231; the only object of real power of Batu south of the Caucasus, accepted his administration in 1243. This grossly violated the general imperial order, according to which power over Georgia was to be exercised on behalf of Batu by the governors of the khan - as well as over all other lands of the south. Batu was able to resubordinate Georgia in 1243, only by taking advantage of the interregnum after the death of Ogedei, when there was no khagan in the Empire at all).
The main independent state on the borders of Batu's possessions was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, subject to Mindaugas. Taking advantage of the Mongol invasion of Rus', in 1238-1245 it occupied Black Rus' with its center in Novogrudok (which Mindovg made his capital), Turovo-Pinsk and Minsk lands. Thus began the long Lithuanian-Russian war (1238-1254). In 1246-1247, the Galician-Volyn princes and Mongols made several campaigns against Mindaugas, but, apparently, to no avail. From that time on, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was destined to become the main enemy of the Mongols in the north-west.
Particular attention should be paid to the situation in the Caucasus. The southern spurs of the Caucasus were subject to Georgia and Shirvan, and with them to the Mongols. The northern slopes, as in the 19th century, were virtually inaccessible; here three ethno-geographical regions were distinguished from west to east: the country of the Circassians (Adygeans, Kabardians, Circassians in the narrow sense of the word), the country of the Ases or Alans (the ancestors of the Ossetians and small tribes subject to them) and the country of the Lezgs (the area of ​​settlement of the Nakh-Dagestan tribes). In 1239-1240, a special campaign of Chormagun-noyon took place, equipped directly by Ogedei from Iran in addition to Batu, aimed at conquering the Caucasus; Having conquered Azerbaijan in 1231-39, Chormagun took Derbent in 1239, setting out from there, in October-November 1239 he defeated Dagestan, and from there he moved to the region of the Alans and Circassians (1239-1240), leaving an occupation contingent in Dagestan (in the spring of 1240 he was evacuated from Dagestan). This campaign led to the conquest of part of the Circassians and Ases and the coast of Dagestan; the remaining tribes continued to resist the Mongols for another quarter of a century, but they did not leave them alone. By the mid-1250s. part of the Circassians and Ases and almost all of the Lezgi (inner Dagestan) still remained independent of the Mongols.
The southern, nominal part of the Jochi ulus embraced the whole of Iran. Its eastern border sloped down, bypassing Peshawar and Sindh, to the Indian Ocean. Here the Mongols were adjacent to Kashmir and the Delhi Sultanate. The western border was mainly along the Zagros, but Khuzestan belonged to the Abbasid Caliphate in Iraq, and Zengid Mosul was subject to the Mongols as a vassal. Further, the border went to the northwest, including the basin of Lake Van (conquered in 1245; before that, the Ayyubid Kurds ruled here), and then all the Anatolian territories to Kyzyl-Yrmak. The Mongols had many vassal possessions here, primarily the Rum Seljuk Sultanate (it was part of the special governorship of "Rum", which also included, in addition to it, a district directly subordinate to the Mongols with its center in Ankara), the Greek Empire of Trebizond, the Armenian state in Cilicia, Mosul , Shirvan and the Western Iranian kingdoms - Fars, Yazd, Kerman, Herat, Hormoz, Lur. Western Gilan was practically independent. An even more variegated picture has emerged in eastern Iran. The stronghold of the Mongols here was the combined imperial army of Tair-bugi Bahadur and Sali, stationed in Badgiz; its noyons ruled Tokharistan, as well as Ghazni and adjacent territories on the Indian border. This army was staffed mainly by Jochid contingents. In Herat and Gura, from 1243, the famous Shamsaddin I Kurt sat as a vassal, and in both centers there were units of the imperial army, and its commanders - the military commanders-governors of Badgiz - claimed control over Shamsaddin. In 1242, Tahir-bahadur ravaged Ispahbad, helping Shamsaddin's predecessor, Majaddin of Herat. The Badakhshan-Pamir principality, a vassal to the Mongols, was also probably included in the sphere of control of the imperial army. Sistan was also a vassal principality; Ali ibn Masud ruled there from 1236. The regions along the upper Indus (in the Peshawar district) - Kuhijud and Binban - constituted the principality of Saifuddin Hasan Karluk (the head of the Karluk group that fled from the Mongols to Afghanistan), who in the 20s - 30s. was a vassal of Delhi, and in 1236-1239 recognized Mongol power and received a Mongol resident - the shahna. Since the same 1236 there was a sluggish war between the Mongols and the Delhi Sultanate. In particular, in 1246, the Mongol army under the command of Monkatakh occupied Multan (here it was led by the Mongol Sali and the vassal Shamsaddin Kurt) and besieged Uch (under the command of Monkatah himself), but fled in the fall at the news of the approach of the Delhiites. As a result, Multan was also lost. In the spring of 1247, the Delhi army, in turn, ravaged Kuhijud, but to no avail.
The supreme military power on behalf of Khagan Guyuk in the southern lands of the Jochids since 1247 was controlled by Ilchigedei-noyon from the Mongolian Jalair tribe; at the beginning of 1247 he arrived in Khorasan, in the summer he inspected the Caucasus, and at the end of the year he set up his headquarters in Badgiz. The previous governor of Iran, and now only the commander of the troops in the western direction, noyon Bachu (Baichu), based in Mugan, was subordinate to him.
The independent neighbors of the Mongols in the west were: in Asia Minor - the Byzantine (Nicaean) Empire, in the west of Iran - the Baghdad Caliphate and the possessions of various branches of the Ayyubid Kurds in Northern Mesopotamia (they were conquered by the Mongols in 1245, but almost immediately abandoned), in Iran is an Ismaili state (i.e., the fortresses of the Ismaili order in Elborz and Kuhistan), to the east of Iran is the Muslim Delhi Sultanate and Hindu Kashmir.

The division of the Mongol Empire into uluses is shown in total for 1227 (the year of Genghis's death) on Map 1, and in more detail as of 1248 on Map 2.
The darker red and crimson colors on map 2 indicate, respectively, the territories of direct subordination of the Jochi Ulus, real (northern part) and nominal (southern part); lighter shades of both colors indicate vassal states associated with the respective units. The dark blue color indicates the Tolui ulus, the bright blue color indicates the territory of direct subordination to the khan [and light blue on subsequent maps indicates the territory of the khan's vassals].
A distinctive feature of the territorial division just outlined is the striking inequality of the uluses. The uluses of Chagatai and Ogedey are real dwarfs in comparison with the uluses of Tolui and especially the ulus of Jochi, which, according to the will of Genghis, covers all of Western Eurasia (“from the Irtysh, Kayalyk and Khorezm to the limits that the hoof of a Mongol horse will reach”). The figure of Jochi, who, to put it mildly, did not enjoy the love of his brothers and father (he was killed in 1224 by Genghis Khan’s secret envoys), was hardly suitable in the eyes of Genghis to command such spaces. Obviously, when Chinggis gave orders regarding the ulus borders, he simply did not have a clear idea of ​​how vast the spaces actually were that separated the Irtysh from the “last sea” in the West.

Commentary on map 3

Strategic position of the Mongols.

Map 3 shows the position of the Mongol Empire (blue, including vassals) among all other Eurasian states in 1248.
It is clearly seen that geopolitically it is already an unconditionally dominant giant, whose opponents have been separated by it and have survived only on the southern and western periphery of the Asian continent. The only major powers other than the Mongols were the Holy Roman-German Empire (along with its associated Teutonic Order), Egypt, the Delhi Sultanate, South Sun China and Kambujadesha.
As for the foreign policy strategy of the 40s, Guyuk planned two big wars. One was supposed to go to the west of Iran, and he was going to carry it out only with his own, Khagan forces (for which he sent the noyon Ilchigedei to Iran at the end of 1246 with the necessary troops), without resorting to an all-empire campaign. The second was supposed to fall on Prussia and Livonia, and then on Catholic Europe in general. However, enmity with Batu (in the fall of 1247 Guyuk began to gather troops for a campaign against Batu) and Guyuk’s sudden death did not allow these plans to come true and left the state without clear prospects.

Commentary on map 4

Interregnum. Monke and Batu on the way to power (1248-1251/52)

