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1206
Temujin gets title Genghis Khan
Temujin becomes the ruler of the Ikh Mongol Uls at the kurultai, general assembly of the tribes, and assumes the name Genghis Khan, which means "universal leader." He institutes policies to support his soldiers rather than the aristocrats -
Period: 1206 to 1368
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire also known as Ikh Mongol Uls, the Great Mongol State, was the largest empire in history. -
1207
Genghis Khan expands empire.
Khan attacks the kingdom of Xi Xia, and after two years he forces it to surrender.
Genghis Khan then attacks Northern China under the Jin Dynasty, starting a war that lasts twenty years. -
1219
Genghis Khan invades the Khwarzin Dynasty
Khan leads an army of 200,000 Mongol soldiers against the Khwarzin Dynasty in response to the Khwarzin leader's refusal to cooperate. The Mongols invade every city they came across, killing or enslaving everyone they came across. -
1221
The Pax Mongolica / Yassa begins
The Mongols destroy the Khwarzin Dynasty, control their territories. Beginning of the Pax Mongolica, trade centers of China and Europe are connected under Mongol rule, allowing for safe passage.
The Mongol law, Yassa, creates peace by forbidding blood feuds, adultery, theft, bearing false witness, and doing harm to the environment. Religious freedom is also allowed. -
1221
The Mongols destroy the Tangut Dynasty of Xi Xia
The Tangut Dynasty of Xi Xia refuses to lend military support going into open rebellion. Genghis Khan immediately takes his army to Xi Xia and begins a string of victories over the Tanguts.
After victory, he orders the execution of the Tanguts, putting an end to their dynasty. -
1227
Genghis Khan dies
Genghis Khan dies soon after defeating the Tanguts. Before his death, he bestows leadership on his third son, Ogedei. -
1230
War against the Jin Dynasty
The Great Khan Ogedei leads army against the Jin Dynasty in China. Captures the Emperor Wanyan's capital city, Kaifeng. Three After the defeat, Ogdei orders the construction of the Tumen Amgalan Ord, the "Palace of Myriad Peace," and Karakorum becomes Mongol capital. -
1241
Ogedei dies.
Ogedei dies -
1246
Guyuk is elected Great Khan
Temuge, Batu allies with Guyuk and allows his forces to attend the kurultai, which elects Guyuk as the next Great Khan.
He continues campaigns to expand into Song China, Iraq, and the Korean Peninsula. -
1248
Mongke Khan succeeds as ruler
]Guyuk gathers troops to march westwards from Karakorum, but he dies before battle begins. His rival Batu calls a kurultai in his own territory, which his rivals refuse to attend, and he nominates Mongke, a grandson of Genghis Khan. This causes a division in the empire between the descendants of Ogedei on one side and Mongke and the descendants of Genghis's other son, Tolui. Mongke comes to power and institutes a bloody purge of the Ogedei line. -
1258
Baghdad is captured
Under the leadership of Hulagu Khan, Baghdad captured.
Fall of the Abbasid Caliphate and opens the way for conquest into the Middle East. -
Aug 11, 1259
Mongke Khan dies
Mongke Khan, leading an army to complete the invasion of China. Disease spreads among the army, and Mongke catches it and dies. Mongol forces are forced to withdraw from their wars to return for a new kurultai to decide on the succession -
Aug 21, 1264
Kublai Khan becomes the Great Khan
Kublai Khan begin campaigns of conquest. He finally defeats the Song Dynasty in southern China and puts his own regime in place, called the Yuan -
1368
Ming Dynasty reclaims China, Mongol Empire ends.
After Kublai Khan, Mongols disintegrate into competing entities and lose influence. Ming Dynasty overthrows the Yuan, the Mongols' ruling power.