#toluids

[inspofromancientworld]

Kubla Khan and its Ancient Origins

By Araniko - This file has been extracted from another file, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4126240

Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote Kubla Khan: or A Vision in a Dream in 1797 after an opium induced dream of Shangdu (called Xanadu in the poem) inspired by by reading Purchas his Pilgrimes by Samuel Purchas in 1614 where he wrote 'In Xandu did Cublai Can build a stately Pallace, encompassing sixteen miles of plaine ground with a wall, wherein are fertile Meddowes, pleasant Springs, delightfull streames, and all sorts of beasts of chase and game, and in the middest thereof a sumpuous house of pleasure, which may be moved from place to place.' He planned it to be between 200-300 lines, but because of an interruption by a 'person on business from Porlock', the poem only ended up being 54 lines long. Because of this, references to 'on business from Porlock' have come to mean a wholly unwelcome visitor, especially if they intrude on creative acts. The poem wasn't published until 1816 after Coleridge read the poem to Lord Byron, who encouraged him to publish it.

By Nicolas Sanson - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20676494

Shangdu (ᠱᠠᠩᠳᠤ) was the summer palace of Kublia Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty, known by his temple name as Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name as Setsen Khan. He was the grandson of Genghis Khan and followed his brother Möngke as Khagan after defeating his brother Ariq Böke in the Toluid Civil War, which caused the Great Khan's empire to splinter. Shangdu was named as the summer capital in 1271 and it was home to Muslim physicians, where medicine and surgery were taught. It also happened to be his residence, where he was named Khagan.

By Flaumfeder - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90069769

The poem focuses on the 'pleasure dome', a place that was an 'attempt to hide from the ideal [nature and the divine] and escape into a private creation' in the poem, which was inspired by Purchas' Purchas his Pilgrimes idea of a 'house of pleasure'. Coleridge, and many Romantic poets, saw the dome as the 'most artificial of constructs' and use it to highlight the disconnect from the truth of the world. He thought the dome could be redeemed if it was connected to religion, but Khan's dome in the poem was 'a purposeless life dominated by sensuality and pleasure', leaving it 'unable to recreate Eden'.

In contrast, 'Alph, the sacred river' is nature and the divine made manifest, even to becoming darker, an angry god, though it contributes its holiness to the land of Xanadu to allow it to flourish, though that flourishing is paired with death. The build up of divine and profane reach Kublai, who is trying to work through his inner turmoil, especially the Abyssinian's song, which enthralls him, but leaves him imprisoned, unable to act on the inspiration unless he hears her sing again.

You can read the whole poem here.

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He unified the Mongol tribes by force of charisma, starting with nothing, creating the I Stopped Shitposting To Be Here Shirt shirt empire through conquest after conquest of many old established empires. That included 2 Chinese realms, the Kwarezmian empire (in the area of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan & Persia), Kievan Rus, and parts of the Caucasus, culminating in one of the largest empires in history, which his son and successor Ogedei expanded to the largest. Genghis never lost in battle, and personally participated in many. Kublai Khan took his grandfather’s legacy in China, ruling the Yuan dynasty that was constructed of Genghis’ northern Jin and Western Xi-xia conquests, completing the conquest and unification of China by conquering the Southern Song dynasty. He also conquered the Goryeo kingdom, modern day Korea. However, he lost to Japan in the famous Kamikaze, partially due to poor planning and overconfidence. And a large portion of his energies were consumed in the Toluid civil war between himself and his brother Arik-Boke (their father was Tolui, Genghis’, 4th son).

[paletalegear]

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He unified the Mongol tribes by force of charisma, starting with nothing, creating the Dual Citizenship T Shirts empire through conquest after conquest of many old established empires. That included 2 Chinese realms, the Kwarezmian empire (in the area of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan & Persia), Kievan Rus, and parts of the Caucasus, culminating in one of the largest empires in history, which his son and successor Ogedei expanded to the largest. Genghis never lost in battle, and personally participated in many. Kublai Khan took his grandfather’s legacy in China, ruling the Yuan dynasty that was constructed of Genghis’ northern Jin and Western Xi-xia conquests, completing the conquest and unification of China by conquering the Southern Song dynasty. He also conquered the Goryeo kingdom, modern day Korea. However, he lost to Japan in the famous Kamikaze, partially due to poor planning and overconfidence. And a large portion of his energies were consumed in the Toluid civil war between himself and his brother Arik-Boke (their father was Tolui, Genghis’, 4th son).