Imperial affairs in 1248-1251/52.
Batu learned of Guyuk's death while in the Alakamak area near the Alatau Mountains. Now, without having sworn allegiance to Guyuk, he remained the strongest ruler of the Empire and announced the gathering of a kurultai in the same Alakamak. The regency was transferred to Guyuk's widow, Khansha Ogul Gaymysh, who was quite similar to her late husband in her stupidity, anger and penchant for drunkenness, and Chingai, a Uighur nobleman from the Chagatai ulus. In the spring of 1250, the Alakamak Kurultai finally took place. Batu, who brought his troops and many Jochids against him, sought to appoint the son of Tolui Monke, who had been Batu’s closest friend since the Russian campaigns, to the khan. On the side of Monke, in addition to the Jochids and Toluids, stood the offended Chagataid Khara-Hulagu (the grandson of Chagatai, who ruled the ulus after the death of Chagatai, according to the latter’s direct will, in 1242, but was removed by Guyuk in favor of Yesumonke in 1246), and from the Ogedeiids - the son Ogedey Kadakogul and the children of Khadan, who had died by this time (died in his Tangut inheritance in 1251). All the other Chagataids and Ogedeids did not want to allow Monke to the supreme power. Guyuk's children, Kocha and Naku, stayed in Alakamak only two days and left, leaving their representatives and assuring Batu that they would obey any decision of the kurultai. Batu was able to win them over to his side, taking advantage of their enmity towards Shiremun, another Ogedeid who also aspired to the throne. As one would expect, the kurultai, which was presided over by Monke’s brother Kublai, decided to consider Monke a legitimate contender for the khan’s throne and to convene a new kurultai in Mongolia itself for his final election as khan next year. Batu undoubtedly played a decisive role in this whole matter.
Meanwhile, Ogul Gaymysh, citing the fact that the Alakamak Kurultai took place outside Mongolia and thus did not have legal force, tried to unite the Ogedeiids and Chagataids against Monke. The Ogedeiids were already subordinate to her as the widow of Guyuk, and she came to an agreement with the Chagataids through Chagatai Buri’s son. Together they decided to replace Monke with Ogedeid Shiremun; Now Guyuk's sons were on his side. Together with Yesumonke, they were able to delay the new kurultai for a year and a half. In the summer of 1251, he nevertheless gathered in Karakorum. Monke came there with a Jochid escort sent by Batu under the command of Berke and Togatemur and on July 1, 1251 he was confirmed as khagan - largely under the influence of Berke. Immediately after this, the allies staged a grandiose political trial in which Ogul Gaymysh, the Chagataids and Ogedeids were accused of plotting to kill Monke and witchcraft. The trial took place in the winter of 1251-52; its outcome was terrible even by Mongolian standards. 77 senior leaders, including co-rulers-regents Ogul Gaymysh and Chingaya, as well as Shiremun’s mother Kadakach-Khatun and about 220 other people were executed at the headquarters of Sorkuktani-Khatun, Monke’s mother, Shiremun himself was exiled to Kublai Kublai in China (where he was a few years later , in 1258, drowned by him before the start of the great Chinese campaign). Kucha guessed to submit in time, was forgiven and received an inheritance in Selenga; his other relatives were exiled to China and Armenia, and nothing more was heard of them. The vast majority of the Chaghataids were either exiled or killed; only a few escaped to the Song Empire. The Khagan governor of the southern half of the Juchi Ulus, Ilchigedey, appointed by Guyuk, was removed from his post, arrested in Iran by emissaries of Batu, sent to Monke and executed by the latter along with his sons (1252); his post again passed to Baich. Moreover, Monke and Batu agreed to abolish the uluses of Chagatai and Ogedei as independent parts of the Empire; Part of the Chagatai ulus went to the Jochids, part - directly to the Khagan, and the rest of the Chagatai ulus and the entire Ogedei ulus became ordinary destinies within the Khagan ulus, similar to many other destinies of the Mongol princes. The territory of the Ogedeiids was then awarded to Khanat, son of Naku, son of Guyuk; Monke transferred the lands reserved for the Chagataids to Khara-Hulagu and sent him there along with his wife Ergene and a large detachment of troops against their enemy Esumonke, who still owned the Chagatai ulus (1252). To ensure this plan, Monke sent two more armies to the west - one towards Beshbalyk, on the Chagatai border, with the order to unite with Kuykuran-ogul stationed there at Kayalyk; it was also strengthened by the forces of Konchi-ogul, the son of Zayaitsky Khan Orda-Ichen. Monke sent another army to the Yenisei, to the border of the Ogedeiids. In the same 1252, the will of the khan was fulfilled; True, Khara-Hulagu died on the road near Altai, but his widow Ergene, leading his troops, took Esumonke and Buri prisoner and sent them to Batu, who executed them. Esumonke's wife Ergene trampled under the hooves of horses, many Chagataids were exterminated. Having approved Ergene's course of action, Monke left her as the ruler of the Chagatai fief as a regent for her young son from Khara-Hulagu, Mubarek Shah. True, this inheritance, as we remember, was greatly reduced compared to the previous one: Maverranakhr went to Batu, East Turkestan and Bolor - directly to Monke, who thereby received a direct connection with the Khan's possessions in Iran through the Pamirs, where Bolor bordered on Badakhshan and its districts at the sources of Panj. The border of the possessions of Monke and Batu lay in the steppe between Talas and Chu, east of the modern Alexander Range; behind Ergene there was only Semirechye left. Nevertheless, Masud Beg continued to exercise civil administration of Maverranakhr, Semirechye, East Turkestan and even Uighuria on behalf of Batu and Monke at once!
At the same time, everything is in the same 1251/1252. Monke formed new fiefs within the indigenous ulus and the territories under his control. Firstly, the transformation of the southern territories, nominally belonging to the Jochi ulus, was undertaken. Now they came under the dual control of the sole governor of the Great Khan (according to Monke’s decision, his brother Hulagu was soon to become this governor) and Batu, without whose sanction the orders of this governor were incompetent. In fact, the Jochi ulus was for the first time able to spread its influence over these lands, but at the same time, not even two-, but, in fact, four-power power was established there (Batu as the ulus owner within the empire, Monke Khan as an administrator on behalf of Batu, Hulagu as the future appanage administrator on behalf of Monke, and finally the same Monke as the supreme ruler of the entire empire). Secondly, northern China (Shaanxi and Henan), general supervision of the Jurchen lands (i.e., the old possessions of the Chinggis brothers), Tangut and Tibetan regions formed the share of Kublai, another brother of Monke. From 1255, Kublai began to build a new capital for himself in Kaipyn, closer to the theater of the future war with the Sunami, and in April 1257 he actually moved there. Thirdly, the Ogedeids, who supported Monke, received small fiefs of the lowest level as a reward in the territory of Kublai Kublai, in China and Tangut. For the same reasons, Hadan retained his governorship in Tangut and Gansu, as well as control over Tibet (all under the supreme supervision of Khubilai). However, Khadan died around the end of 1251. Subsequently, Guyuk's son Kadan received his inheritance.
In the same 1252, Monke's mother Sorkuktani-begi, the widow of Tolui, died; her inheritance, which included the Sayan Mountains, Kyrgyz Tuva and the eastern slopes of the junction of the Altai and the Mongolian Altai, passed to her youngest son Arigbuga. The Mongols relied primarily on the local Oirats and Naimans in this area.
Finally, at the end of 1252, Monke reached the Uyghur ulus. Idykut Salyn-tegin (as we remember, Ogedei's brother-in-law!), after a long trial, was executed in December 1252 on the fantastic charge of intending to kill his Muslim subjects with the knowledge of the same Ogul Gaymysh. The throne of Idykut was transferred to the brother of the executed man, Okendzhi. The “fifth ulus” of the empire, like the Ogedei and Chagatai, actually turned into a vassal kingdom within the khagan’s ulus.
Events of 1251-52 finally established Monke as the All-Mongol Khan. As was clear from his first actions, he was a cruel and efficient ruler of the Machiavellian type. The future showed that he was a man who consciously and completely subordinated himself to the ultimate ideal of the “world revolution of Genghis Khan,” but remained completely free in the choice of means and strategy for its implementation. His religious policy was of the same kind: he was simultaneously baptized, converted to Islam and extolled Buddhism, so that the missionaries present in Karakorum and, accordingly, the Hagan subjects of all religions had reason to consider him a co-religionist. In fact, he hardly believed in anything other than Mongol patron spirits, future nomadic prosperity, fifteen years of friendship with Batu, the army and political assassinations. The official Chinese history of the Empire, “Yuan Shi,” says about him: “he was sedate, decisive, taciturn, did not like feasts, and used to say about himself that he followed the example of his ancestors. He had a passion for animal hunting and believed soothsayers and sorcerers to the point of madness ". As a result, he achieved his internal political goals in the first year of his reign. By the end of 1252, the Empire was actually divided into two possessions - Monke Khagan and Batu, with common possessions beyond the Amu Darya and the Caucasus. The simplification of the internal structure with the strong (although it had its limits) friendship of both rulers ensured lasting internal peace and made it possible to resume broad conquests, predetermined by the kurultai of 1251, and by the repressions of 1251-52. Monke instilled such fear in the Genghisids that his reign passed in complete peace. The only person he had to take into account was Batu; however, he died three years later, leaving Monke with unprecedented power.
We emphasize that the kurultai of 1251 made the most important decisions on foreign policy issues, predetermining the imperial Iranian campaign and the conquest of the Southern Suns. For the latter, Monke Khan adopted a kind of Mongol "anaconda" plan (initial conquest of the Song's western neighbors as far as the South China Sea, and then a concentric attack on them themselves). In July 1252, he ordered Kublai to move to Dali, and he began careful preparations for this, the first tropical campaign for the Mongols. As for the western campaign, contingents from all over the empire were allocated for it under the leadership of the Khan's brother Hulagu with the goal of completely conquering Iran and the surrounding areas to the Mediterranean Sea; the annexed regions were to come under the control of Hulagu as the viceroy of the Great Khan, while formally remaining in the supreme ownership of the Jochids. Batu, however, rightly believed that the governorship of the khagan’s younger brother would be tantamount to the complete withdrawal of the southern lands under the khagan’s rule, and he firmly decided not to allow Hulagu into Iran, although for the time being he did not openly reveal this.
It is characteristic that the plan for the European campaign, which was equally cherished by Ogedei and Guyuk, was not even considered at the kurultai and, as it turned out. were buried forever. There can be only one reason for this: Batu did not want imperial troops or any non-Juchid forces to appear on the territory directly controlled by him, and Monke was forced to take this position into account.
Ulus affairs in 1248-1251/52.
North-west direction. As we remember, Batu did not approve Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, appointed by Guyuk, as the Supreme Russian Prince. After the death of Guyuk, he generally went for a radical reform and in 1249 he divided Russia under his control into two equal great principalities - Kiev (the Dnieper valley and Novgorod, plus, obviously, supreme control over all the Russian principalities vassal to the Mongols west of the Dnieper), given to Alexander Yaroslavich, and Vladimir (the rest of the lands), given to his brother Andrei Yaroslavich (both of them returned from Karakorum in 1249). In the same 1249, the Mongol military leader Kaidan (the sixth son of Ogedei) made a campaign against Lithuania, but was defeated by Mindaugas southwest of Minsk. As a result, approx. 1250 Mindovg managed to set his nephews to reign in the Polotsk land (Tevtivil in Polotsk, Yedivid in Vitebsk); thus, the former possessions of the Polotsk Vseslavichs were finally torn away from Rus'. Subsequently, they sometimes restored full independence, but practically did not obey either the Mongols or their supreme Russian proteges, rotating almost constantly in the Lithuanian orbit. Perhaps, not without the influence of these events, the anti-Mongol movement began in Rus' itself. In 1250, Andrei entered into relations with Daniil of Galitsky, who had recently recognized Mongol power, and in 1251 he married his daughter and started an anti-Horde conspiracy; Daniel, having concluded a secret anti-Horde alliance with Andrei, sought at the same time the same alliance with the pope and the European Catholic sovereigns. In addition, he achieved great success in the war with Lithuania: in 1251/52, the Turov-Pinsk princes went over to his side, and then never emerged from dependence on the Galician table; together they ravaged the Novogrudok land of Mindaugas. However, at the same time, at the beginning of 1252, Alexander went to the Horde, denounced his brother, and together with the Horde army (“Nevryuev’s army”) defeated and expelled Andrei (1252). Rus' was again united into one Grand Duchy of Kiev/Vladimir (the main table was moved to Vladimir), and since then Mongol rule has not wavered in most of its expanses. The exception was the Galician state of Daniel. In 1252, Daniel found himself in an open break with the Horde (and at the same time with its Russian vassals), and from that time the Horde troops under the command of Juchid Khurumchi (Kuremsy) raided Western Rus', however, to no avail. This is exactly how the possessions of the Rurikovichs - for the first time in their entire history - lost state unity with the secession of the Galician state.
South-west direction.
In 1249, Batu, true to his usual policy, divided Georgia into two vassal kingdoms (as we remember, in the same year he carried out a similar transformation of Rus').
Indian border.
In 1248, the Delhi prince Jalal Khan, son of Iltutmish, fled to the Mongols due to internal conflicts in the Delhi Sultanate and waited for the election of a new khan to seek his help. He had to wait a long time. Meanwhile, in 1249, Saifuddin Hasan Karluk attacked the Delhiites from Binban and besieged Multan, but died during the siege. Having hidden this, his son Nasreddin took Multan with the help of the Mongols (1249), but soon the Delhiites returned it again (c. 1250). In 1249, during the Indian campaign, the commander of the Indian group of the imperial army in Eastern Iran, Kurilchin-noyon, died, and his place was taken by the Jochid military leader Neguder. Later that year, he, together with the ruler of Sistan, Ali ibn Masud, dependent on the Mongols, punished the city of Nikh that had separated from him.
During the years of the interregnum, Shamsaddin I Kurt, the vassal ruler of Herat and Gur, in an unclear way acted on the side of Monke. As a reward in 1251/52, Monke gave him a label for Sistan, Tokharistan (including Balkh and Murghab) and Afghanistan “up to the Indus and the border of India.” Of all these territories, the southern Afghan lands had yet to be conquered, and the other areas had previously been mainly under the control of the khagan (i.e., essentially the military leaders of the imperial army), and were now transferred to Shamsaddin; in particular, Tahir Bahadur transferred Balkh to Kurt, expelling the former local ruler from there. Shamsaddin soon began military operations against the independent Afghans.
South Central direction.
After two years of intensive negotiations between Hadan Khan and the Sakya Panditas, on the one hand, and the Tibetan hierarchs, on the other, the Tibetan theocracies expressed their readiness to accept Mongol power, and in 1249 Hadan officially granted the Sakya Pandita the rulership of all the hitherto independent theocracies of Tibet (and at the same time transferred to the control of Sakya all the Tibetan territories previously captured by the Mongols); Sakya himself actively persuaded the Tibetan hierarchs to submit to this decision, citing the advantages of an alliance with the Mongols and the disastrous consequences of a quarrel with them. Tibet accepted his rule and thus the status of an indefinite vassalage to the Mongols (1249). Sakya Pandita, however, died in 1251, and Tibet immediately regained its independence. In response, in 1252-1253, the Mongols invaded Tibet and defeated some very high-ranking local commander; The Tibetans again had to recognize the Mongol power, but the latter had not yet received proper organization.
Eastern direction.
In response to the secession of Korea (1247), Mongol troops systematically destroyed its regions in 1247-53, demanding recognition of vassalage and the transfer of the royal court to the mainland, within the reach of the Mongols; however, the court, having taken refuge on the safe islands, stoically endured the misfortunes of its subjects and collected taxes from the survivors (primarily in the three southern provinces). Korean losses reached hundreds of thousands per year; The Mongol ambassadors quite seriously recommended that the Korean king take pity on his people, but he turned out to be insensitive to these admonitions.

The position and division of the Mongol Empire after all the events of 1248-1251/52 is shown on map 4.

Commentary on cards 5-6

Mongol Empire under Monke Khan (1252-1259). Imperial affairs in 1252-1259.

Monke's first imperial enterprise was the Iranian campaign. Hulagu, after lengthy preparation, set out to the west in 1253. His vanguard, under the command of Ketbugi, crossed the Amu Darya in the same year and began the siege of the Ismaili fortress in Kuhistan. At the same time, he maintained contacts with the imperial-Juchid army of the Mongols in Eastern Iran and on the Indian frontiers. Hulagu himself, however, was forbidden by Batu to cross the Amu Darya, where his possessions began (Batu thus decided to sabotage the imperial campaign, as he feared that Hulagu, once in Iran, would take it for himself, which, by the way, happened in the end) . Monke did not dare to insist on his own and accepted Batu’s decision, although he did not allow Hulagu to return. As a result, Hulagu spent 1254 with Ergene, the mistress of the remnant Ulus of Chagatai.
The following year, 1255, Batu died, nicknamed Sain Khan (“Kind [not in the sense of “compassionate”, but in the sense of “exemplary, excellent,” although this included generosity: according to European observers, Batu was unusually merciful to his subjects from the “decimal” imperial people] sovereign”), as his Armenian and Muslim subjects, including those who were hostile to the Mongols, called him, for justice and generosity. Sartak, his son and probable heir, was at that moment on his way to Karakorum; Having learned about the death of his father, he did not return to take power, but continued on his way to the khan. He, delighted with such a manifestation of loyalty, not only established him on the Jochid throne, but also somehow expanded his possessions compared to his father’s - apparently, at the expense of Azerbaijan and Arran, subsequently these were the only Transcaucasian possessions that the Jochids demanded leave behind them, referring specifically to the labels of Monke and Kublai.
Upon learning of Batu's death, Hulagu moved on; in the fall of 1255 he reached Samarkand, and in January 1256 he entered Khorasan. Here he took over, on behalf of the Khagan and Sartak, Batu's successor, the management of the Khagan-Juchid condominium south of the Caucasus-Amu Darya line. From the very beginning, Hulagu declared himself as an ardent enemy of Muslims, patron of Christians and patron of Jews and small sects. Hulagu took part of the Juchid-imperial troops, including detachments of some princes (among them Tutar), with him to the west, and left part in the east.
Meanwhile, Batu's son Sartak returned from Karakorum around the end of 1256 as the newly confirmed khan of the Jochi Ulus. Almost immediately upon his return, he was poisoned by his uncle, Batu’s brother, Berke (beginning of 1257; the Christian Sartak declared that he hated the very sight of the Muslim Berke, and thereby brought a similar end upon himself). Monke approved the young Ulagchi, son of Tukukan, son of Batu, as the new khan of Ulus Jochi (perhaps Sartak managed to adopt Ulagchi as a potential heir), under the regency of Batu's widow, Borakchin Khatun. In the same 1257, Ulagchi died, one might think that not without the help of Berke, who became the new khan (1257-1266). The capitals of Berke were Sarai-Berke (New Sarai, on Akhtuba, not far from Sarai-Batu, or Old Sarai, located further south along the same river. New Sarai served as the capital of the Ulus of Jochi until the 70s of the 14th century.) and Bolgar (the latter once again testified to his Muslim sympathies).
Hulagu should have received information about the Monke label given to Sartak almost simultaneously with the news of the death of Sartak himself. Of course, not only did he not think to hand over Arran and Azerbaijan to Ulagchi (who, by the way, had not yet received a label for them), but, apparently taking advantage of his weakness, in 1257 he also removed the Jochid administration from Georgia and began to rule it himself (which he had formal rights to do; as we remember, Batu in 1243 extended his administration to Georgia without permission). This retention of Arran and Azerbaijan subsequently caused a fierce Jochid-Hulaguid enmity.
Meanwhile, in 1256, Monke organized a kurultai in Orbolgetu (Ormuhetu), which had no other purpose than festivities demonstrating his power. Now, finally, he could move on to implementing his strategic plans in both Iran and China. In the first direction, Hulagu acted with exceptional success; in the second, the transition to decisive action was somewhat delayed: although preparations for Monke’s own campaign against China were completed in the summer of 1257, the khan was waiting for the successful completion of private operations on the flank of China (Uriankhatai’s campaign to the South China Sea, see below). By the beginning of 1258, the southern operations were completed. In March 1258, Monke finally launched a general attack on China from four sides at once and himself moved to the front. At the same time, according to custom, he left his younger brother Arigbuga to replace himself in Karakorum (whose own inheritance covered part of Altai, Tuva and the territory of the Yenisei Kyrkyz-Khakas in the Minusinsk Basin). Carrying out the daily duties of the khagan and directly controlling Mongolia, Arigbuga thereby found himself in the most advantageous position from the point of view of inheriting the throne. During the Chinese War, Monke, besieging the Hezhou fortress, died on August 11, 1259 from dysentery or cholera; this meant the actual breakdown of the campaign.
Monke Khan died without accomplishing even a small fraction of what he could have done with his talents. He was one of the last khans who built and carried out imperial plans, and the last khan who knew how to do it correctly.

