VICTORIES
AND DEFEATS
kublai khan used military expertise
to grow his empire—even before he
took complete control of it. His elder
brother Möngke held power in 1256
when Kublai was first given respon-
sibility for China. As part of his loyal
service to his brother, Kublai brought
the Dali Kingdom (modern-day Yunnan
Province in southern China) under
Mongol control after several years
of campaigning. After becoming
the fifth great khan in 1260, Kublai
turned his attention to bringing
the rest of China under his
rule. With each victory,
the Mongols were able
to capture more and
more Chinese territoryand resources—including the soldiers
and the ships that would become the
foundation of the Mongol navy. Most
of China had been conquered by 1276,
but final victory would not be achieved
for three more years. Under Kublai’s
reign, the sprawling Mongol Empire
was organized into four distinct terri-
tories or khanates: the Golden Horde,
the Ilkhanate, the Chagatai Khanate,
and the Yuan dynasty in China. Later
expeditions against powers in Japan,
Myanmar, Vietnam, and Java were not
as successful as Kublai’s earlier Chinese
campaigns. Kublai tried multiple times
to invade Japan and failed to make Java
a vassal state, but he did conquer ter-
ritory in both Vietnam and Myanmar.(^1) Dali Kingdom
Before succeeding him, Kublai
served his brother, Möngke Khan,
as the civil and military ruler
of Mongol-held China. In 1256
Kublai toppled the Dali Kingdom
in southwestern China, paving the
way for future attacks on the Song.
(^5) Java
The Singhasari kingdom of Java,
refused to pay tribute to Kublai
Khan. The Mongols launched an
invasion of the island in 1293 with
more than a thousand ships, but
their massive numbers did not
result in victory.
Territory under Mongol control
Borders of the khanates
Vassal states
(^3) Japan
Two Mongol invasions launched
in 1274 and 1281 both failed as
typhoons devastated Kublai
Khan’s fleets. The Japanese word
kamikaze (meaning “divine wind”)
was derived for the 1281 storm to
recognize the gods’ intervention.
Capital
Current borders
3
3
3
3
Area
Enlarged
Aral Sea Lake Balkhash
BaikalLake
Kerulen
Caspian Sea
Don
Volga
Huan
g
Ono
n
Irtis
h
Yang
tze
BlackSea
Kyiv
Novgorod
Pagan
Angkor
Vijaya
Hanoi
Fukuoka
Hangzhou
Isfahan
Samarqand
Baghdad
Sarai
Constantinople
Jerusalem
Trebizond
Ningxia
Kashgar
Delhi
Chengdu
Lhasa
Nanking
Dadu
(Beijing)
Karakorum
Wuzhou
Quanzhou
Guangzhou
Wuchang
Shangdu
Xiangyang
INDIA
TIBET
MONGOLIA
ARABIAN
PENINSULA
KASHMIR
SULTANATEOF DELHI
CHAMPA
(VIETNAM)DAI VIET
(KOREA)KORYO
SOUTHERNSONG
JAPAN
(MYANMAR)PAGAN
KINGDOMDALI
to JAVA
ASIA
GOLDEN
HORDE
CHAGATAI
KHANATE
ILKHANATE
YUAN DYNASTY
(KHANATE)
1
2
3
4
5
6
MAP: EOSGIS.COM
THE MONGOL EMPIRE IN 1294