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He unified the Mongol tribes by force of charisma, starting with nothing, creating the Baby Groot Hugs Jack Skellington Vintage T Shirt empire through conquest after conquest of many old established empires. That included 2 Chinese realms, the Kwarezmian empire (in the area of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan & Persia), Kievan Rus, and parts of the Caucasus, culminating in one of the largest empires in history, which his son and successor Ogedei expanded to the largest. Genghis never lost in battle, and personally participated in many. Kublai Khan took his grandfather’s legacy in China, ruling the Yuan dynasty that was constructed of Genghis’ northern Jin and Western Xi-xia conquests, completing the conquest and unification of China by conquering the Southern Song dynasty. He also conquered the Goryeo kingdom, modern day Korea. However, he lost to Japan in the famous Kamikaze, partially due to poor planning and overconfidence. And a large portion of his energies were consumed in the Toluid civil war between himself and his brother Arik-Boke (their father was Tolui, Genghis’, 4th son).

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He unified the Mongol tribes by force of charisma, starting with nothing, creating the Nascar Chicago White Sox Street Race shirt empire through conquest after conquest of many old established empires. That included 2 Chinese realms, the Kwarezmian empire (in the area of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan & Persia), Kievan Rus, and parts of the Caucasus, culminating in one of the largest empires in history, which his son and successor Ogedei expanded to the largest. Genghis never lost in battle, and personally participated in many. Kublai Khan took his grandfather’s legacy in China, ruling the Yuan dynasty that was constructed of Genghis’ northern Jin and Western Xi-xia conquests, completing the conquest and unification of China by conquering the Southern Song dynasty. He also conquered the Goryeo kingdom, modern day Korea. However, he lost to Japan in the famous Kamikaze, partially due to poor planning and overconfidence. And a large portion of his energies were consumed in the Toluid civil war between himself and his brother Arik-Boke (their father was Tolui, Genghis’, 4th son).

[fierce-little-miana]

Day 6 Favorite Matriarch: Sorghaghtani Beki

Sorghaghtani Beki was the chief consort of Tolui, the youngest heir of Genghis Khan. She was a Kereit princess and one of her sisters was married to Genghis Khan himself. She was the mother of Mongke Khan, Kublai Khan, Ariq Boke, and Hulagu Khan.

She distinguished herself by her great political mind. During her husband life she ruled over his appanage when he was unable to do so (because he was on campaign or too drunk). After his death, she refused to remarry and ruled over his appanage as regent. She was given official functions by the then ruling Khan, Ogedei. She made sure that her sons received the best education possible and were perfect Mongol princes. Herself a Nestorian Christian, she gave patronage to a huge diversity of believes (Nestorian Christianity, Islam, Buddhism etc). Through her great political skills, notably by establishing an alliance with Batu Khan, she managed to assured that her sons would inherit the title of Khagan. She was one of the main architect behind the Toluid Revolution and as such she is both the literal and spiritual mother of the Toluid line which includes both the Yuan Dynasty and the Ilkhanate. 

“If I were to see among the race of women another woman like this, I should say that the race of women was far superior to that of men.” Bar Hebraseus on Sorghaghtani Beki 

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

On May 5th, 1260, Kublai declared himself Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. A grandson of Chinggis Khan through his son Tolui, Kublai's elder Mongke had succeeded the line of Ogedai as Great Khan in 1250. During Mongke's reign, Kublai was sent to China to campaign against the Song Dynasty, and it was there that he learned of Mongke's death in 1259. Not only that, but their younger brother Ariq Boke had already declared himself the next Great Khan.

When Kublai declared himself Khan on 5 May 1260, (while still in China!) he began a four year civil war between him and Ariq for the Khanate. By the time it was over Kublai was Great Khan, but he now ruled over an empire irrevocably broken into four independent Khanates. In 1271 Kublai established the Yuan Dynasty, cementing the focus of his heirs on being masters of China, a conquest completed in 1279.