Ulus affairs in 1252-59. North-west direction.

Here the state of affairs was entirely determined by the Mongolian-Galician-Lithuanian confrontation. In 1253, emphasizing his independence from the Mongols and their vassal Alexander, Daniil Galitsky took the title of “King of Vladimir” in Drogichin, according to one of his centers - Vladimir-Volynsky. Thus, the secession of the Galician state (from now on called the “Kingdom of Little Rus'” and the “Kingdom of Vladimir”, respectively Russia Minor and Lodomeria in Latin) was consolidated at the formal level.
The logic of events pushed two anti-Mongol forces - the power of Daniel and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Mindaugas - towards reconciliation. In 1254, they actually made peace on the basis of recognition of the status quo, and the Novogrudok land became a kind of condominium: Daniel’s son Roman sat down to reign there instead of the Lithuanians, but as a vassal of Mindaugas. Meanwhile, in 1254, Khurumchi was able to seize Bakota from Daniil’s possessions as a Horde protectorate. However, taking advantage of the peace with Lithuania and the death of Batu, Daniel, having conquered the Yatvingians in 1255-1256 (the first tribute was received from them in 1257), himself moved against Khurumchi and in 1256-57 occupied the Bolokhov lands, as well as part of Podolia and Porosye (the latter were previously part of the direct possessions of the Jochids). For his part, the Horde military leader Burundai in 1257 raided the Lithuanian region of Nalshany. But the Khurumchi campaign in 1258 against Daniel remained unsuccessful (like his previous annual actions), and Lithuania in 1258 seized part of the territory of the Smolensk principality (Voishchina) . As a result, Berke Khan decided to restore order in the northwest and fight with Lithuania.
Southwest direction
As we remember, in 1253 Ketbug with the advanced units of Hulagu began military operations against the Ismaili fortresses in Kuhistan. At the beginning of 1256, Hulagu himself appeared in Iran. In Khorasan he was met by Shamsaddin I Kurt; he was allowed to return to Herat, from where he resumed his Afghan conquests. Hulagu in 1256 completely crushed the main forces of the Ismailis and their capital in Alamut, and by the beginning of 1257 he put an end to their main centers (however, the last fortresses in Elburz fell only in 1259, and the complete liquidation of the Ismailis in Kuhistan dragged on for twenty years). At the same time, apparently, already in 1256, Hulagu introduced his own tax administration in Iran, de facto creating, without any rights, a new ulus; Apparently, he was confident that his brother Khan would not oppose him. Hulagu made Mugan his base, and Bachu was forced to move from there to Asia Minor.
In 1257, Hulagu demanded submission from the last Abbasid caliph, and, having received a refusal, conquered the Baghdad Caliphate, and executed the caliph (February 1258). In response, Berke, a zealous Muslim and the formal ruler of the territories where Hulagu operated, installed caliph al-Hakim in Aleppo. This did not have any big consequences (Hulagu was planning to go to Syria in any case, including Aleppo), but it completely ruined the relationship between Berke and Hulagu.

Eastern Iran.

In 1254, Shamsaddin I Kurt, taking possession of the areas given to him by Monke, made his first campaign against the Afghans (in the region of Kandahar - Suleiman Mountains - northern Baluchistan), taking the fortresses of Mastung, Kuzdar and Mashki, and at the same time occupied several fortresses in Garsmir. The campaigns against the Afghans continued later; eventually by the end of the 50s. Shamsaddin conquered the whole of Afghanistan, along with the Suleimen Mountains (then these mountains were the main area of ​​​​settlement of Afghans) and the adjacent areas of present-day Baluchistan (with the fortresses of Mastung, Sibi, Duki, etc.). Meanwhile, in 1255, Ali ibn Masud, the ruler of Sistan, whose territory the label of Monke Khan reassigned to the Herat Shamsaddin Kurt, was summoned by Ketbuga, the right hand of Hulagu, who fought with the Kuhistan Ismailis, to auxiliary military service; Ali ibn Masud. as a loyal vassal, he immediately went to Ketbuga in Kukhistan. In his absence, Shamsaddin Kurt appeared in Sistan and, according to Monke's label, subordinated it to his administration without resistance. Ali ibn Masud soon, having completed his service, returned to Sistan, but had practically no power there, being subordinate to Kurt, and an open quarrel between them was only a matter of time. Meanwhile, around 1257/1258, Shamsaddin, who by this time had taken possession of a significant part of the lands granted to him by Monke, quarreled with the Jochids from the imperial army, Tutar and Balagam, stationed in Badgiz, and refused to provide the requisitions that the Badgiz chiefs had previously imposed on him by order Batu. Balagai summoned Ketbuga from Kuhistan and sent him to Shamsaddin, while at the same time rebelling against the Sistan vassal-governor of the Kurts, Ali ibn Masud. Seeing the superiority of the enemy's forces, Shamsaddin locked himself in Herat. Soon, however, he defeated Ketbuga and killed his ally Ali, after which he restored his power in Sistan; however, he did not hope to continue the fight against the Mongols, did not intend to quarrel with Hulagu, who favored him, and still considered himself his devoted vassal. He intended to prove that he was only at enmity with the Jochid noyons of the imperial army, who themselves violated Hulagu's orders in relation to him. Since Hulagu himself was hostile to the Juchids (and the commander of Hulagu himself, Ketbug, acted in this conflict only as their instrument), Shamsaddin was not afraid of his anger. Having barely dealt with Ali, Shamsaddin immediately went to Hulagu to present his case to his court. The Jochids tried to intercept him on the road, but to no avail, after which Shamsaddin was detained and brought to Hulagu. Having found out the details, Hulagu became furious against the Juchids, freed Shamsaddin and confirmed his power in Herat, but Sistan, as a vassal possession of the Kurts, was handed over to Nasreddin, the nephew of the murdered Ali ibn Masud, who came to him with a complaint approximately at the same time as Shamsaddin Kurt. So, Sistan again became dependent on the Kurts, but their direct rule was entrusted to Nasreddin, who hated them. In 1258/1259 both returned to their appanages. Having barely established himself in Sistan as a vassal of Kurt, Nasreddin was recalled to the service of Hulagu, who was fighting in the west, and 1259-1260. spent with him.

Indian border.

In 1253, Jalal Khan, a Delhi prince who had fled to the Mongols back in 1248, finally found himself in Karakorum and was received by Monke, who promised him his support.
In the winter of 1253-54. the Mongol military leader Sali, together with Jalal, moved to Delhi, wanting to place Jalal Khan there as a Mongol vassal (on this occasion, he took the throne name Jalaluddin Masud). Sali captured Lahore and the entire area up to the western bank of the Sutlej (Kiya and Sodra), but was unable to advance further due to the resistance of the Delhi troops of the Sultanate. The region he captured up to the Sutlej became the special inheritance of Jalal Khan as a Mongol vassal. In 1254, another Delhi prince, Nusrat Sher Khan, was expelled from India and fled to Monke, asking him for help in Karakorum (1254); however, already in 1255 he returned back and made peace with the Delhi Sultan.
After Hulagu came to Iran, Kishlu Khan, the Delhi governor of Multan and Ucha (Upper Sind), through Shamsaddin Kurt, entered into relations with Hulagu in 1256 and sent his son to him. Although he did not send him help or a resident Shahna, Kishlu Khan, at his own peril and risk, withdrew from Delhi with his region and recognized himself as a vassal of Hulagu. Around the beginning of 1257, Nusrat Sher Khan expelled Jalaluddin Masud from Lahore, and Kishlu, who in the summer of 1257 had unsuccessfully tried to expand his possessions in the direction of Samana, again asked Hulagu for help. In response, in December 1257, Sali entered Sindh from his base in Khorasan, occupied Uch and Multan, concluded a formal treaty with Kishlu and planted a shahna there. He then moved with Kishlu to the sultanate, crossed the Sutlej and unsuccessfully tried to capture Delhi, but withdrew without a fight due to the appearance of the Delhi army. Lahore still remained, apparently, behind the Mongols, and the border passed along Bias. OK. 1258 Sali raided Kashmir and subjugated it. In 1258-59 the Mongols raided the Delhiites across the newly established Bias border.
Meanwhile, in 1258, Balban, the regent of the Delhi Sultanate, entered into secret anti-Mongol relations with Nasreddin Karluk, the son and successor of Hassan, and through his mediation entered into relations with Hulagu with the intention of concluding a peace treaty with the Mongols and using it for his own purposes.

South and southeast direction.

Monke Khan put Kublai Khan in charge of Tibetan and North Chinese affairs. As we remember, in 1252-1253 Tibet again had to recognize Mongol power, but its management remained unestablished. To solve this problem, in 1253 Kublai summoned the new Sakya hierarch Pagbu and proclaimed him the new ruler of all Tibet under the Mongol protectorate (1253/1254). Only the Tibetan principalities of the southeastern enclave remained outside the control of the Mongols for about a year. At the same time, Kublai carefully prepared a campaign against Dali. In September of the same 1253, he set out from Shaanxi together with Uriankhatai, the son of Subudai, and moved through Sichuan to the borders of Dali. By this time, the Mongols had sacked Chengdu (late 1252) and captured a bridgehead south of it, thereby clearing the way for Kublai to reach Dali. In the early autumn of 1253, Kublai passed through these places and crossed the river. Jiansha and, having subjugated two local principalities, Mussa and Pe, sent King Dali a demand to submit. In response, he executed the Mongol ambassadors. At the end of October 1253, the Mongols defeated the Dali army on the Yangtze, after which they entered the capital of Dali without a fight. Dali became a Mongol vassal (later, in 1257, it was apparently annexed and incorporated into the newly formed Yunnan Province). After this, Kublai returned to the north, leaving Uriankhatai in command. In 1254, he conquered the Tibetan principalities southeast of Tsangpo from Yunnan, forcing them to submit (Tibetan Pagpa?), and then went north to report to the khagan. At the same time, the Mongols laid siege to Hozhou; The frightened Suns handed over to the Mongols the surviving members of the Mongol mission, arrested in China at the turn of 1241-42, after many years of imprisonment. Meanwhile, having met with the Khagan, Uriankhatai returned to the theater of war with lightning speed, in 1255 he took troops from Tibet and unleashed them on the Burmese tribes neighboring Tibet and Dali, in the territory of later Yunnan. In 1256 - beginning. In 1257 he completed this conquest by conquering several Burmese formations north of Pagan all the way to the borders of Daviet (Vietnam). The administrative region of Yunnan was formed on the conquered lands. In 1257, Uriankhatai sent an embassy to Daviet, which formally recognized the suzerainty of the Suns, the enemies of the Mongols, and demanded submission; In response, the Daviet sovereign threw the ambassadors into custody, which triggered the Mongol-Vietnamese war. In October 1257, Uriankhatai moved to Da Viet, in November-December he crossed the entire country and at the end of the year occupied Hanoi, but due to the intolerable climate and resistance of the Vietnamese, he retreated without a fight after 9 days and at the very beginning of 1258. left the country. Nevertheless, the Vietnamese king abdicated the throne, and his successor at the beginning of 1258 recognized, at the request of Nasreddin, the representative of the Great Khan, a purely nominal vassalage in relation to the Great Khan. At the same time, the Vietnamese did not even give hostages and did not receive a Mongolian guard.
At the end of the Vietnamese conflict, the first phase of operations against China - encircling it from the west all the way to the sea - was completed, and in the spring of 1258 Monke launched a general offensive against China itself. In March-April 1258, the Mongol border forces captured Chengdu, after which Monke himself arrived here. In May he deployed his army in the Liulanshan Mountains (Gansu) and, passing through Shaanxi, entered Hanzhong in October. Here the fighting began, which took a whole year, during which Mongke, in general, advanced to the Chongqing region. The autumn and winter of 1258/1259 took him to capture several fortresses in the south and southeast of Chengdu and in northern Sichuan; Finally, by the spring of 1259, he besieged the large fortress of Hezhou, where he was stuck for six months. In the end, after several unsuccessful assaults, Monke died near Hezhou on August 11, 1259 from illness. The Mongol offensive failed.
Meanwhile, Uriankhatai moved from the Dalia-Daviet border around the fall of 1258, defeated the Chinese border army, marched from south to north through Guangxi, occupying several local fortresses (Binyan, Gongxian, Guilin), invaded Hunan (1259) and In August 1259 he besieged Tanzhou, where he got stuck, however, defeating the Chinese in a field battle.
Finally, Khubilai, having set out from Kaipyn to the south in November-December 1258, concentrated his forces in Henan only in August 1259.

Eastern direction.

In Korea, after the Mongol campaign of 1253 and the establishment of military settlements by the Mongols in the northern borderlands of the country, the king asked for a Mongol mission to negotiate; it was sent, but the king never recognized Mongol power (the same 1253), and the war resumed. In 1254, Monke replaced the commander in Korea with Cheloday; he shifted the center of gravity of operations to the southern provinces. In 1254 a campaign was made there, but Goryeo again did not submit. New Mongol campaigns in 1255-56 and 1257-59, having subjected the southern provinces to defeat, did not force the king to capitulate, although the total number of victims reached 2.6 million people in fifteen years, and in 1258 the Mongols seized part of North Korean territory , creating from it a viceroyalty centered in Hwaju. Finally, in 1259, a coup d'état took place in Korea; the new king immediately capitulated and recognized himself as a Mongol vassal, although he still did not move to the mainland. Since Monke was located far to the west, the Korean negotiated the recognition of Mongolian power with Kublai Kublai in Northern China. This last success of Mongke's reign proved to be the most lasting, as Koryo remained loyal to the Mongols until the collapse of their power in China a century later, and even for some time after that.

Chronological tables: Rulers of the Empire and its parts, as well as vassal formations and main enemies in the 13th-15th centuries.

