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Genghis KhanGenghis Khan is depicted in ink and color on silk, in a painting in the National Palace Museum, in Taipei, Taiwan.
GL Archive/AlamyTemüjin is born on the steppes (grasslands) of what is now Mongolia. He is the son of Yesügei, a member of the royal Borjigin clan of the nomadic Mongol people.
1171
A band of Tatars, another nomadic people, poisons Temüjin’s father. With Yesügei dead, the rest of Temüjin’s clan abandon him, his mother, and his siblings. A rival clan later captures Temüjin and holds him captive, forcing him to wear a wooden collar, but Temüjin eventually escapes.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Temüjin rises to power by cultivating powerful allies and ultimately forming an army of his own. He conquers rival clans and makes sure that his men kill all rival leaders. In 1206 he is accepted as emperor of all the steppe people and is proclaimed Genghis Khan, a title that means “universal ruler.” This event is regarded as the beginning of the Mongol Empire.
1205–09
Genghis Khan directs an attack against the Tangut kingdom of Xi Xia, a northwestern border-state of China. The attack ends in 1209 after a declaration of allegiance by the Xi Xia king. (The Xi Xia culture is virtually annihilated in 1227, however, after the Xi Xia king refuses to assist the Mongols in an expedition.)
1215
The Mongols capture Beijing in northern China. They continue their conquests, sometimes fighting multiple campaigns at once.
Courtesy of the Edinburgh University Library, ScotlandMongol troops penetrate into southern Russia and raid cities in Crimea.
1227–29
Genghis Khan dies in 1227. His son Ögödei is chosen to lead the empire in 1229. The empire now stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to the China Sea in the east and from Siberia in the north to Tibet in the south. A well-organized messenger system covering most of Asia keeps Mongol rulers aware of what is happening over the vast empire.
1231
The Mongols defeat the Khwārezm-Shāh Dynasty of Central Asia.
1237–38
Toda Mongke and His Mongol HordeToda Mongke and His Mongol Horde, watercolor on paper depicting a khan at the head of the Golden Horde.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase (M.78.9.8), www.lacma.orgThe western part of the empire, known as the Golden Horde, annihilates the Bulgars in eastern Europe.
1240
Batu, a grandson of Genghis Khan, expands the domain of the Golden Horde in a series of brilliant campaigns that includes the sacking and burning of the city of Kyiv (Kiev) in 1240. (At this time Kyiv is the major city in Russia.)
1241
Ögödei dies during a drinking bout. Mongol leaders cease their advances in Europe and the Near East so that they can be present in Mongolia when a new supreme ruler of the Mongols, or great khan, is selected. It is only Ögödei’s death that prevents Batu from invading western Europe.
1242–46
Töregene, Ögödei’s widow, rules the empire by common consent of the Mongol nobles. In 1246 her son Güyük becomes great khan.
1248–51
Güyük dies in 1248. His widow, Ogul-Gaimish, becomes regent (temporary ruler) and rules for three years.
1251
Möngke is elected great khan. He will be the last great khan to base his capital at Karakorum, in central Mongolia.
1258
The Mongols seize Baghdad, in present-day Iraq.
1259
The Mongols take over much of present-day Syria. Möngke dies during a siege of a provincial town in Sichuan, China.
1260
The Mongols fail to conquer Egypt. Kublai, a brother of Möngke, is elected great khan and moves the empire’s capital to what is now Beijing. Kublai comes to regard himself primarily as a Chinese emperor, and his dynasty becomes known as the Yuan Dynasty.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Kublai dies. After his death the Mongol Empire begins to fragment as disputes over succession weaken the central government in China.
1368–70
The Yuan Dynasty falls in 1368, overthrown by a Chinese rebel leader who establishes a new dynasty, the Ming. The Mongols are driven out of Beijing, and the last Yuan emperor, Togon-temür, flees into the steppes, where he dies in 1370.
c. 1370–1405
TimurAn artist's rendering of Timur with his courtiers, 17th century.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Rogers Fund, 1935, 35.64.4, www.metmuseum.orgThe Turkic conqueror Timur, who belongs to a Mongol subgroup known as the Barlas tribe, proclaims himself restorer of the Mongol Empire about 1370. Although his conquests are extensive, they are temporary and never match the extent of the empire under Kublai Khan. Timur dies in 1405.