[eruverse]

More headcanons on Mongol Empire-Post Mongol Empire era:

I LOVE depicting Mongolia as a father and grandpa of many offpsring, and he did have many. So there were Golden Horde/Jochid Ulus (which was actually a combined force of Blue Horde and White Horde given to Jochi’s sons Batu and Orda, because Jochi died before Golden Horde was consolidated), Chagatai Khanate (of Chagatayids), Ilkhanate (of Hulagu), and Yuan (of Kublai). Now, rather than going with ‘Mongolia = Yuan’ like I used to, I decided to give Yuan its own personification. Why tho? For one, while Yuan’s territory did comprise of Mongolia proper and Kublai as its founder presented his state as core Mongol Empire (or, simply Mongol Empire) with his grandfather Chinggis Khan as its founder, sketchy things surrounded Kublai’s ascension as a Khagan; he was enthroned during a quriltai that was held not in Karakorum but in his own city Kaiping (in China), and it was without the votes of all four Chinggisid branches who at the time supported Kublai’s youngest brother Ariq Boke as a Khagan. All of this made his ascension illegal. What’s more, Kublai who was pretty much an usurper proclaimed himself as a ruler in a distinctly Chinese style and Yuan dynasty was established with all the legitimacy of a Chinese dynasty. Yuan therefore looked more like a breakaway/successor state just like the other Khanates than simply a continuation of the Mongol Empire that Chinggis Khan built. It stands to reason for me that I should make a distinction between Yuan and Mongolia then, since Mongolia the dude in my head represents the core of Mongols so he should be purely Mongolian with pure Mongol/nomadic characteristics. For legitimacy with the Mongolian side, Yuan would latch onto Mongolia and they would rule both China and Mongolia together. The link below is an interesting read of which I based my theory off on the separation between personifications of Mongolia and Yuan dynasty:

Besides, I just want funny family moments between Mongolia and his kids and grandkids, and the more the merrier!!

Golden Horde is a Hater and he’s so valid for it. He hates people and nothing he likes more than going to his mancave (of wide steppe) and ignoring all other kinds of existence including his own siblings by Mongolia, though he of course is loyal to his princes and princesses and would do everything for them. His rivalry with Chagatai (Khanate) reflects Jochi’s with Chagatai. Also despises Ilkhanate bc they have feuds over territories and trades. Only slightly more okay with Yuan bc Yuan is really far away and cannot bother him much though he still doesn’t want to acknowledge him because why should he. Perpetual virgin until he met chaotic deranged dumbass Timurid. Anyway, he’s a child between Mongolia and Polovtsy/Qipchak. The Polovtsy were Turkic nomads whom the Jochids subjugated and entered into their ranks (or got scattered all over the area as they fled the Mongols). They had a confederate before the Mongols came.

Mongolia: “Horde, now be good and have dinner together with me and your brothers!”

Horde: “Fuck you all now let me go back to my mancave.”

Mongolia: *spanks Horde*

Maybe I should give Blue Horde and White Horde personifications too and they are the ones who do the actual ruling while the most Golden Horde does is frolicking around, bullying little hare Russia, or being fussed over by his princesses. Anyway, they love to braid his long hair like a maiden and put beads and rings on it.

Russia sometimes mistakes Horde as a Mongol Princess because of it and Horde is so NOT amused. Cue Horde chasing Russia around.

Russia and Horde coincidentally bond over not liking studying and reading, and as kids they were illiterate. Their princes/advisors were this 👌 close to giving up teaching them to read. Horde says he’s an all powerful warrior of the steppe and he already has everything he wants and needs so why should he even study?? Meh.

At some point Horde also tried to shoot Russia’s cat because he was curious if it tasted good and that was the first time Russia smacked him. Horde was secretly impressed because apparently little hare could pack up a good punch.

Chagatai is rivals with Horde and he’s salty because his desire to make daddy Mongolia happy by besting that fucker-with-his illegitimate-Khans Horde results in Mongolia disinheriting their respective khans from the throne of Khagan altogether through Chinggis Khan. Eventually, Chagatai becomes estranged much like Horde did. His personality is serious and ruthless to a fault. Chagatai is a child of Mongolia and Qara-Khitai, who was a Khitan-ruled state in Central Asia. Khitans were a nomadic group related to Mongols as they were all similarly descended from Xianbei. Qara-Khitai however wasn’t purely Khitan because most of its subjects were Central Asian Turco-Persian Muslims under Karakhanids who then became vassal to the Khitans. Therefore by characteristics Chagatai was very much Central Asian and not Khitan… maybe Karakhanid was his actual second dad? Only Mongolia knows.