Beginning of the Empire:

Temujin Chinggis Khan 1206-1227
Ogedei, son of Genghis Khan 1229-1241
regency of Toregene-Khatun, widow of Ogedei 1241-1246
Guyuk (Kuylyuk) -khagan, son of Ogedei 1246-1248
regency of Ogul Gaymysh, widows of Guyuk 1248-1251

Ulus of Toluids (from 1252 khagan ulus):

Tolui (Tuli) mind. 1232
Monke, son of Tolui 1232-1259, khan 1251/52-1259
(Arigbuga, son of Tolui 1260-1264)
Kublai (Khubilai-Secheng), son of Tolui (Chinese posthumous title Shizu) 1260-1294
Temur Oljaytu, son of Chinkim, son of Kublai (Chinese posthumous title Chengzong) 1294-1307
Haysan Khulug, son of Darmabala, son of Chinkim (Chinese posthumous title Uzong) 1307-1311 Ayurbaribada Buyantu Khan, son of Darmabala, son of Chinkim (Chinese posthumous title Renzong) 1311-1320
Shidabala (Suddhibala) Gegen Khan, son of Buyantu (Chinese posthumous title Yinzong) 1320-1323
Taydin Esen (Yesun) - Temur Khan, son of Kammala, son of Kublai (Chinese posthumous title Taydin-di) 1323-1328
Arajabig, son of Esen Temur 1328-1329
Tog (Toges)-Temur Jayagatu Khan, son of Haysan-Huluga (Chinese posthumous title Wenzong) 1328-1329, 1329-1332
Khoselan (Khosala, Khoshila) Khutukhtu Khan (Chinese posthumous title Minzong) 1329
Dinakh Irinjibal (Rinchinbal)-khagan, son of Khoselan 1332
Togon-Temur (Togan-Temur) Ukhagatu-khagan, son of Khoselan (Chinese posthumous title of Shundi) 1332-1370
Ayushiridara Biligtu Khan, son of Togon Temur 1370-1378
Togus Temur Uskhal Khan Ahmud, son of Togon Temur 1378-1388
Enkh (Enke)-dzorigtu-khagan, son of Togus-Temur 1388-1391
Elbeg-Nigulesegchi-khagan Ahmad, son of Togus-Temur 1391-1401
Gun-Temur Togogon (Togon)-khagan, son of Elbeg 1401-1402 Oirat rulers
El-Temur (Oljaytu-Temur), son of Elbeg 1403-1410 Ugechi-khashag (Monke-Temur of Oirat?), son of Khudhai Tayu 1401-c.1420
Delbeg (Talba), son of Elbeg 1411-1415 Esehu, son of Ugechi, c.1420-c.1422,
Oiradtai, who declared himself the son of Elbeg 1416-1425 Batula, son of Khudhai-Tayyu, 1401/c.1422-1425
Adai, who declared himself the son of Elbeg 1425-1438 Togon, son of Batula, ruler of the Oirats, 1425/1434 -1439
Daysun Toktoga-buga (Toktobuga), stepson of Adai, son of Ajay, son of Haragutsug Tuurang-Temur, son of Togus-Temur Uskhal Khan 1438-1452 Esen, son of Togon, 1440-1452 - Oirat ruler,
(Esen Oirat) 1452-1453 1452-1453 - Mongol Khagan
Maga Gerges Uhegetu Khan, son of Daisun 1453
Molon, son of Daisun 1454-1463
Mandugul, - stepson of Adai, son of Ajay, son of Kharagutsug Tuurang-Temur, son of Togus-Temur Uskhal Khan 1464-1467
Bayan-Munke-bolhu-jinong, son of Kharagutsag, son of Agbarjin - stepson of Adai and son of Ajay, son of Kharagutsug Tuurang-Temur, son of Togus-Temur Uskhal Khan 1468-1470
Batu-Mongke bolhu-jinong Dayan-khagan, son of Bayan-Mongke bolhu-jinong 1470-1543

Ulus Jochi: Ulus Batu (indigenous yurt of Ulus Jochi, Volga Horde):

Jochi (until 1226)
Batu Sain Khan 1226-1255
Sartak, son of Batu 1255-1257
Ulagchi, son of Tutukan, son of Batu 1257
Berke, son of Jochi 1257-1266
Monke-Temur, son of Tutukan, son of Batu 1266-1280
Tuda-Monke, son of Tutukan, son of Batu 1280-1283/1287
Tolebuga, son of Bortu, son of Tutukan, son of Batu 1283/1287-1290
Tokhtu (Tokhtagai, Tokhtogu), son of Monke-Temur 1291-1312
Muhammad Uzbek, son of Togrilji, son of Monke-Temur 1312-1341
Tinibek, son of Uzbek 1341-1342
Janibek, son of Uzbek 1342-1357
Berdibek, son of Janibek 1357-1359
Kulpa (son of Janibek??) 1359-1360
Navruz (descendant of Uzbek) 1360
Khizr (descendant of Ord-Ichen, son of Jochi) 1359-1361
Timur Khoja, son of Khizr 1361
Abdullah (descendant of Uzbek?) 1361, 1362
Ordumelik, brother of Timur Khoja 1361
Keldibek (declared himself the son of Uzbek) 1361-1362
Abdullah (repeat) 1362
Murid, brother of Khizr 1362-1363
Khair Pulad-Temur-Khoja, descendant of Janibek 1363-1364
Aziz Sheikh 1364-1370
Muhammad Bülek, descendant of Batu 1370-1375
Salchi-Cherkess 1375
Kaganbek, descendant of Batu 1375-1377
Arabshah, son of Kaganbek 1377-1379

Ulus of Jochi: Ulus of Orda-Ichena (Ak-Orda, White Horde according to Muslim accounts, indigenous yurt of the Zayaitsky Horde):

Horde-Ichen son of Jochi 1226-1280
Konchi (Kuchi, Huchi), son of Ord-Ichen 1280-1301
Bayan, son of Konchi from 1301, in the fight against Kutlug Khoja
Kutlug-Khoja, son of Shahi son of Ord-Ichen 1301 - ca. 1306?
Bayan, son of Konchi (again) 1309
Sasy-buka (Sary-buka), son of Nokai, son of Shahi son of Ord Ichen 1309-1315
Ilbasan (Ibisan, Erzen) son of Sasa-buki 1315-1320
Mubarek Khoja son of Erzen 1320-1344
Chimtay son of Erzen 1344-1360
Himtai son of Chimtai 1360-1361
Urus son of Himtai 1361-1377
Toktakiya son of Urus 1377
Timurmelik son of Urus 1377 (-1395)
Tokhtamysh son of Tui-khoja-oglan (son of Chimtai or descendant of Tuga-timur son of Jochi) 1377-1395/1398 (killed 1406)
1379-1380 annexation of the Volga Horde by Tokhtamysh
Timur-Kutlug son of Timurmelik son of Urus 1395/1398-1400
Shadibek, son of Kutlug-buki son of Urus 1400-1407
Pulad-sultan (Bulat-saltan) son of Shadibek 1407-1410
Timur Khan son of Timur-Kutlug son of Timurmelik 1410-1411
Jalaladdin son of Tokhtamysh 1406/1411-1413
Kerim-berdy son of Tokhtamysh 1413-1414
Kebek (Kapek) - Berdy son of Tokhtamysh 1414-1415
Kadyr (Kidir)-berdy son of Tokhtamysh 1415-1419
1419 separation of the Mangyt (Nogai) Horde (with the death of its emir Idiku [Edigei], the real ruler of the Horde in 1395-1411, an opponent of the khans in 1411-1419))
Ulug-Muhammad son of Hasan son of Yansy descendant of Tugatemur son of Jochi 1419-1434 1420/1425 deposition of the eastern part of the Horde (along the Syr Darya, in the steppes of modern Kazakhstan and Siberia = former indigenous ulus of the house of Ordu-Ichen together with the ulus of Sheyban) under the leadership of Barak, son Kairichak, son of Urus Khan) = foundation of the "Uzbek" Khanate
1426 declaration of independence by the Mangyt (Nogai) Horde
1427 separation of Crimea under the rule of Davlet-Birda, son of Bash-Timur, son of Yansa, descendant of Tugatemur son of Jochi
Said-Akhmad, son of Tokhtamysh 1434-1436
Kuchuk-Muhammad, son of Timur, son of Timur-Kutlug 1436-1459
1445 Mamutek, son of Ulug-Muhammad expelled in 1438, captures Kazan. Foundation of the separate Kazan Khanate (the khans are descendants of Mamutek)
1449 secession of Crimea into a special khanate by the Juchid Davlet-Birdy (Hadji Giray), son of Bash-Timur, son of Yansa, descendant of Tugatemur son of Jochi (ruled Crimea from 1427)
Mahmud, son of Kuchuk-Muhammad 1459-1466
Ahmad, son of Mahmud 1466-1481
Sayyid-Ahmad II, son of Ahmad 1481-15021502 destruction of the Great Horde by the Crimeans

Ulus Jochi: Ulus Sheyban:

Sheiban, son of Jochi 1243-1248
Bahadur, son of Sheiban 1248-c.1280
Juchibuga, son of Bahadur c.1280-c.1310
Baynal, son of Juchibuga c.1310 - ...
Abulkhair son of Devlet Sheikh
son Ibrahim-oglan,
son of Pulad, son of Moncatamur,
son of Bidakul, son of Juchibuga c.1420-1428; from 1428 Khan of the Uzbek Khanate

Uzbek (literally "Free") Khanate, officially since 1425:

Barak son of Kairichak son of Urus 1422/1425-1428
1428 deposition by the princes of Baraka; transfer of the throne of the Uzbek ulus to the house of Sheiban
Abulkhair Khan from the clan of Sheiban son of Jochi 1428-14681465-68 deposition of Janibek and Giray, formation of the Kazakh (literally "Free") Khanate
Muhammad Shaybani Khan 1468-1510

Kazakh (literally "Free") Khanate, since 1468:

In 1465, two Chinggisid sultans of the Uzbek Khanate, Janibek and Giray, rebelled against Abulkhair Khan and migrated with their supporters to the territory of Mogolistan, to the area from Talas and Chu to the southwestern outskirts of Balkhash; their supporters formed the Kazakh (literally “Free”) Horde. In 1468, with the death of Abulkhair, the Kazakhs returned to the steppes and fought with the Uzbeks for them; this war ended with the Uzbeks c. 1500 were driven out to Maverranakhr, and the steppes that previously belonged to them were divided between the Kazakhs and Nogai.

Barak, son of Kairichak, son of Urus Khan, descendant of Ord-Ichen 1422-1459
Giray, son of Barak 1459-1474
Janibek, co-author Gireya 1459-1465
Muryndyk 1474-1511
Qasim 1511-1518
Mimash 1518-1523

Ulus of Chagatai:

Chagatai, son of Chinggis 1227-1242
Kara-Hulagu, son of Mutugen (Moituken), son of Chagatai 1242-1246, restored. 1252
Yesu-Monke, son of Chagatai 1247-1251
Ergene-khatun, widow of Kara-Hulagu 1252-1260
Algu, son of Baydar, son of Chagatai 1260-1266
Mubarak Shah, son of Kara-Hulagu 1266
Giyasaddin Barak, son of Yesun-Duva, son of Mutugen 1266-1270
Nigubey-ogul, son of Sarban, son of Chagatai 1270-1271/72
Buga-Temur (Toga-Temur), son of Buri, son of Mutugen 1272-1274
(Haidu regency, 1274-1282)
Duva, son of Barak 1282-1307
Kunchzhek, son of Duva 1307-1308
Talik Khizr, son of Buri, son of Mutugen 1308-1309
Kebek, son of Duva 1309, 1318-1325
Esenbuga, son of Duva 1309-1318
Elchigedey, son of Duva 1326
Duva-Temur, son of Duva 1326
Alaaddin Tarmashirin, son of Duva 1326-1334
Buzan, son of Duva Temur 1334
Jenkshi, son of Ebugen (Ayukan), son of Duva 1334-1338
Yesun Temur, brother of Jenkshi 1338-1339
Ali Sultan 1339-1345
Muhammad, son of Pulad, descendant of Chagatai 1345
Kazan, son of Yasavur, son of Chubai, son of Algu, son of Baydar, son of Chagatai 1343/45-1346
Mogolistan
Togluk Temur, grandson of Duva (?) 1348-1363
Ilyas Khoja, son of Togluk Temur 1363-1368
Khizr-Khoja, son of Togluk-Temur 1369-1399
Shams-i-jahan- 1399-1408
Mohammed Khan 1408-1415
Naqsh 1415-1418
Uwais (Vais) Khan 1418-1421, 1425-1428
Mohammed 1421-1425
Esenbuga 1429-1462
Yunus Khan 1462-1487
Mahmud Khan 1487-1508
Mansur Khan 1508-1543

Ulus Ogedey:

Ogedei, son of Chinggis 1227-1241
Guyuk, son of Ogedei 1241-1248
(interregnum, 1248-1252)
Khanat, son of Nagu, son of Guyuk 1252-1266
Haydu, son of Hashi (Hashin), son of Ogedei 1267-1301
Chebar, son of Haydu 1301 - ca.1310

Ulus Ilkhan:

Hulagu, son of Tolui 1256/1261-1265
Abaga, son of Hulagu 1265-1282
Teguder-Ahmed 1282-1284
Arghun 1284-1291
Gaykhatu 1291-1295
Baidu 1295
Mahmud Ghazan 1295-1304
Muhammad Khudabanda Oljaytu 1304-1316
Abu Said Alaaddunyawaddin 1316-1335
Arpa Keyun 1335-1336
Musa 1336-1337
Mohammed 1336-1339
Sati Beg Khatun 1338-1339
Jahan Temur 1339-1340
Sulaiman 1339-1343

Neguder horde:

Neguder, Jochid commander 1262 - c.1275
grandson of Mubarek Shah, son of Kara-Hulagu, grandson of Chagatai ca.1275-1279
Abdallah, son of Mochi, son of Baiju, son of Chagatai 1279-1298
Kutlug-Khwajay, son of Abdallah 1298-ca.1302
Davud-Khvajay, son of Kutlug-Khvajay c.1302-1313
(occupation by Ilkhan) 1313-ca.1315
Yasavur-oglan, son of Chubai, son of Algu, son of Baydar, son of Chagatai c.1315-1320

Barkuk Art-tegin 1208-1235
Kyshmain 1235-1242
Salyn-tegin 1243-1252
Ogrunj (Okendzhi)-tegin 1253-1265
Mamurak 1265-1266
Kozhigar-tegin 1266-1276
Nolen-tegin 1276-1318
Tomur-buga 1318- 1327
Sunggi-tegin 1327-1331
Taipan 1331-1335

Some vassal states of the Empire:

Hujon 1205-1211
Gangjong 1212-1213
Kojong 1213-1259
Wonjong 1260-1274
Zhongyeol 1275-1309
Junsong 1309-1314
Junseok 1314-1330
Zhongye 1330-1332, 1339-1344
Zhangsok 1332-1339
Jungmok 1344-1348
Zhunazhong 1349-1351
Kunming 1351-1374
Xing Wu 1374-1389

