THE WORLD ATLAS

Chapter · High Middle Ages

Mongols Conquer China

The world in 1279

In 1279 the Mongol conquest of China is complete. At the naval battle of Yamen, the last Song loyalists are destroyed, and the boy emperor drowns with his minister.

Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis, now rules all of China as emperor of the Yuan dynasty from his new capital Dadu (Beijing). The Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire in history, has split into four great khanates: the Yuan in the east, the Golden Horde on the Russian steppe, the Ilkhanate in Iran, and the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia, where Kaidu challenges Kublai. The Mongol advance has been stopped in Syria by the Mamluks of Egypt and in India by the Delhi Sultanate. Merchants like Marco Polo travel safely across Asia under Mongol protection. In Europe, kings like Edward I of England and Philip III of France are building stronger states, while the Byzantines have recovered Constantinople. In West Africa, the empire of Mali is rising.

Open the map in 1279

The great powers

Region by region

Southern Africa

Great Zimbabwe is becoming the capital of a powerful state on the Zimbabwe plateau, controlling gold exports through the Swahili coast. Kilwa is the richest Swahili city, ruled by a new Mahdali dynasty. Malagasy chiefdoms rule Madagascar, and Khoisan peoples live in the southwest.

Northern Africa

The Mamluk Sultanate rules Egypt and Syria, where Qalawun seizes the throne in late 1279. The Hafsids rule Tunisia, the Marinids under Abu Yusuf Yaqub rule Morocco, and the Zayyanids rule western Algeria. In Ethiopia, Yekuno Amlak has restored the Solomonic dynasty (1270), Makuria is under Mamluk pressure, Kanem rules Lake Chad, and in West Africa the Mali Empire, founded by Sundiata Keita, now controls the gold fields of the upper Niger.

Europe

Rudolf I of Habsburg rules the Holy Roman Empire after defeating Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1278, Philip III rules France, and Edward I of England is conquering Wales. Michael VIII Palaiologos rules the restored Byzantine Empire, threatened by Charles of Anjou, while Castile under Alfonso X the Wise and Aragon under Peter III lead Christian Spain and Denis becomes king of Portugal. The Golden Horde dominates the Rus principalities, which pay it tribute, the Teutonic Knights are conquering Prussia, and pagan Lithuania is growing.

Middle East & South Asia

The Ilkhanate under Abaqa (r. 1265–1282) rules Iran, Iraq and Anatolia, where the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum survives as a vassal, while the Mamluks hold Syria and Palestine against both the Mongols and the last crusader towns. The Rasulids rule Yemen. In India, the Delhi Sultanate under Ghiyas ud din Balban (r. 1266–1287) holds the north against Mongol raids, while the Pandyas, Hoysalas, Kakatiyas and Yadavas rule the south.

Northern & Central Asia

The Golden Horde, under Möngke Temür, rules the western steppe from Sarai on the Volga, with its eastern wing in Kazakhstan. The Chagatai Khanate, under Buqa Temür but dominated by Kaidu, an Ögedeid prince at war with Kublai, controls Transoxiana and the Tian Shan. Siberia is home to forest and tundra peoples.

East Asia

Kublai Khan (r. 1260–1294) has conquered the Southern Song: Lin'an surrendered in 1276 and the last resistance ends at Yamen in March 1279. The Yuan dynasty rules all of China, Mongolia and Tibet, where the Sakya lamas govern on Kublai's behalf, and Goryeo Korea is a Yuan vassal. Japan, under the Kamakura shogunate and the regent Hōjō Tokimune, repelled a Mongol invasion in 1274 and will face another in 1281.

Southeast Asia

Pagan, under King Narathihapate, is under attack by Mongol armies, and the Khmer Empire under Jayavarman VIII is still large but past its peak. In Thailand, Sukhothai is rising under Ram Khamhaeng (c. 1279–1298), and Đại Việt under the Trần dynasty has beaten back one Mongol invasion. Kertanegara of Singhasari is the most powerful king in Java, and Samudera Pasai in Sumatra is about to become one of the region's first Muslim kingdoms.

Northern North America

Thule Inuit have spread across the Arctic to Greenland, where the Norse colony still survives. Athabaskan, Algonquian, Innu and Beothuk peoples live in the subarctic forests, and complex fishing societies line the Pacific Northwest.

Southern North America

Mississippian chiefdoms such as Moundville and Etowah flourish in the Southeast, though Cahokia is declining. A severe drought (1276–1299) is driving the Ancestral Puebloans to abandon Mesa Verde. In central Mexico the Mexica are still a wandering people seeking a home, the Mixtecs and Zapotecs rule Oaxaca, and Mayapan leads a league of Maya cities in Yucatán.

Northern South America

The Chimú kingdom rules Peru's north coast from Chan Chan, and Aymara kingdoms such as the Colla and Lupaca hold the Titicaca basin. The Inca are a small kingdom in the Cusco valley. The Muisca rule the Colombian highlands, and Tupi peoples the Brazilian coast.

Southern Cone

Diaguita farmers live in northwest Argentina, Mapuche in central Chile, and Guarani in Paraguay and southern Brazil. Hunter-gatherers roam the pampas and Patagonia, and canoe peoples live in Tierra del Fuego.

Australasia & Oceania

Polynesian voyagers have reached New Zealand (c. 1250–1300), the last major land mass on Earth to be settled, becoming the ancestors of the Māori. The Tu'i Tonga rule a maritime chiefdom, and Rapa Nui's people are beginning to carve moai. Aboriginal Australians live across the continent.

Events

  1. Mongols sack Baghdad, ending the Abbasid Caliphate
  2. Mamluks defeat the Mongols at Ain Jalut
  3. Byzantines recover Constantinople
  4. Kublai proclaims the Yuan dynasty
  5. First Mongol invasion of Japan
  6. Song capital Lin'an surrenders to the Mongols
  7. Battle of Yamen ends the Song dynasty

Moments of this period

More chapters

Sources