Ilkhanate is the child of Mongolia and Khwarazmian Empire (another Turco-Persian state, also both Karakhanid and Khwarezmia were descendants of Gokturks). His relationship to Mongolia is second to best, but even in time he’s more concerned with his own gains than being a filial son to Mongolia. He’s an excitable dude who’s also a wildman.

Yuan (Monchu love(hate)child) is possibly Mongolia’s favorite kid because he’s best behaved to him (including paying homage to him unlike his other hopeless brats). Has an ultra high self esteem because he’s most favored by Mongolia and because he lords over the mighty China. Lots wholesome moments between daddy Mongolia and Yuan with China totally NOT having a good time.

Yuan: “I am Great Yuan, bow down to me and my Father!!”

Horde, Chagatai, Ilkhanate: *leave*

Yuan: “No, come back here!!!!”

Except for China, Mongolia obliterated his kids’ second dads they are no more 💔 maybe he tried to do that to China too (like with Song whom Kublai subjugated) but too bad for him, China is eternal.

Yes, basically the other dads of Mongolia’s brats were the countries he subjugated and took over. He killed their personifications and gave the territories to his own.

I decided to not make Timurid a direct descendant of Mongolia, however he kinda larps as Mongol Empire following Tamerlane’s massive ambition (lol good luck). He also got important territory off Chagatai and he did it by cannibalizing parts of him (!!!). Timurid is a simpleton brute with singleminded focus who’s also a poet of many vulgar poems depicting his lover Horde. Also, I guess by the time Moghulistan happened there would be another personification in place (which means Chagatai would be dead by then) but idk yet.

Initially Horde and Timurid had it SO good but Horde had to betray him following the orders of his prince Tokhtamysh, and it made Timurid so livid he got batshit insane as if possessed. He chased after Horde and burnt his important cities when he couldn’t find him, further weakening Horde when he was already weakened from civil war and conflicts. They met one last time shortly before Horde’s death, though Horde’s death wasn’t actually by Timurid’s hands.

Mongolia finds it quite tragic that he lives on while his kids and many descendants couldn’t, but such is fate. He wouldn’t actually want to switch places with them tho (for nationverses, only one’s own survival really matters), but it would be nice to have his large family around him. He would love having his dining table brimming full with his offspring and relatives during Tsagaan Sar. Mongolia misses them sometimes even though their relationship wasn’t always so good.

Mongolia himself isn’t always a good father, and while he’s pretty attentive to his kids (the ones he had in the past or the ones he has had pretty recently) he’s an emotionally independent person and likes to encourage his brats to be independent sooner. Therefore, sometimes he can be quite neglectful, and it is even more the case these days though part of it is because he himself cannot support them much in many ways. Not saying he’s a 100% chill parent though, because like any kind of patriarch he expects and could demand proper filial piety from his brats, but these days perhaps following the pattern of chill urbanized fathers who are more of good friends to their kids than just reigning patriarchs, Mongolia is much more chill (in an egalitarian sense) with his remaining kids and relatives. Spanking your kids is bad, so he no longer does it.

[historicalmeanderings]

Berke Khan was the ruler of Golden Horde of Mongol empire, grandson of Genghis Khan and the first Mongolian ruler to convert to Islam. Berke Khan was born to Jochi, eldest son of Genghis Khan in 1208. A.D. Berke Khan was a military commander under Batu Khan who was the ruler of Golden Horde, which ruled over parts of Southern Russia. Berke Khan converted to Islam in 1252 in the city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. After the death of Batu Khan in 1255, Berke Khan assumed leadership of Golden Horde in 1257 A.D. Berke Khan fought with Hulagu Khan, ruler of Ikhanate of Mongol empire. Berke Khan sought alliance with Sultan Baibars of the Mamluk Sultanate against Hulagu Khan. Berke Khan supported Great Khan claimant Ariq Boke in the Toluid civil war. Berke Khan died in 1266 A.D due to illness. #berkekhan #berkehan #goldenhorde #mongolempire #mongolia #genghiskhan #kublaikhan #hulagukhan #ogedeikhan #mongke #mamluk #baibars #baybars #ainjalut #anatolia #russia #bluehorde #mongol #mongols #marcopolo #ertugrul #ertuğrul #dirilisertugrul #jochi #azerbaijan #armenia #georgia #history #historia #bukhara https://www.instagram.com/p/CEEoz7xjFot/?igshid=nz962couvqck