Tibet (Sakya dynasty):

Sakya Pandita 1244-1253
Pagpa Tisri* 1253-1280
Rinchen Tisri 1280-1282
Dharmapala Rakshita Tisri 1282-1287
Yishe Rinchen Tisri 1287-1295
Tragpa-oser Tisri 1295-1303
Rinchen Jantsen Tisri 1303-1305
Dorje Pal Tisri 1305-1313
Sangye Pal Tisri 1313-1316
Kunga Lotro Tisri 1316-1327
Kunga Lekpa Chungne Tisri 1327-1330
Kunga Jantsen Tisri 1330-1358

* Tisri - something like a “regent”, the title of the ruler of Tibet vassal to the Mongols

Rus' (Grand Duchy of Vladimir, from 1389 Moscow):

Vsevolod the Big Nest 1176-1212
Yuri Vsevolodovich 1212-1238
Yaroslav Vsevolodovich 1238-1246
Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich 1246-1247
Mikhail Yaroslavich Horobrit 1247
Andrey Yaroslavich (Vladimir) and Alexander Yaroslavich (Kyiv) 1247/1248-1252
Alexander Yaroslavich (Alexander Nevsky) 1252-1263
Yaroslav Yaroslavich 1263-1272
Vasily Yaroslavich 1272-1276
Dmitry Alexandrovich 1276-1281, displaced
Andrey Alexandrovich 1281-1283, displaced
Dmitry, again 1283-1284, removed
Andrew, again 1284-1286, removed
Dmitry, again 1286-1293, deposed
Andrey, again 1293-1304
Mikhail Yaroslavich (son of Yaroslav Yaroslavich) Saint, Prince. Tverskoy 1304-1319
Yuri Danilovich (son of Daniil Alexandrovich) 1319-1322, displaced
Dmitry Mikhailovich, Prince. Tverskoy 1322-1325
Alexander Mikhailovich, Prince. Tverskoy 1325-1327, displaced
Ivan Danilovich Kalita, book. Moscow 1328-1341
Simeon Ivanovich Proud, Prince. Moscow 1341-1353
Ivan Ivanovich Krasny, Prince. Moscow 1353-1359
Dmitry Konstantinovich (son of Konstantin Mikhailovich), Prince. Suzdal 1359-1363, displaced
Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy) 1363-1364, displaced
Dmitry Suzdalsky, again 1364, removed
Dmitry Donskoy, again 1364-1389
Mikhail, Prince Tverskoy 1371-1375, displaced
Vasily Dmitrievich, Prince. Moscow 1389-1425
Vasily Vasilievich Dark, Prince. Moscow 1425-1462
Ivan Vasilievich, Prince. Moscow 1462-1505

Little Rus' (Russia Minor), Kingdom of Vladimir:

Danila (Daniil) Galitsky 1205/1242-1264
Shvarn Danilovich 1264-1269
Lev Danilovich 1269-1301
Yuri I Lvovich 1301-1308
Lev II Yurievich 1308-1323
Andrei II Yuryevich, co-ruler 1308-1323
Yuri II (Bolesław Piast of Mazovia, in literature 1323-1340
sometimes mistakenly Yuri Andreevich)
Lyubart Gediminovich 1340-1349

Kerman-i-Makran, dynasty of Qutlug Khans, 1222-1304:

Barak Hajib Qutlug Khan 1222-1235
Qutb ad-din I Mohammed 1235-1236, 1252-1257
Rukn ad-din Khoja al-Haqq 1236-1252
Mozaffar ad-din Shajjaj 1257-1272
Turkan-khatun 1272-1282
Jalal ad-din Abu-l-Mozaffar 1282-1292
Safwat ad-din Padishah Khatun 1292-1295
Yuluk Shah 1292-1295
Mozaffar al-din II Mohammed Shah 1295-1301
Qutb ad-din II Shah 1301-1304/1308

Fars, Atabek-Salgurid dynasty:

Abubakr Kutlug 1226-1260
Saad II 1260
Mohammed I Adud-ud-din 1260-1262
Mohammed II 1262-1263
Seljuk 1263-1264
Abish-Hadud, daughter of Seljuk 1264-1287

Sistan (1350 - to Herat):

Shamsaddin Bahram Shah 1215-1221
Tajaddin Nasir II 1221
Ruknaddin Abu Mansur 1221-1222
Shihabaddin Mahmud 1222-1225
Ali 1225-1229
Masud 1229-1236
Shamsaddin Ali ibn Masud 1236-1255/58
Nasreddin I 1259-ca.1300
Nasreddin II c.1300-1328
Nusrataddin 1328-1331
Qutbuddin Muhammad 1331-1346
Tajaddin II 1346-1350

Herat and Gur (state of Kurtov):

Shamsaddin I 1245-1278
Rokhanaddin Shamsaddin II 1278-1285
Fakhraddin II 1285-1308
Ghiyasaddin 1308-1328
Shamsaddin III 1328-1329
Hafiz 1329-1331
Muizzaddin 1331-1370

Punjab state of Karluks:

Saifuddin Hasan Karluk c.1220-1249
Nasreddin Karluk 1249-1260

Queen Tamar (Tamara) 1184-1212
George IV 1212-1223
Queen Rusudani 1223-1245
interregnum 1245-1250
David V 1250-1258
David VI 1250-1269
interregnum 1269-1273
Demetrius 1273-1289
Vakhtang II 1289-1292
David VII 1292-1310
Vakhtang III 1301-1307
George V 1307-1314
George VI 1299-1346
David VIII 1346-1360

Rum Sultanate:

Kay-Khosrow II 1236-1245
Kay-Kavus II 1245-1257
Kilych-Arslan IV 1248-1264
Kay-Kubad 1249-1257
Kay-Khosrow III 1264-1282
Masud II 1282-1284, 1285-1292, 1293-1300, 1302-1305
Key-Kubad III (in the fight against Masud) 1284-1285, 1292-1293, 1300-1302, 1305-1307
Masud III 1307-1308

Empire of Trebizond:

Andronikos I Guide 1222-1235
John I Komnenos 1235-1238
Manuel I Komnenos 1238-1263
Andronikos II Komnenos 1263-1266
George Komnenos 1266-1280
John II Komnenos 1280-1284
Theodora Komnenos 1284-1287
Alexius II Komnenos 1287-1330
Andronikos III Komnenos 1330-1332
Manuel II Komnenos 1332
Vasily Komnenos 1332-1340

Great military powers - enemies of the Mongols:
Delhi and Mamluk Sultanates,
Grand Duchy of Lithuania:

Iltutmish 1211-1236
Firouzshah 1236
Radiya Begum Sultana 1236-1240
Bahramshah 1240-1242
Masudshah 1242-1246
Mahmudshah 1246-1266
Balban regent 1246-1266, sultan 1266-1287
Kayqubad 1287-1290
Gayumart 1290
Khiljiz Firuzshah Khilji 1290-1296
Ibrahimshah Kadyrkhan 1296
Muhammadshah Ali Garshasp 1296-1316
Umarshah 1316
Mubarakshah 1316-1320
Khosrowkhan Barvari 1320
Tughlukshah 1320-1324
Muhammadshah (Muhammad Tughluq) 1325-1351
Firuzshah 1351-1388

Ayyubids
Camille 1218-1227
Nasir II 1227-1229
Ashraf 1229-1237
Salih 1237-1238, 1239-1245
Adil II 1238-1239, 1240-1249
Salih II 1239, 1245-1249 1249-1250
Turanshah 1249-1250
Queen Shajar Durr 1250
Nasir III 1250-1260
Ashraf II 1250-1252
Mamluks
Aibek 1250, 1252-1257
Ali I 1257-1259
Kutuz 1259-1260
Baybars I 1260-1277
Baraka 1277-1279
Sulaimysh 1279
Keelown 1279-1290
Khalil 1290-1293
Baydara 1293
Muhammad I 1293-1294,1299-1309,1310-1341
Ketbuga 1294-1296
Lachin 1296-1299
Baybars II 1309-1310
Abubakr 1341
Kuchuk 1341-1342
Ahmad I 1342
Ismail 1342-1345
Sha'ban I 1345-1346
Haji I 1346-1347
Hassan 1347-1351, 1354-1361
Salih 1351-1354

Grand Duchy of Lithuania:

Mindovg con. 1230s - 1263
Touched 1263 - 1264
Voyshelk 1264 - 1266
Shvarn Danilovich 1266 - 1269
Triden 1270 - 1282
Pakuver 1283 - 1294
Viten 1295 - 1316
Gediminas 1316 - 1341
Evnut 1342 - 1345
Olgerd 1345 - 1377
Keistut 1345 - 1382
Jagiello 1377 - 1392
Vytautas 1392 - 1430

Perhaps there has never been an empire in history as majestic and impressive as the Mongol Empire. In less than 80 years, it grew from a small group of warriors to a size that spanned lands from the Pacific Ocean to the Danube. Today - about one of the most dramatic series of conquests in history, as well as how the Mongols themselves destroyed their invincible power.

In the 12th century, various Turkic and Mongol-Tungus tribes roamed the steppes of Mongolia. One of these tribes were the Mongols. Around 1130, the Mongols became a powerful tribe, defeating neighboring nomads and forcing the Jin Empire of Northern China to pay tribute. However, fame is short-lived. In 1160, the Mongol kingdom was defeated by a neighboring barbarian tribe. The Mongol clans (divisions within a tribe) became disunited and fought among themselves for what little they had.

The ruler of the Mongolian Kiyat family was Yesugei, a descendant of the khan of the former Mongolian kingdom. In 1167, Yesugei and his wife had a son, Temujin, later named Genghis Khan. When Temujin was nine years old, his father was poisoned by Tatar leaders. The boy was too young to retain power, and his father's clans abandoned him. Temujin and his family moved to empty parts of the steppes and were forced to feed on roots and rodents in order to survive. Temujin experienced many adventures: thieves chased their horses, his family was captured. When Temujin was 16 years old, his family was attacked by the Merkids and his wife was taken away. Temujin could not do anything with an army of five people, so he turned to one of his father’s old friends, Tooril Khan from the Kereit tribe, and he called on another leader, Jamukha. Together they defeated the Merkids and Temujin got his wife back. Temujin quickly took advantage of the friendship with his powerful allies, especially Jamukha, also a Mongol, with whom he was sworn, and became a prominent figure in the steppe. Temujin and Jamukha took control of most of the Mongol clans, but this was not enough for Temujin.

According to the Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty, one day Temujin and Jamukha were riding ahead of their army. Temujin was preparing to move on, and Jamukha stopped to set up a tent. Temujin quarreled with Jamukha, and the Mongol army was divided in half. Soon a fight broke out between them. Having gotten involved in a quarrel over an insignificant trifle, Temujin lost and was forced to retreat. However, ten years later he regained his lost positions. From there he began the conquest of Mongolia, which lasted several years. Unfortunately, there are too many details to fit into this article. In short, by 1204, Temujin had conquered everything that stood against him. He defeated the Tatar tribe of Kereits of Tooril Khan, who later betrayed him, the tribe of Naiman, Merkids and the Mongol clans of Jamukha.

Mongol Empire after 1204

In 1206, Temujin held a large kurultai (meeting of the Mongol nobility) on the banks of the Onon River. There he took the title Genghis Khan. At the same kurultai, Genghis Khan determined the structure and established laws for his new empire. He maintained stability and interaction between different tribes within his state with the help of a military layer. The population was divided into groups responsible for equipping and feeding a certain number of warriors, ready for battle at any moment. Thus, the old tribal customs were abolished. In addition, he created a set of clear laws and created an effective administrative hierarchy. Genghis Khan created the most modern state among all the steppe peoples of his time. His Horde would soon become the most disciplined, the most powerful and the most feared army of all that roamed the steppes.

War in North China

By the beginning of 1242, preparing to advance further into Europe, Batu unexpectedly received news from Mongolia that the Great Khan Ogedei had died. His situation became more complicated: his rival Guyuk received the title of Great Khan. Because Batu had conquered so much land, the Mongol Empire was in danger of serious political instability. To avoid trouble, he decided to stay in Rus' and establish control over it. As a result, the Mongol army completely withdrew from Poland and Hungary.

Europe was abandoned, and Batu returned to the north of the Caspian Sea. There he founded his capital, Sarai-Batu, and turned his inherited lands into a khanate, which was known as the Blue Horde. Batu's two brothers, Orda and Shiban, who also participated in the campaign, also founded their own khanates. The Khanate of the Horde, the White Horde, was located east of Batu's Blue Horde. Since Batu and Horde were members of the Golden Clan, both khanates were friendly and were called the “Golden Horde”. But the Khanate of Shiban has not been established for certain. Although the khans of the Golden Horde would continue to recognize the superiority of the Great Khan and remain part of the Mongol Empire for another four decades, in reality they maintained political independence.

Great Khan Guyuk

Guyuk received the title of Khakhan (Khan of Khans) in 1246. Tensions between Batu and Karakorum reached their highest point. Fortunately, Guyuk died in 1248, just two years after his accession. Guyuk's early death prevented a major civil war, but the weakening of the Mongol Empire was inevitable. A period of civil disunity ensued, which ultimately destroyed the Mongol Empire. Guyuk achieved little during his reign, not to mention the fact that he caused this disunity.

Mongol Crusaders - Great Khan Mongke

The next khan, Mongke, was elected in 1251. After he was elected Khakhan, Mongke announced his plans to continue the line of conquest that had been suspended during Guyuk's reign. The first was the conquest of the Song Empire, the last of the three Chinese empires not conquered by Genghis Khan. About the long conquest of the Song - below. As a second point, he planned to destroy the Assassins (Ismailis), who threatened the governors of the western provinces, and subjugate the Abbasid caliph. Thus, this campaign would go through Persia and Mesopotamia, and then into the Middle East.

The Mongols had already partially invaded the Middle East: in 1243, the Mongol warlord Baiju conquered Erzurum, a city belonging to the Seljuk Sultanate. However, further campaigns against Baghdad were canceled due to the instability of newly acquired Asia Minor and political problems in Karakoram. Nevertheless, the campaign proposed by Mongke was very large-scale and fully corresponded to its name - great. While Möngke Khan personally led the attack on Song, he assigned his brother Hulagu to lead the Mongol "Crusade".

