Kublai Khan - Ruler of the Mongols
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In 1215, one of the most successful, powerful, and considerate rulers was put on this earth. Kublai Khan led the Mongols and ruled China. Many forces were against the strong, tactical, and mighty leader. These forces eventually led to Kublai Khan's downfall and the downfall of the Yuan Empire (1279-1368) which he had started. During his life, Kublai Khan was able to achieve a high position of power, protect his seat on the throne from enemies and family, expand the Mongol Empire, make sure his people were happy, make powerful allies, and create a new dynasty. Kublai Khan is one of the best and most well-known leaders of China because of his consideration for his people's needs as well as his victories in battle.
Kublai Khan came from a family of many important historical figures. His direct family included three powerful brothers by the names of Mongke, Hulegu, and Arigh Boki. His father was Tolui and his mother was Sorghaghtani Beki. When rising to power, his brothers were his greatest enemies because they were the ones who he had to fight against to gain power. However, Kublai was also related to Genghis Khan, his militarily genius Grandfather who previously had ruled the Mongols (1227-1241). The connection to the previous leader gave Kublai Khan favoritism against all non-family to become the Mongol ruler. As we can see, having a powerful family worked both for and against Kublai.
Kublai's grandfather, Genghis Khan
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Kublai Khan was the leader of the Mongols, a group of Nomadic people from Mongolia. Kublai Khan lived during the height of Mongol power. When he was born in 1215, the Mongol expansion was just beginning and as he grew up the Mongol armies became more powerful and aggressive. When Kublai gained control of the Mongols in 1271, they became a powerful and united people. During Kublai's rule of the Mongols (officially 1271-1294), he expanded and united the empire through conquering areas, consolidating his conquered territory, and making sure that his people were satisfied with their lifestyle.
At the beginning of Kublai's rise to power, his brother Mongke, who was the ruler of the Mongols at the time, selected him to lead an expedition into Yunnan. Until this time (1252) Kublai had been busy consolidating his power in north China. In a battle in Yunnan, Kublai Khan and his army came out victorious. This showed Kublai's military strength and power to China. In 1258, Mongke realized that two factors greatly could undermine his rule. “A religious conflict between the Buddhists and Taoists had escalated into pitched battles, destruction of temples and monasteries, and confiscation of religious artifacts. Mongke needed to achieve a reconciliation, or at least stability, to promote his political and economic objectives”(Rossabi pg. 36). Taoists were people who believed in a religion in accordance to the teaching of Lao-tzu (6th century BC). Buddhists worshiped Buddha (c 563-483 BC) as God. Mixed in with these issues between the Buddhists and Taoists was Mongke's goal of conquering southern China. Mongke wanted to increase his stature among Chinese officials and scholars and he thought conquering southern China would be a simple solution. Therefore, to stop the conflict between the religious groups so he had time to make himself better known in southern China, Mongke called upon Kublai for assistance again. Kublai successfully cleared up many of the issues and battles between Buddhists and Taoists. Kublai felt that he was competent to rule the Mongol empire after accomplishing this amazing feat of relieving some religious tension. Luckily for Kublai, Mongke died in 1259 so Kublai had a chance to be the head of power. Another one of his brothers, Ariki, fought Kublai for the seat on the throne where Mongke had previously been. Against Ariki, Kublai won a civil war in 1261 which gave him power. Around this time he was given the title The Great Khan and in 1271 he was officially the Emperor of China.
When
he was the ruler of the Mongols, Kublai Khan didn't just watch over his
people to make sure they were happy and safe (which he did well), but
he is also known for his victories over other large empires in battle.
The Mongols judged their rulers by how much wealth, men, and territory
they could bring to the Empire. Mongke had more of a desire to be a fierce
conqueror than Kublai did. Kublai tried to live up to his amazingly powerful
brother by attempting to conquer areas that were almost impossible to
defeat. Kublai Khan's most important objective for expansion was conquering
all of China. Before he was the leader, he had led military expeditions
in all of China from 1251 through 1259 and successfully conquered northern
China. Kublai was able to occupy Beijing with a group of troops in 1264.
When Kublai became the ruler of the Mongols, he was able to conquer a
few powerful empires such as China and Korea but not as many as he had
planned. Kublai failed in conquering most areas he attempted such as Japan,
Myanmar, and Vietnam. Kublai's most famous failures were against Japan,
which he attempted to defeat two times. In 1274 he failed miserably and
lost 25,000 men and in 1284 he failed again and lost 140,000 men who were
even supported by additional Koreans. Despite these failures, the Mongol
empire reached its greatest territorial extent (for maps click
here or here )
with Kublai's final defeat of the Song dynasty of China in 1279, the same
year that the Yuan dynasty was started. As we can see, Kublai was successful
at times with his conquering but didn't have the aggressive skills that
most of his family had. However, Kublai is also well known because he
united many people under his own Empire. He
cared just as much about his people's needs as he did about expansion
and victory. 