[anadromeo]

Tweeted:

FennekLyra played today's #LongestWord: TOLUIDS for 189pts, def'n at https://t.co/vfpGuijTvK #game #scrabble #playmath pic.twitter.com/zatDwmtRpW

— Anadrome (@anadromeo) July 21, 2019

via https://twitter.com/anadromeo July 21, 2019 at 03:29PM

[scrabblebot]

AI defeats AI: 392 - 433 (ACINI AL AS AXES BAKERS BE BET CYNIC DETACHER ERRING ETH FIZ GIVE GO GUANIDIN HAFIZ IT JOW JOWL KAFTAN NE OUSTED PERM PLOW PLOWMEN REFOLDED SQUID SQUIDS TABOO TOLUIDE VOTARY VROUW)

[paletalegear]

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He unified the Mongol tribes by force of charisma, starting with nothing, creating the USA Baseball Freedom Eagle For Glory Shirt empire through conquest after conquest of many old established empires. That included 2 Chinese realms, the Kwarezmian empire (in the area of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan & Persia), Kievan Rus, and parts of the Caucasus, culminating in one of the largest empires in history, which his son and successor Ogedei expanded to the largest. Genghis never lost in battle, and personally participated in many. Kublai Khan took his grandfather’s legacy in China, ruling the Yuan dynasty that was constructed of Genghis’ northern Jin and Western Xi-xia conquests, completing the conquest and unification of China by conquering the Southern Song dynasty. He also conquered the Goryeo kingdom, modern day Korea. However, he lost to Japan in the famous Kamikaze, partially due to poor planning and overconfidence. And a large portion of his energies were consumed in the Toluid civil war between himself and his brother Arik-Boke (their father was Tolui, Genghis’, 4th son).

[servile-villicus-blog]

How Support Groups to help the victim arthritis

It's 3 am and got chills and waves of nausea. Is it a side effect of new drugs recently prescribed it or the effect of Chinese food was doubtful that this afternoon? Where to go for advice, comfort, and information at that hour? Enter online survey Groups.A Support March 1998 by Tom Ferguson MD Boston Center for Clinical Computing and William Kelly in the Sapient Health Network showed that online health communities are much more useful than even specialists December 9 aspects of care. The nine areas were found to be superior comfort, performance, emotional support, compassion, the source of referrals, sources of information, the source of coping tips, issues of death, and more likely to be there for long term. Also rated slightly higher in the area of health information technology. Online communities health therefore seems a good bet for anyone with a chronic illness. It is also a means of finding a place to go where they are understood and appreciated. Many find it gives them a new purpose in life, a sense of accomplishment when they help someone new comfort to their illness. But how to choose the support group that is right for him or her there are some do's and don'ts when it comes to support groups?: DO: Be willing to share their thoughts and feelings with the community. They can not help them if they do not know what is bothering you. NO: giving personal information such as address and identity information. Support groups are an anonymous outlet for a reason. Do not set yourself up for identity theft. DO: Be a good listener and communicator. If you can not express in words how you feel, turn to emoticons (those smiley faces that smile or frown). DO NOT: Use capitals since this is considered shouting online chat groups. Local sources and types of alternatives that a little distant others around him. DO: Welcome all new members and try to make them feel at home. Remember how you felt the first time I signed on. NO: to be controversial. Share recent news, but to avoid promoting the latest scam or cure quack. DO: Sit back and watch the group from the early days to get a feel for the community. Do: Be open to new friendships. Support groups are for therapy, they do not work with a closed mind. DO: Think before you type. Remember that there are real people behind you name.With these tips for adjustment in the field of health communities, here's a good list of communities to start. Some are groups of users, some are organizations, some messageboards, but all have an outlet to provide support and information when you need most.Support Groups must send an email to join: AutoimmuneDisordersArthritisSupportCDnD@groups.msn.com ArthrsJoint@groups.msn.com Rheumatoid-arthritis-subscribe@yahoogroups.comMessageboards and Communities: http://arthritis.about.com. http://arthritischat.com www.arthritissuport.com. http://supportpath.com. Organizations: The Arthritis Foundation http://www.arthritis.org.