Hulagu Campaign

In 1253, Hulagu set out from Mongolia to launch the biggest operation since Batu's invasion of Rus'. He had the most advanced army that had yet to fight in a war, with the latest siege weapon technology in the world and a group of experienced military leaders. Hulagu's expedition aroused great enthusiasm among the Christian communities, and Georgian and Alan volunteers joined him. By normal Mongol standards, Hulagu's army advanced slowly. She reached Persia only three years later. Hulagu made his way to Khurasan (a region in Persia), annexing the local dynasty in the area. The first of the main tasks was completed by the capture of the Hertskukh Assassin fortress on the southern side of the Caspian Sea. Hulagu then advanced west and captured Alamut, forcing Grand Master Assassin to surrender.

After capturing Alamut, Hulagu went for the main trophy - Baghdad. The Caliph from Baghdad turned out to be an incompetent military leader who stupidly underestimated the threat. When the caliph began to prepare for the siege, Hulagu was already under the walls. 20 thousand horsemen rode out to confront the Mongols. They were easily defeated and a siege was inevitable. Baghdad held out for a week, after which its eastern walls were destroyed. On February 13, 1258, the city surrendered and was swept away by Mongol troops: treasures were looted, magnificent mosques were destroyed, and the population was killed. (Interestingly, all Christian residents in the city were spared). Accounts show the killing of 800 thousand people. This may have been an exaggeration, as the city was eventually rebuilt and inhabited. However, there is no doubt that the greatest city in the Middle East has forever lost its glory. The fall of Baghdad was one of the greatest blows to Islam.

Salvation of Egypt

Hulagu then withdrew almost his entire army, leaving only a small force of 15,000 men for his general Kitbuki to oversee the conquered territory. Meanwhile, the Mamluks, expecting a huge army of the Mongols, gathered a large force of 120 thousand people. But Hulagu had already withdrawn his army. Thus, the Mamluks met with only 25 thousand (15 thousand Mongols and 10 thousand allies) Kitbuki at Ain Jalut. Finding themselves in a significant minority, the Mongols lost the battle, and this defeat has traditionally come to symbolize in an exaggerated manner the abrupt halt in Mongol expansion. In truth, in reality, it was precisely the same way that the death of Khan Ogedei saved Europe.

Death of Mongke, Civil War and Kublai Khan

The death of Mongke Khan in 1259 was a significant turning point in the history of the empire. In the West, Hulagu's campaign was interrupted. The political situation in the East became unstable and thus Hulagu had to settle down to claim his land. The Hulaguid Khanate in Persia became known as the Il Khanate. However, the problems did not end there. Hulagu's Baghdad campaign angered the Muslim Berke, khan of the Golden Horde. The place of the Great Khan was empty, and there was no one to reconcile Berke and Hulagu, and a civil war broke out between them. And again, the civil war forced Berke to abandon his plans to ruin Europe again.

In the east, two brothers fought fiercely for the throne of the Great Khan: a year after the death of Mongke Khan in 1259, Kublai Khan was elected khan at the kurultai in Kaiping, and a month later at the kurultai in Karakorum, his brother, Arig-Buga, was also elected khan . The civil war continued until 1264 (parallel to the civil war in the west), and Kublai defeated Ariga-Bugu, thus becoming the undisputed Khakhan. This civil war had a certain significance. During the war, Kublai Khan was in China, and Arig-Buga was in Karakorum. Kublai Khan's victory meant that China became more important to the Empire than Mongolia, becoming the symbol of the Mongols in the East.

For the Empire as a whole, these years of civil war meant the end of cohesion. In the west, the khanates were scattered; in the east, the Great Khan was interested only in China. Thus, it can be argued that the death of Mongke Khan in 1259 meant the end of the Mongol Empire (although in the hinterland the Mongol khanates continued to flourish). However, since Kublai Khan later became the Great Khan, some prefer to count the years of the Mongol Empire until the end of the reign of Kublai Khan, who nominally held sway over the other khanates.

Kublai Khan. Conquest of the Song

The conquest of the Song Empire, sometimes called the true Chinese dynasty as opposed to the Jurchen-based Jin Dynasty, began during the reign of Monjek Khan. The Song Empire was the most formidable and most geographically complex empire, held together by its rugged infrastructure and mountainous terrain. While Mongke Khan was fighting in the north, Kublai Khan (who had not yet become khan) marched through Tibet with a significant army and attacked the Song Empire from the south. However, his men were eventually exhausted and he had to leave. However, Möngke Khan was able to achieve success until he died of illness during the war. The death of Mongke Khan and the subsequent civil war between Kublai Khan and Arigh Bugha stopped recruitment for four years. In 1268, the Mongols were ready for another major attack. Kublai Khan assembled a large naval force and defeated the Song army of 3,000 ships. After the victory at sea, Xiang-Yan was captured in 1271, giving confidence in the end of the war. However, this war could not match the speed of the previous conquest. Finally, in 1272, a Mongol army led by Bayan, a general who had served under Hulugu, crossed the Yangtze River and defeated a large Song army. The tide favored the Mongols, and Bayan continued his string of victories, culminating in the capture of Yangzhou, the Song capital, after a tedious siege. However, the Song royal family was able to escape. The final defeat occurred in 1279 at a naval battle near Guangzhou, where the last Song emperor was killed. 1279 marked the end of the Song Dynasty.

The victory in China was complete, and the Mongol Empire was at its zenith. However, much has changed in the lifestyle of the great khans. Unlike his grandfather, Kublai Khan traded the harsh nomadic life for the comfortable life of a Chinese emperor. He became increasingly immersed in the Chinese way of life, and the Mongolian government followed suit. In 1272, seven years before the defeat of the Song, Kublai assumed the Chinese dynastic title of Yuan, following the traditional path of legitimizing himself as the rightful ruler of China. As both the Chinese Empire and the Great Khanate, the Yuan Dynasty and the Mongol Empire often merged during Kublai Kublai's reign. In addition, having made China his empire, Kublai moved the capital from Karakorum to what is now modern Beijing. The new capital was named Ta-tu. The Mongol Empire experienced another dramatic event - albeit in a different way. Recall that Kublai made two naval invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281, both of which were severe and were destroyed by Kamikaze typhoons. Kublai also launched a series of campaigns into South Asia. In Burma, the Mongols were victorious, but eventually abandoned the campaign. In Vietnam, a temporary Mongol victory turned into defeat. The naval expedition to Java was also unsuccessful and they were forced to leave. Much more serious was the rebellion of Kaidu, under Ogedei rule, who formed a rebel khanate in Western Mongolia. Khubilai's authorities did not see the end of this civil war.

The final collapse of unity

Despite several military fiascoes that Kublai Khan suffered, there is no doubt that Kublai Khan's kingdom was the zenith of Mongol rule as a whole. Power stretched from China to Mesopotamia, from the Danube to the Persian Gulf - five times larger than Alexander's empire. Although much of the land was thoroughly destroyed during the conquests, it was subsequently gradually restored by the well-organized Mongol government. The economy flourished, trade spread throughout the gigantic empire. Despite the formation of khanates in other parts of the empire, the authority of the Great Khan Kublai Khan was recognized in all corners of the empire. Kublai enjoyed his position as one of the most powerful rulers of all time, being the Overlord of the Empire who ruled most of the world. The famous Italian traveler Marco Polo described Kublai Kublai as "the greatest ruler there will ever be."

Although Kublai Khan was still the ruler of the Mongols, he himself did not seem to worry about the rest of the empire outside his personal domains. Other khanates also began to develop their own administration. The Mongols lost their unity and no longer acted as a single state. Of course, disunity had been brewing for a long time, but once Kublai Khan died, the bubble finally burst. After Kublai Kublai's death in 1294, his successor received the title of Yuan Emperor, but not Great Khan of the Mongols. The Mongols lost the ruler of their entire empire, and thus it can be said that the death of Kublai Khan meant the end of the Mongol Empire. There is some irony in this, since the Mongol Empire disappeared immediately after its golden age. Although the Mongol Empire as a whole weakened, Mongol power remained in the form of several independent khanates.

Five Khanates

The Yuan Dynasty in the Far East (also the khanate of the Great Kublai Khan) continued its rule in China. However, after Khubilai there were no experienced rulers left. A series of internal unrest following natural disasters sparked a major rebellion. In 1368, the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown and was replaced by the Ming Dynasty under the rule of Ming Hong-wu.

The Il Khanate of Persia (founded by Hulagu in 1260) did not fare well in the beginning, struggling economically and suffering several more embarrassing defeats at the hands of the Mamluks. However, under Gaza, Il Khan regained military superiority and began an economic expansion that lasted until the reign of Abu Said, where Persia flourished during his reign. However, Abu Said had no successor; in 1335, the Il-Khanate ended in the same way as the Mongol Empire - collapse immediately after its golden age. The lands of the Ilkhanate were eventually annexed by Tamerlane to the Timurid Empire.

The Blue Horde in Rus' entered a period of good economic activity. The Khanate united with the Mamluks and officially became Muslim during the reign of Uzbek Khan. But, like the Il-Khanate, in the end, the line of the Blue Horde khans collapsed in the mid-14th century, leaving no successor. The state plunged into anarchy. Later it was reborn as the Golden Horde, but fell again. However, the story is too complex to trace all of it here. It should be noted that this area of ​​the Mongol Empire is usually a source of confusion. Often the entire western quarter of the Mongol Empire is called the "Golden Horde". In fact, although the western quarters, including the White Horde, entered into a coalition with each other, they existed separately until the late unification by Tokhtamysh Khan. This region has several names. Its other name is Kipchak. The term "Golden Horde" appears in modern sources, such as Carpini's account, which uses the term Aurea Orda ("Golden Horde").

The Chagatai Khanate grew directly from the ulus inherited by Genghis' son Chagatai. Chagatai developed steadily until Tamerlane destroyed its power. After Tamerlane's death, the Khanate remained an insignificant state until it was annexed in the 18th century.

Legacy of the Mongol conquests

The Mongol Empire looks like a gigantic political force that brought almost the entire continent of Asia under the control of one Great Khan. Governance in Mongolia was excellent and consequently the entire continent became interconnected. During the Mongol Empire, safety was guaranteed when traveling throughout the empire. Thus, the empire created a huge economic boom and a great exchange of culture and knowledge throughout the world. , and the route from Europe to Asia was no longer considered impassable. Much of the knowledge reached Europe, including art, science, and gunpowder, which greatly contributed to Western Europe's emergence from the Dark Ages. Similarly, in Asia we saw an exchange of ideas between Persia and China.

It is obvious that the Mongols were directly related to the political situation in the world. China was once again united under one ruler. Rus' was separated from the rest of Europe, but was no longer a divided feudal society. The Mongols ended the short history of the Khorezm Empire and led to the fall of the Abbasid Caliph, which dealt a great blow to Islamic culture. Although the Mongols left a huge trail of death and destruction, it is clear that the economic boom that followed them should not be overlooked. The only ones who clearly did not benefit from the Mongol conquest were Poland and Hungary, and this was because the Mongols left in a hurry and did not establish governments there to rebuild. In conclusion, the Mongol Empire is significant; good or bad, this is something that should not be forgotten.

Today, the Mongols and their great rulers are remembered in two different guises: as valiant heroes who conquered vast lands against all odds to build a mighty empire, or as ruthless conquerors who destroyed everything in their path. The latter is especially interesting because the way they are remembered is probably due to their epic victories rather than actual Mongol power, since other conquerors such as Caesar or Alexander the Great were just as brutal as Genghis Khan. In addition, in fact, the Mongols did not destroy everything on their way. Eventually, civilization was rebuilt and the world benefited greatly from the newly created world economy. In any case, the Mongols should be remembered as a significant player in world history. The significance of their conquests exceeds what any historical article can describe...

List of Great Khans

1206-1227 Genghis/Genghis Khan
1229-1241 Ogedei Khan (khakhan*) - son of Genghis Khan
1246-1248 Guyuk Khan (khakhan) - son of Ogedei
1251-1259 Mongke / Mongke Khan (khakhan) - cousin of Ogedei

After the death of Möngke, in 1260, two khans were elected through kurultai competition: Arig-Bug (Khubilai's brother), who ruled from Karakorum, and Kublai, who ruled from China. Kublai defeated Arigh Bugha in 1264 to secure sole leadership.

1264-1294 Kublai Khan (khakhan) - brother of Mongke, Hulagu and Arig-Bugi

After Khubilai, not a single ruler was elected khan.
* Khakhan (also Kagan, Khakan, meaning "khan of khans"): a title used by the khans of the greatest steppe empires, including the Mongol Empire. This name was officially used by all khans of the Mongol Empire, with the exception of Genghis Khan.