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Although Kublai Khan was a successful conqueror at times, he took time out to govern the vast Empire by making sure everything was running smoothly with his people. “Many of the rulers before him were brutally land-hungry and apathetic to the conquered people; however, Kublai challenged the stereotypes of Mongolian rulers by investing in his newly acquired people and providing the foundations of a grand empire” (Kris, Duncan. “Kublai Khan Rules China”). To make life for his people easier, Kublai provided religious freedom, created aid agencies, reorganized and improved roads for easier use, established a paper currency, and expanded waterways. He moved the winter capitol from Mongolian territory to Dadu, a Chinese city. Kublai adopted the Chinese Civil Service examination to make the men in thegovernment better prepared for their duties. He encouraged his people to be part of religious pursuits and artistic ones as well. He made Buddhism the state religion. The Mongols wanted to be thought of separately from the Chinese and Kublai did the best he could to respect their wishes.
One of the most well known achievements Kublai did during his life was establish a magnificent summer palace called Xanadu, or the Forbidden City. It was described by Marco Polo as "A huge palace of marble and other ornamental stones… fully sixteen miles of parkland well watered with springs and streams and diversified with lawns… animals of all sorts, such as hart, stag and roebuck which the khan kept for recreation and sport" ( qtd. in Crouch, Michael. Kublai – Khan of all the Mongols). The summer place had fine culture such as artists and musicians. This palace showed the creative side of Kublai Khan and the Mongols. When Marco Polo visited the summer house, trust and respect was formed between the two powerful men. Polo's reports on Xanadu and China were new to Western Europeans and these reports sparked interest in eastern world exploration.
| Marco Polo | Xanadu |
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| http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/schools/brisas/sunda/great/2amy.htm | http://www.imperialtours.net/forbidden_city.htm Click here for many other pictures of Xanadu |
Kublai Khan started the Yuan dynasty after the Song dynasty had failed. Eventually, the Yuan dynasty failed as well. When Kublai moved the capitol from Mongolian territory, it offended his Mongolian advisors which lost him support. Therefore, the Mongolian advisors hired other “persecuted” Mongols and built up revolts against Kublai. Also, as I have discussed, Kublai attempted to attack Japan twice. The wars cost the government a large amount of money, so when they failed, problems with money and power occurred. During this time, religious groups were at an all time high of aggression against each other and many rebellions were breaking out in China. A few powerful rebellions were the final breaking point for the Yuan dynasty. Also, Kublai was going through depression for numerous reasons. In 1281 Kublai's favorite wife and the throne's next heir died. At the age of 79, The Great Khan died. When he passed away, the Yuan dynasty went with him.
Although many failures of attack and depression occurred in Kublai Khan's life, he created many successful achievements, such as a dynasty. Kublai wasn't like his predecessors in the way that they worried more about expansion than anything else. Kublai Khan will go down in history as The Great Khan: the ruler who not only worried about himself, his stature, and land, but also about his people.
Works Consulted
Crouch, Michael. “Kublai – Khan of all the Mongols.” The Travels of Marco Polo. 26 Feb. 2004.
<http://website.lineone.net/~mcrouch/marcopolo/khan.htm>
Dowling, Mike. “The Electronic Passport to Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan.” Chinese History . 2001. 11 Feb. 2004.
<http://www.mrdowling.com/613-khans.html>
Duncan, Kris, Sarah Johnson, and Becky Wells. “Kublai Khan Rules China." North Park University History. 24 Feb.
2004. <http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/China/KublaiKhan.html>
Hooker, Richard. “Ming China.” World Civilizations. 1996. Washington university. 10 Feb. 2004.
<http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~ dee/MING/MING.HTM>
Hooker, Richard. “Tokugawa Japan.” World Civilizations. 1996. Washington University. 11 Feb. 2004.
<http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee /TOKJAPAN/SHOGUN.HTM>
“Kublai Khan.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online . 2004. Encyclopedia Britannica. 11 Feb. 2004.
<http://school.eb.com/eb/article?eu=47423&tocid=0&query=kublai%20khan&ct>
Library of Congress Country Studies. “Kublai Khan and the Yuan Dynasty, 1261-1368.” Mongolia . 1989. 11 Feb. 2004.
<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+mn0027)>
Mckay, John P., et al. A History of World Societies. 5 th ed. Boston: Houghton, 2000.
Mcneill, William H. A History of the Human Community. 5 th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1997.
Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. 1st ed. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California
Press, 1988.