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He unified the Mongol tribes by force of charisma, starting with nothing, creating the Peter Frampton 2024 Tour Never Say Never Tour Shirt empire through conquest after conquest of many old established empires. That included 2 Chinese realms, the Kwarezmian empire (in the area of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan & Persia), Kievan Rus, and parts of the Caucasus, culminating in one of the largest empires in history, which his son and successor Ogedei expanded to the largest. Genghis never lost in battle, and personally participated in many. Kublai Khan took his grandfather’s legacy in China, ruling the Yuan dynasty that was constructed of Genghis’ northern Jin and Western Xi-xia conquests, completing the conquest and unification of China by conquering the Southern Song dynasty. He also conquered the Goryeo kingdom, modern day Korea. However, he lost to Japan in the famous Kamikaze, partially due to poor planning and overconfidence. And a large portion of his energies were consumed in the Toluid civil war between himself and his brother Arik-Boke (their father was Tolui, Genghis’, 4th son).

[fierce-little-miana]

If she’s your girl why is she organizing a coup against the Ögedei line with the help of Batu Khan, taking advantage of the absence of cohesion in the Ögedei faction, with me?

thanks @aethelfleds for this brillant idea of a meme.

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

The Toluid Civil War: 1260-1264

The Toluid Civil War started after the death of the Great Khan Mongke in August 1259. The Mongol Empire  never developed anything but the vaguest of succession systems:  in theory, anyone who was a descendant of Chinggis Khan could have been elected Great Khan if they could gather the support of the tribes, although this was limited to his four sons with Borte, seems to have excluded the descendents of Jochi and became dependent on taking the position through force. After Mongke’s death, the two candidates who put their names forward were his younger brothers Kublai and Ariq Boke.

It appears both brothers began efforts to consolidate their positions as soon as they learned of Mongke’s death. Kublai had been campaigning against the Song Dynasty in China, and to not waste his effort there, and likely to not look like he abandoned the campaign to grab power, continued to campaign for another two months before moving north. Ariq on the other hand immediately began building support, getting some of Mongke’s widows and children to support him, as well as their powerful cousin Berke, Khan of the Golden Horde, and a grandson of Chagatai, Alghu, a major power in the Chagatai Khanate. Even by this point, Kublai was noted for his affinity to Chinese culture, having spent considerable time there and had already built a Chinese style city in modern Inner Mongolia, K’ai-ping (renamed to Shangdu in 1263, better known in English as Xanadu). Ariq on the other hand, was a staunch traditionalist, and saw no use for the Chinese except as subjects of the Mongols. As Kublai was seen as too soft and sedentary (it seems he was already rather heavy set, an alcoholic and suffering from gout) it was easy for Ariq to garner support on the grounds of maintaining the legacy of Chinggis.

Kublai and Ariq’s brother Hulagu, conqueror of Baghdad, supported Kublai’s claim to the throne and had been on his way back to Mongolia when his attention was turned by two things: the defeat of his general Kitbuga by the Mamluks at Ain Jalut in September 1260, and Berke of the Golden Horde attacking Hulagu’s territory. Berke was a Muslim, and while Mamluk sources describe the invasion as being due to Hulagu’s destruction of Baghdad, it seems more likely that was a secondary concern, with the primary cause being arguments over the valuable territory in the Caucasus and Hulagu’s treatment of Jochid princes. The Berke-Hulagu war meant that the powerful Golden Horde and emerging Ilkhanate would take little part in the battle between Ariq Boke and Kublai.