Regents (temporary rulers) during elections

1227-1229 Tolui - son of Genghis Khan, father of Kublai and Mongke
1241-1246 Dorgene-khatun - wife of Ogedei, mother of Guyuk
1248-1251 Ogul-Gaymysh - wife of Guyuk

Chronology

1167(?) Birth of Temujin (Genghis/Genghis Khan)
1206 Great Kurultai (meeting)
1206 Temujin receives the title "Genghis Khan"
1209-1210 Campaign against Xi Xia.
1211, 1213, 1215 Campaigns against the Jin Empire.
1214 Mongols besiege Jin capital Zhongdu (modern Beijing)
1215 Areas north of Huang come under Mongol control. The Jin capital moves south to Kaifeng.
1218 Conquest of the Karakitai. The Mongols attack Korea.
1220 Mongol caravans and ambassadors are killed by the Khorezmians. The war began against Khorezm (Persia). and Samarkand.
1221 Subedei begins an expedition around the Caspian Sea and to Rus'. Jalal ad-Din reigns in Persia and challenges the Mongols. Jalal ad-Din won the Battle of the Indus. The war with the Kharezm Empire ends.
1226 Final campaign against Xi Xia.
1227 Genghis Khan dies. The war with Xi Xia ends.
1228 Ogedei Khan ascends the throne and becomes Khakhan (Great Khan)
1235 First major invasion of Korea.
1234 The war against the Jin Empire ends.
1235 Construction of Karakorum, Mongol imperial capital
1237 Batu and Subedei begin the conquest of Rus'.
1241 The Korean War ends
1241 Batu and Subedei invade and conquer Poland and Hungary. European defeat at Liegnitz and Sayo. Death of Ogedei Khan
1242 Having learned of the death of Ogedei Khan, Batu leaves Europe to ensure his conquests in Rus'. Political circles of the Golden Horde Khanate, Batu - the first khan.
1246-1248 Reign of Guyuk Khan
1251 Election of the Mongol Great Khan (khakhan)
1252 Song invasion of southern China begins
1253 Hulagu begins his campaign into the Middle East.
1258 Hulagu captures Baghdad. Death of the last Abassid caliph.
1259 Death of Mongke Khan.
1260 Hulagu leaves Syria after learning of Mongke's death, thereby saving the Muslims from further invasion. The small army left behind is defeated by the Mamluks at Ain Jalut. Hulagu settles in Persia, creates the Il-Khanate and becomes the first Il-Khan.
1260 Disagreement over the succession to the Mongol throne leads to civil war between two candidates, Kublai Kublai and Arig Bugha.
1264 Kublai defeats Arig-Buga and becomes Khakhan.
1266 Kublai builds a new imperial capital, Ta-tu (modern Beijing)
1271 Marco Polo's journey begins.
1272 Kublai Khan adopts the Chinese dynastic name Yuan. Kublai becomes both the Khakhan of the Mongol Empire and the Yuan Emperor of China.
1274 First invasion of Japan. The fleet is destroyed during a storm.
1276 Hangzhou, capital of the Song Empire, falls to the Mongols.
1277-1278 Mongols invade Burma, install puppet government.
1279 Death of the last Song Emperor during a naval battle.
1294 Death of Kublai. The Yuan Dynasty continues, but the Mongol Empire is deprived of the title of Khakhan. The name "Mongol Empire" disappears, as it is torn into four independent kingdoms.
1335 Death of Abu Said. The Ilkhanate could not leave a successor and was interrupted. The Il-Khanate ends.
1359 As in the Ilkhanate, the line of the Golden Horde ended, and the Khanate was unable to leave a successor. The Golden Horde becomes more of a puppet government.
1330. Tamerlane was born in Samarkand. Reunites Persia and defeats both the Russians and the Golden Horde. Creates the so-called Timurid Empire.
1368 The Yuan Law in China ceases to apply.
1370. Death in Karakorum of Togon Temur, the last Yuan emperor.
1405. Dies Tamerlane dies. The Timurid Empire, called the last great nomadic power, ends. Persia and the Golden Horde are again without a clear ruler. The Golden Horde is divided and exists as several separate states.
1502. Russians overthrew Mongol rule

Mongolian war machine

The Mongol (or Turkish-Mongol) army was probably the most disciplined, well-controlled and effective fighting force until the invention of gunpowder. Being “hunters all their lives,” the steppe nomads were skilled horsemen and bows in their hands turned into deadly, formidable weapons. Unlike Roman legionaries or hoplites, who had to be trained in camps or academies, nomads were ready-made, experienced warriors. The nomadic warriors were well-known archers and marksmen, able to accurately hit targets while galloping on horseback. But the Mongol army was not just a steppe army.

When Genghis Khan came to power, he established rules of organization, discipline, equipment and trained warriors to fight as a group. Genghis Khan's army consisted of tens, hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands (darkness), each of the units had a commander elected by the soldiers. Military tactics were well developed in preparation, and every warrior had to know exactly how to respond to the signals of commanders, which were echoed by burning arrows, drums and banners. The Mongol horde had extremely high discipline. Failure to comply with technology and desertion in battle were punishable by death. The skill, discipline, tactics, and lineage of some of the most talented commanders in history shocked all who fought against them. When the Western knights fought with the Mongol horsemen, they were completely destroyed, unable to do anything to oppose the Mongol horde. On the battlefield, the Mongols demonstrated many tricks. Being an all-cavalry army, the Mongols could easily impose a positional course of battle, organize feint retreats, could lure the enemy into a trap, and impose a fighting style that was difficult for the enemy to maintain due to the speed of the Mongols.

Siege engines and gunpowder obtained from the Chinese and Persians played an important role in the wars. Besides sieges, siege weapons were widely used on the battlefield. The Mongols mastered fast prefabricated catapults that could be transported on horseback and assembled directly on the battlefield. From the Chinese, the Mongols adopted the production of gunpowder weapons: smoke grenades (to cover the movement of troops) and incendiary bombs. They contributed to the Mongols' success in invading Europe. The Mongols' sensitivity and adaptation to advanced advances in science and technology meant that they were not only an army of the most traditionally skilled warriors, but also an army with the best technology the world had to offer.

Genghis Khan is the legendary founder and first great khan of the Mongol Empire. Many lands were gathered under a single leadership during the life of Genghis Khan - he achieved many victories and defeated many enemies. At the same time, one must understand that Genghis Khan is a title, and the personal name of the great conqueror is Temujin. Temujin was born in the Delyun-Boldok valley either around 1155 or in 1162 - there is still debate about the exact date. His father was Yesugei-bagatur (the word “bagatur” in this case can be translated as “valiant warrior” or “hero”) - a strong and influential leader of several tribes of the Mongolian steppe. And the mother was a woman named Oulen.

Temujin's harsh childhood and youth

The future Genghis Khan grew up in an environment of constant strife between the leaders of the Mongol tribes. When he was nine years old, Yesugei found him a future wife - a ten-year-old girl Borte from the Ungirat tribe. Yesugei left Temujin in the house of the bride's family so that the children could get to know each other better, and he himself went home. On the way, Yesugei, according to some historical sources, visited a Tatar camp, where he was vilely poisoned. After suffering for a few more days, Yesugei died.

The future Genghis Khan lost his father quite early - he was poisoned by his enemies

After Yesugei's death, his widows and children (including Temujin) found themselves without any protection. And the head of the rival Taichiut clan, Targutai-Kiriltukh, took advantage of the situation - he expelled the family from the inhabited areas and took away all their cattle. Widows and their children were in complete poverty for several years, wandering across the steppe plains, eating fish, berries, and the meat of captured birds and animals. And even in the summer months, women and children lived from hand to mouth, as they had to stockpile supplies for the cold winter. And already at this time Temujin’s tough character appeared. One time his half-brother Bekter did not share food with him, and Temujin killed him.

Targutai-Kiriltukh, who was a distant relative of Temujin, declared himself ruler of the lands once controlled by Yesugei. And, not wanting Temujin’s rise in the future, he began to pursue the young man. Soon, an armed Taichiut detachment discovered the hiding place of Yesugei's widows and children, and Temujin was captured. They put a block on it - wooden boards with holes for the neck. This was a terrible ordeal: the prisoner did not have the opportunity to drink or eat on his own. It was impossible to even brush a mosquito off your forehead or the back of your head.

But one night Temujin was somehow able to escape and hide in a lake nearby. The Taichiuts, who went to search for the fugitive, were in this place, but were unable to find the young man. Immediately after fleeing, Temujin went to Borte and officially married her. Borte's father gave his young son-in-law a luxurious sable fur coat as a dowry, and this wedding gift played a big role in Temujin's fate. With this fur coat, the young man went to the most powerful leader at that time - the head of the Kereit tribe, Tooril Khan, and presented him with this valuable thing. In addition, he recalled that Tooril and his father were sworn brothers. Ultimately, Temujin acquired a serious patron, in partnership with whom he began his conquests.

Temujin unites the tribes

It was under the patronage of Tooril Khan that he carried out raids on other uluses, increasing the number of his herds and the size of his possessions. The number of Temujin's nukers also grew continuously. In those years, he, unlike other leaders, tried to leave a large number of fighters from the enemy ulus alive during the battle, in order to then lure them to himself.

It is known that it was with the support of Tooril that Temujin defeated the Merkit tribe in the territory of modern Buryatia in 1184. This victory greatly increased the authority of Yesugei's son. Then Temujin got involved in a long war with the Tatars. It is known that one of the battles with them took place in 1196. Then Temujin managed to put his opponents to flight and get huge booty. For this victory, the leadership of the then influential Jurchen Empire awarded the leaders of the steppes (who were vassals of the Jurchens) honorary titles and titles. Temujin became the owner of the title “Jauthuri” (commissioner), and Tooril - the title “Van” (from then on he began to be called Van Khan).

Temujin achieved many victories even before becoming Genghis Khan

Soon, a rift occurred between Wang Khan and Temujin, which subsequently led to another inter-tribal war. Several times the Kereyites, led by Van Khan, and Temujin’s troops met on the battlefield. The decisive battle took place in 1203 and Temujin, showing not only strength, but also cunning, was able to defeat the Kereyites. Fearing for his life, Wang Khan tried to escape to the west, to the Naiman, another tribe that Temujin had not yet subjugated to his will, but he was killed at the border, mistaking him for another person. A year later they were defeated and hired. Thus, in 1206, at the great kurultai, Temujin was declared Genghis Khan - the ruler of all existing Mongol clans, the ruler of the pan-Mongol state.

At the same time, a new set of laws appeared - the Yasa of Genghis Khan. Here the norms of behavior in war, trade and peaceful life were set out. Courage and loyalty to the leader were proclaimed as positive qualities, while cowardice and betrayal were considered unacceptable (they could be executed for this). The entire population, regardless of clans and tribes, was divided by Genghis Khan into hundreds, thousands and tumens (a tumen was equal to ten thousand). People from Genghis Khan's associates and nukers were appointed as leaders of the tumens. These measures made it possible to make the Mongol army truly invincible.

Major conquests of the Mongols under Genghis Khan

First of all, Genghis Khan wanted to establish his rule over other nomadic peoples. In 1207, he was able to conquer large areas near the source of the Yenisei and north of the Selenga River. The cavalry of the conquered tribes was added to the general army of the Mongols.

Next came the turn of the Uyghur state, which was very developed at that time, which was located in East Turkestan. Genghis Khan's giant horde invaded their lands in 1209, began to conquer rich cities, and soon the Uyghurs unconditionally admitted defeat. Interestingly, Mongolia still uses the Uyghur alphabet, introduced by Genghis Khan. The thing is that many Uyghurs went into the service of the victors and began to play the role of officials and teachers in the Mongol Empire. Genghis Khan probably wanted ethnic Mongols to take the place of the Uyghurs in the future. And so he ordered that Mongolian teenagers from noble families, including his offspring, be taught the Uighur writing. As the empire spread, the Mongols willingly resorted to the services of noble and educated people from the conquered states, in particular the Chinese.

In 1211, the most powerful army of Genghis Khan set off on a campaign to the North of the Celestial Empire. And even the Great Wall of China did not turn out to be an insurmountable barrier for them. There were many battles in this war, and only a few years later, in 1215, after a long siege, the city fell Beijing -main city of northern China. It is known that during this war, the cunning Genghis Khan adopted from the Chinese advanced military equipment for that time - battering rams for breaking walls and throwing mechanisms.

In 1218, the Mongol army moved to Central Asia, to the Turkic state Khorezm. The reason for this campaign was an incident that occurred in one of the cities of Khorezm - a group of Mongol merchants was killed there. Shah Mohammed marched towards Genghis Khan with an army of two hundred thousand. A huge massacre eventually took place in the vicinity of the city of Karakou. Both sides here were so stubborn and furious that by sunset the winner had not been identified.

In the morning, Shah Mohammed did not dare to continue the battle - the losses were too significant, we were talking about almost 50% of the army. However, Genghis Khan himself lost many people, so he also retreated. However, this turned out to be only a temporary retreat and part of a cunning plan.

The battle in the Khorezm city of Nishapur in 1221 turned out to be no less (and even more) bloody. Genghis Khan and his horde destroyed about 1.7 million people, and in just a day! Then Genghis Khan conquered other settlements of Khorezm : Otrar, Merv, Bukhara, Samarkand, Khojent, Urgench, etc. In general, even before the end of 1221, the Khorezm state surrendered to the delight of the Mongol warriors.

The last conquests and death of Genghis Khan

After the massacre of Khorezm and the annexation of Central Asian lands to the Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan in 1221 went on a campaign to the North-West of India - and he also managed to capture these very vast lands. But the Great Khan did not go further into the peninsula of Hindustan: now he began to think about unexplored countries in the direction where the sun sets. Having carefully planned the route of the next military campaign, Genghis Khan sent his best military leaders, Subedei and Jebe, to the western lands. Their road ran through the territory of Iran, the territories of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia. As a result, the Mongols found themselves in the steppes of the Don, not far from Rus'. Here at that time the Polovtsians roamed, who, however, had not possessed a powerful military force for a long time. Numerous Mongols defeated the Cumans without serious problems, and they were forced to flee to the north. In 1223, Subedey and Jebe defeated the united army of the princes of Rus' and the Polovtsian leaders in the battle on the Kalka River. But, having won the victory, the horde moved back, since there were no orders to linger in distant lands.

In 1226, Genghis Khan began a campaign against the Tangut state. And at the same time he instructed one of his official sons to continue the conquest of the Celestial Empire. The riots against the Mongol yoke that broke out in the already conquered Northern China made Genghis Khan worry.

The legendary commander died during the campaign against the so-called Tanguts on August 25, 1227. At this time, the Mongol horde under his control was besieging the capital of the Tanguts - the city of Zhongxing. The great leader’s inner circle decided not to immediately report his death. His corpse was transported to the Mongolian steppes and buried there. But even today no one can say reliably where exactly Genghis Khan is buried. With the death of the legendary leader, the military campaigns of the Mongols did not stop. The sons of the Great Khan continued to expand the empire.

The meaning of Genghis Khan's personality and his legacy

Genghis Khan was certainly a very cruel commander. He completely destroyed populated areas on the conquered lands, completely exterminated daring tribes and residents of fortified cities who dared to resist. This brutal tactic of intimidation enabled him to successfully solve military problems and keep the conquered lands under his command. But with all this, he can also be called a fairly intelligent man who, for example, valued real merit and valor more than formal status. For these reasons, he often accepted brave representatives of enemy tribes as nukers. Once, an archer from the Taijiut family almost hit Genghis Khan, knocking his horse out from under the saddle with a well-aimed arrow. Then this shooter himself admitted that it was he who fired the shot, but instead of execution he received a high rank and a new name - Jebe.

In some cases, Genghis Khan could pardon his enemies

Genghis Khan also became famous for establishing an impeccable system of postal and courier services between different points of the empire. This system was called “Yam”; it consisted of many parking lots and stables near the roads - this allowed couriers and messengers to cover more than 300 kilometers per day.

Genghis Khan really greatly influenced world history. He founded the largest continental empire in human history. At its peak, it occupied 16.11% of all land on our planet. The Mongol state extended from the Carpathians to the Sea of ​​Japan and from Veliky Novgorod to Kampuchea. And, according to some historians, about 40 million people died due to the fault of Genghis Khan. That is, he exterminated 11% of the then population of the planet! And this in turn changed the climate. Since there are fewer people, CO2 emissions into the atmosphere have also decreased (according to scientists, by about 700 million tons).

