Mongol conquests
From the kurultai of 1206, which proclaimed Temüjin Genghis Khan, to the death of Kublai in 1294: Mongol campaigns into China, Central Asia, Rus’ and Central Europe, Anatolia and the Middle East, Japan and Java.
21 events · 8 regions · Central and Northern Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Eastern Europe, Western and Central Europe, Balkans and Anatolia, Middle East and Egypt, Southeast Asia and Oceania
This thread traces how the nomadic tribes united by Genghis Khan built the largest land empire in history within a few decades. After the kurultai of 1206 the Mongols conquered northern China and the Khwarazmian Empire; under Ögedei they swept through Rus’ and the steppes of Eastern Europe as far as Poland and Hungary; under Möngke they took Baghdad and put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate; and Kublai completed the conquest of China and founded the Yuan dynasty.
The events are grouped together because the same people and decisions stand behind them: kurultais decided where the armies would march, and the death of a great khan more than once changed the course of a war — news of Möngke’s death made Hulagu withdraw his main forces from Syria before Ain Jalut. The thread also shows the limits of expansion: defeat by the Mamluks and the failed invasions of Japan and Java.
Other aspects of the Mongol age — the dependence of Rus’ on the Horde, trade and travel along the roads of the empire, and the life of lands the Mongols never reached — are covered in the threads “Rus’ in the 13th century”, “Europe and the Mediterranean in the 13th century” and “Asia, Africa and the Americas in the 13th century”.
Events
- Kurultai of 12061206 · Central and Northern Asia
- Fall of Zhongdubetween April and June 1215 · East Asia
- Siege of BukharaFebruary 1220 · Central and Northern Asia
- Siege of SamarkandMarch 1220 · Central and Northern Asia
- Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire1219–1221 · Central and Northern Asia
- Battle of the Indusbetween 24 November and 9 December 1221 · South Asia
- Battle of the Kalka River31 May 1223 · Eastern Europe
- Death of Genghis Khanbetween 18 August and 25 August 1227 · East Asia
- Karakorum becomes the Mongol capital1235 · Central and Northern Asia
- Mongol invasion of Europe1236–1242 · Eastern Europe
- Battle of Legnica9 April 1241 · Western and Central Europe
- Battle of Mohi11 April 1241 · Western and Central Europe
- Battle of Köse Dağbetween 26 June and 3 July 1243 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Siege of Baghdad29 January – 10 February 1258 · Middle East and Egypt
- Battle of Ain Jalut3 September 1260 · Middle East and Egypt
- Proclamation of the Yuan dynasty1271 · East Asia
- First Mongol invasion of JapanNovember 1274 · East Asia
- Battle of Yamen19 March 1279 · East Asia
- Second Mongol invasion of JapanJune–August 1281 · East Asia
- Mongol invasion of Javabetween December 1292 and January 1293 – August 1293 · Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Death of Kublai Khan18 February 1294 · East Asia
Key participants
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Mongol conquests
- Wikipedia (English): Mongol Empire
- Wikipedia (Russian): Монгольские завоевания
- Wikipedia (Russian): Монгольская империя
- Jackson P. The Mongols and the West, 1221–1410. — Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2005.
- Morgan D. The Mongols. — 2nd ed. — Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.
- Allsen T. T. Mongol Imperialism: The Policies of the Grand Qan Möngke in China, Russia, and the Islamic Lands, 1251–1259. — Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987.
- Rossabi M. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. — Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
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