On May 5th, 1260, Kublai declared himself Great Khan at K’ai-ping, retaking it after one of Ariq’s allies had seized the city. The location of Kublai’s declaration was notably in his Chinese style city rather than trekking to Karakorum . In June Ariq was also elected Khan, and the two brothers were now unavoidably at war. Kublai had a significant advantage however. Ariq based himself at Karakorum and had the support of a good amount of the nobility, but Karakorum was infamously in need of daily deliveries of supplies, dozens upon dozens of cartloads of food to feed the city regularly, let alone the armed forces Ariq needed to defeat his older brother. Kublai on the other hand controlled northern China, his hand firmly on the wheat, grain and rice which was needed to keep Karakorum fed. In Gansu which was a key route to supplying Karakorum, Kublai had a staunch ally in Khadan, a son of Ogedai. Khadan defeated Ariq’s general Alandar in late  summer 1260, who had kept the supply routes to Central Asia open, further harming Ariq’s position. Kublai also had considerable numerical superiority: aside from a substantial Mongolian force, he controlled the important troop reserves of north China, from Khitans and Jurchen, who fought in similar style to the Mongols themselves, and thousands upon thousands of Han Chinese infantry. All three groups had been a mainstay of Mongolian armies in China since the invasion of the Jin Empire by Chinggis in 1211.

By fall 1260 Kublai had forced Ariq to rely solely on the Yenisei River Valley to support his army, which simply was not enough to serve as a staging ground against someone who controlled the resources of northern China. Seeking to widen his circle,  Ariq placed Alghu as the new Khan of the Chagatai Khanate, hoping to rely on his resources to support his efforts to defeat Kublai.

In November 1261, Ariq fought Kublai’s forces at Shimultai, near the China-Mongolian border, and later than month on the western edge of the Khingan Mountains. The battles were inconclusive in themselves, but Ariq could not afford to lose men and Kublai used these battles to wrest control of the rest of Mongolia. In the west, Alghu had stopped sending supplies to Ariq, so to shore up his position Ariq attack his former ally while Kublai was distracted by rebellion in China. Ariq took Almaliq in 1262 and forced Alghu to flee to Khotan and Kashgar, but by then Ariq was isolated. Alghu still controlled a significant portion of the Khanate, Kublai now had Mongolia and China and Ariq simply lacked the supplies and men to control either. Over the harsh winter of 1263, his supporters began to desert him for Kublai, and Ariq figured that his only option left was to surrender to his brother, reaching Shangdu in 1264.

Kublai put on a good show of embracing his brother and welcoming him, but his advisers saw Ariq as a troublemaker and untrustworthy. Despite ignoring him for a year and executing some of Ariq’s followers, this didn’t end their concerns. Kublai had called a kurultai to meet with the other Khans to decide Ariq’s fate, but they all made excuses to not come, and anyways all died within the next year or two. Conveniently for Kublai, Ariq died early in 1266, and many suspect it was not a natural death.

However, the controversy around Kublai’s ascension would never leave, and the conflict between the nomadic and sedentary elements of his kingdom continued. Kublai had influence, but not power over the other Khanates, which were effectively independent from now on, while his cousins Kaidu and Nayan would each battle Kublai over his control. Kublai’s successors would have similar problems, with further civil wars fought over the succession, on whether power should be based in the steppe, as a Mongol dynasty, or in China, as a Chinese dynasty, with the Yuan Khans never really fitting into either.

The question remains though: what if Ariq had won? Would things have been different? Would the breakup of the empire have been avoided? While we can never know for sure, I have my doubts. First of all, I don’t think Ariq could ever have beaten Kublai, he was not that much better of a commander, his support base to narrow and his logistics too unreliable to overcome Kublai. Had he won, or if Kublai had recognized Ariq’s authority, the cracks between the Ilkhanate and Golden Horde would have still remained, and it seems doubtful that the fate of the Mongol rulers of China would be much different. Every non-Chinese group that established a dynasty in China sooner or later took on the trappings of Chinese emperors. If not the first few generations, there would come some son who wanted the softer pleasures and authority that came with Chinese styles of governance. In addition, Kublai put considerable effort into rebuilding China and trying to ingratiate himself to the populace: it seems difficult to imagine Ariq doing the same, and thus doubtful that his dynasty would reign much longer that Kublai’s. But that is just my speculation.

Most of this was from Morris Rossabi’s biography of Kublai, “Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times.” A bit dated now, but an excellent source none the less and still very much the standard work on Kublai, a very readable and detailed way to learn about all facets of Kublai’s life.