Genghis Khan led a very active sex life. He had many children from women whom he took as concubines in conquered countries. And this has led to the fact that today the number of descendants of Genghis Khan simply cannot be counted. Genetic studies conducted recently have shown that about 16 million inhabitants of Mongolia and Central Asia are apparently direct descendants of Genghis Khan.

Today in many countries you can see monuments dedicated to Genghis Khan (there are especially many of them in Mongolia, where he is considered a national hero), films are made about him, pictures are drawn, and books are written.

However, it is unlikely that at least one current image of Genghis Khan corresponds to historical reality. In reality, no one knows what this legendary man looked like. Some experts believe that the great leader had red hair, uncharacteristic of his ethnic group.

Genghis Khan became the founder of the Mongol Empire, the largest continental empire in human history.

He is the most famous Mongol in the entire history of the Mongolian nation.

From the biography of the great Mongol Khan:

Genghis Khan or Genghis Khan is not a name, but a title that was granted to Temuchin at the end of the 12th century at the kurultai.

Temujin was born into the family of an influential leader of one of the Mongol tribes, Yesugei, between 1155 and 1162, since the exact date of his birth is unknown. When Temuchin was nine years old, his father was poisoned by enemies, and the family had to look for a means of subsistence. His mother and children had to wander for a long time in complete poverty, and then live in a cave. The family was so poor at that time that, according to legend, Temujin killed his brother for eating the fish Temujin caught.

After the death of his father, the future commander and his family were forced to flee, since the rivals of his late parent wanted to destroy them all. The family of the future khan had to wander from place to place so that they would not be found by enemies who took away from the family the lands that rightfully belonged to them. Subsequently, Temujin had to make a lot of efforts to become the head of the Mongol tribe and eventually avenge the death of his father.

Temujin was betrothed at the age of nine to eleven-year-old Borte from the Ungirat clan, and the wedding took place when the young man turned sixteen. From this marriage four sons and five daughters were born. One of these daughters of Alangaa, in the absence of her father, ruled the state, for which she received the title “princess-ruler.” It was the descendants of these children who had the right to claim the highest power in the state. Borte was considered the main wife of Genghis Khan and bore a title equivalent to that of empress.

The second wife of the khan was the Merkit woman Khulan-Khatun, who bore the khan two sons. Only Khulan Khatun, as his wife, accompanied the khan on almost every military campaign, and she died in one of them.

Genghis Khan's two other wives, the Tatars Yesugen and Yesui, were a younger and an older sister, and the younger sister herself proposed her older sister as a fourth wife on their wedding night. Yesugen gave birth to her husband a daughter and two sons.

In addition to four wives, Genghis Khan had about a thousand concubines who came to him as a result of his campaigns of conquest and as gifts from his allies.

Genghis Khan used dynastic marriages very profitably - he gave his daughters in marriage to allied rulers. In order to marry the daughter of the great Mongol Khan, the ruler kicked out all his wives, which made the Mongol princesses first in line for the throne. After this, the ally went to war at the head of the army, and almost immediately died in battle, and the khan’s daughter became the ruler of the lands. This policy led to the fact that by the second half of the 13th century his daughters ruled from the Yellow Sea to the Caspian.

The Great Mongol Khan died in 1227 during a campaign against the Tangut state; the exact cause of his death is not known. Scientists are inclined to several versions: 1) aggravation of an injury received in 1225, received during a fall from a horse; 2) a sudden illness associated with the unfavorable climate of the Tangoust state; 3) was killed by a young concubine, whom he stole from her lawful husband.

Dying, the great khan appointed his third son from his main wife Ogedei as his heir - he, according to the khan, possessed a military strategy and a lively political mind.

The exact burial place of the khan remains a mystery to this day. Possible burial places are called Burkhan-Khaldun, Mount Altai-Khan, and the slope of Kentei-Khan. The khan himself bequeathed to keep the place of his grave secret. To carry out the order, the body of the deceased was taken deep into the desert, the slaves accompanying the body were killed by the guards. The warriors rode horses over the Khan’s grave for 24 hours to raze it to the ground, and upon returning to the camp, all the warriors participating in the funeral of Genghis Khan were killed. The secret hidden in the 13th century remains a real mystery today.

The conquests of Genghis Khan and his cruelty:

About the great Mongol conqueror, it is known that he brought terror to the endless steppes Genghis Khan, also called Temujin or Temujin, went down in history as the most successful Mongol commander of all time. He created a real empire that covered most of Asia and part of Europe, and his troops were a nightmare for the inhabitants of many other lands. One can relate to Genghis Khan in different ways, but one cannot help but admit that he was a very outstanding personality.

Many of the great khan's bloody battles took place only because of revenge. So, at the age of twenty, he decided to take revenge on the tribe that was responsible for the death of his father. Having defeated them, Genghis Khan gave the order to cut off the heads of all Tatars whose height exceeded the height of the axle of the cart wheel (about 90 cm), thus, only children under three years of age survived.

The next time, Genghis Khan avenged the death of his son-in-law Tokuchar, who died from an arrow from one of Nishapur’s warriors. Having attacked the settlement, the khan's troops killed everyone in their path - even women and children did not escape revenge, even cats and dogs were killed. By order of the khan's daughter, the widow of the deceased, a pyramid was built from their heads.

Genghis Khan did not always strive only to conquer foreign lands; sometimes he wanted to improve relations diplomatically. This is what happened with the kingdom of Khorezm, where an embassy was sent on behalf of the Great Khan. However, the ruler of the kingdom did not believe in the sincerity of the ambassadors’ intentions and gave the order to behead them; their fate was repeated by the next embassy sent by the Mongols. Genghis Khan brutally took revenge for the murdered diplomats - the two hundred thousand Mongol army killed the entire population of the kingdom and destroyed every house in the region, moreover, by order of the khan, even the river bed was moved to another place so that the river flowed through the area where the king of Khorezm was born. Genghis Khan did everything to wipe the kingdom off the face of the earth and any mention of it disappeared.

During the conflict with Khorezm, the neighboring Tangut state, the kingdom of Xi Xia, which had previously been conquered by the Mongols, also suffered. Genghis Khan asked the Tanguts to send an army to help the Mongol army, but was refused. The consequence of this was the complete destruction of the Tangut kingdom, the population was killed, and all cities were destroyed to the ground. The existence of the kingdom remained only mentioned in the documents of neighboring states.

The largest-scale military operation of Genghis Khan was the campaign against the Jin Empire - the territory of modern China. Initially, it seemed that this campaign had no future, since the population of China was over 50 million, and the Mongols were only one million. However, the Mongols were victorious. In three years, the Mongol army was able to reach the walls of Zhongdu, present-day Beijing, the city was considered impregnable - the height of the walls reached 12 meters, and they stretched 29 km around the city. The city was under Mongol siege for several years; famine began to rage in the capital, which led to cases of cannibalism - in the end, the city surrendered. The Mongols plundered and burned all of Zhongdu, the emperor had to conclude a humiliating treaty with the Mongols.

25 interesting facts from the life of Genghis Khan:

1.The exact date of birth of Genghis Khan is unknown. He is believed to have been born between 1155 and 1162.

2. What his appearance was is not known for certain, but surviving evidence suggests that he had green eyes and red hair.

3. Such an unusual appearance of Genghis Khan was due to a unique mixture of Asian and European genes. Genghis Khan was 50% European, 50% Asian.

4. Mongolian legends claim that the newborn Genghis Khan squeezed a blood clot in his palm, which was regarded as a symbol of the future conqueror of the world awaiting him.

5. At birth he was named Temujin - this was the name of the military leader whom his father defeated.

6.The name “Chingiz” is translated as “lord of the boundless, like the sea.”

7. Genghis Khan went down in history as the creator of the largest continental empire in history.

8.Neither the Romans nor Alexander the Great could achieve such a scale.

9. Under him, Mongolia rapidly expanded its territories. Genghis Khan created the Mongol Empire by uniting disparate tribes from China to Russia.

10.The Mongol Empire went down in history. His empire became the largest united state in history. It extended from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe.

11. According to the research of individual scientists, Genghis Khan is responsible for the death of more than 40 million people.

12. Genghis Khan cruelly took revenge for his entourage. When the Persians beheaded the Mongol ambassador, Genghis flew into a rage and destroyed 90% of their people. Iranians still have nightmares about Genghis Khan. According to some estimates, the population of Iran (formerly Persia) could not reach pre-Mongol levels until the 1900s.

13. At the age of 15, Genghis Khan was captured and fled, which later brought him recognition.

14. The matured Genghis Khan began to little by little conquer the entire steppe, uniting other tribes around himself and mercilessly destroying his rivals. At the same time, he, unlike most other Mongol leaders, always tried not to kill enemy soldiers, but to save their lives in order to later take them into his service.

14. Genghis Khan believed that the more offspring a person has, the more significant he is. There were several thousand women in his harem, and many of them gave birth to children from him.

15. There are many direct descendants of Genghis Khan living in the modern world.

16.Genetic studies have shown that approximately 8% of Asian men have Genghis Khan genes on their Y chromosomes, i.e. they are descendants of Genghis Khan.

17. The dynasty of Genghis Khan’s descendants was named Genghisids in his honor.

18.Under Genghis Khan, for the first time, disparate tribes of nomads united into a huge single state. Having completely conquered the steppes, the commander took the title of kagan. A khan is the leader of a tribe, albeit a large one, and the kagan is the king of all khans.

19. Many peoples understood the greatness of the horde and paid tribute to it. Many nations swore allegiance to Temujin, and he became their ruler, or khan.

20. Then he changed his name to Chingiz, which means “Right”.

21. Genghis Khan replenished the ranks of his army with captives from the tribes he conquered, and thus his army grew.

22. Nobody knows where Genghis Khan's grave is. Many archaeologists are still searching for it without success. According to some reports, Genghis Khan's grave was flooded by the river. Supposedly, he demanded that his grave be flooded by the river so that no one could disturb it.

23. Some historians call Genghis Khan the father of “Scorched Earth,” that is, such military technologies that can destroy almost any trace of civilization.

24.The cult of Genghis Khan flourishes in modern Mongolia. There are huge monuments to this commander everywhere, and the streets are named after him.

25.His portrait began to be printed on Mongolian banknotes in the 90s of the last century.

Huge statue of Genghis Khan in Ulaanbaatar

photo from the Internet

Those who study history will definitely come across a section dedicated to the huge state founded by nomads led by Genghis Khan and his successors. Today it is difficult to imagine how a handful of steppe inhabitants could defeat highly developed countries and take cities hidden behind powerful walls. However, the Mongol Empire existed, and half of the then known world was subject to it. What kind of state was it, who ruled it and why was it special? Let's find out!

Preface to the Mongol conquests

The Mongol Empire was one of the largest and most powerful in the world. It arose in the early thirteenth century in Central Asia thanks to the unification of the Mongol tribes under the firm hand of Temujin. In addition to the emergence of a ruler capable of conquering everyone to his will, climatic conditions were favorable to the success of the nomads. If you believe historians, then in the 11th-12th centuries there was a lot of rainfall in the eastern steppe. This led to an increase in livestock numbers, as well as rapid population growth.

But towards the end of the twelfth century, weather conditions change: droughts cause a reduction in pastures, which can no longer feed the large herds and surplus population. A fierce struggle for limited resources begins, as well as invasions of settled tribes of farmers.

Great Khan Temujin

This man went down in history as Genghis Khan, and legends about him still excite the imagination. In fact, his name was Temujin, and he had an iron will, lust for power and determination. He received the title “Great Khan” at the kurultai, that is, at the congress of the Mongol nobility in 1206. Yassa is not even laws, but records of the commander’s wise sayings, stories from his life. Nevertheless, everyone was obliged to follow them: from a simple Mongol to their military leader.

Temujin's childhood was difficult: after the death of his father Yesugei-Baghatur, he lived in extreme poverty with his mother, his father's second wife, and several brothers. All their livestock was taken away, and the family was driven out of their homes. Over time, Genghis Khan will brutally get even with his offenders and become the ruler of the largest empire in the world.

Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire, which began to take shape during the lifetime of Genghis Khan after a number of his successful campaigns, reached amazing proportions under his successors. The young nomadic state was very viable, and its army was truly fearless and invincible. The basis of the army were the Mongols, united by clan, and conquered tribes. A unit was considered a ten, which included members of one family, yurt or village, then stoni (consisting of a clan), thousands and darkness (10,000 warriors). The main force was the cavalry.

At the beginning of the 13th century, the northern parts of China and India, Central Asia, and Korea came under the rule of nomads. The tribes of the Buryats, Yakuts, Kyrgyz and Uyghurs, the peoples of Siberia and the Caucasus submitted to them. The population was immediately subject to tribute, and the warriors became part of an army of thousands. From more developed nations (in particular China), the Mongols adopted their scientific achievements, technology, and the science of diplomacy.

Reason for success

The formation of the Mongol Empire seems illogical and impossible. Let's try to find the reasons for such a brilliant success of the army of Genghis Khan and his comrades.

1. The states of Central Asia, China and Iran were not going through the best of times at that moment. Feudal fragmentation prevented them from uniting and repelling the conquerors.
2. Excellent preparation for hikes. Genghis Khan was a good strategist and tactician, he carefully thought out the invasion plan, conducted reconnaissance, pitted peoples against each other and fanned civil strife, and, if possible, placed close people to the main military posts of the enemy.
3. Genghis Khan avoided open battle with a large enemy army. He exhausted his forces, attacking individual units, valuing his warriors.

After Temujin's death

After the death of the legendary Genghis Khan in 1227, the Mongol Empire lasted for another forty years. During his lifetime, the commander divided his possessions between his sons from his eldest wife Borte into uluses. Ogedei got Northern China and Mongolia, Jochi got the lands from the Irtysh to the Aral and Caspian seas, the Ural Mountains, Chagatai got all of Central Asia. Later, another ulus was given to Hulagu, the grandson of the Great Khan. These were the lands of Iran and Transcaucasia. In the early years of the fourteenth century, Jochi's possessions were divided into the White (Golden) and Blue Hordes.

After the death of the founder, the united Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan gained a new great khan. He became Ogedei, then his son Guyuk, then Munke. After the death of the latter, the title passed to the rulers of the Yuan dynasty. It is noteworthy that all the khans of the Mongol Empire, as well as the Manchu emperors, were descendants of Genghis Khan or married princesses from his family. Until the twenties of the twentieth century, the rulers of these lands used Yassa as a code of laws.