Building the Mongol Empire 1188-1204 Temujin wars against, and/or allies with, neighboring tribes 1206 Temujin elected Great Khan by Kuriltai (council of allied nomad tribes and states), and takes name Chinggis (literal meaning: Oceanic)

1211-1216 Mongols under Chinggis Khan war successfully against Jin empire of North China

1219-1222 Mongols conquer Khwarizm empire, after murder of merchants and ambassadors there

1221-1224 First invasion of southern Russian steppe

1229 Election of Ogotai as Great Khan after two years of political infighting following Chinggis Khan’s death

1230-1234 Definitive conquest of Jin empire by Mongols.

1234-1235 Ogotai establishes post-station system for couriers. Kuriltai decides on war against Europe, Korea, and Song empires.

1237 King of Hungary and the Holy Roman Emperor receive letters from Khan Batu, demanding their unconditional surrender in return for holding office under the Mongols. The demand is ignored.

1238 Request by Muslims of Syria and Persia to European rulers for alliance against the Mongols.

1236-1242 Campaign led by Khan Batu, a grandson of Chinggis, against Europe. Mongols invade Poland and Hungary but they withdraw in 1242, though remaining in control of Russia. 1241-1246 Regency of Toregene, widow of Ogotai, as Great Khan.

1244 Crusaders lose Jerusalem to Muslims for good. 1245 Pope sends four friars as ambassadors to “Tartars,” who return with Great Khan’s orders for submission of Pope.

1248-1251 Regency of Gaimish, widow of Guyuk, as Great Khan.

1248 Mongol proposal sent to French king for joint action against Muslims in Egypt, promising help in freeing Jerusalem. An embassy takes gift of portable chapel with fragment of True Cross, interpreted by Mongols as tribute showing formal submission of the Christian West.

1250 Mamluks (Turkish Muslim slave soldiers) revolt and take over rule of Egypt.

1253 Friar William of Rubruck leaves for the Mongol court at Karakorum. The Great Khan sends him back with a letter to the French king claiming universal rule.

1252-1279 Conquest of Song Empire of South China by Mongols.

1258 Mongols conquer Baghdad, killing last Abbasid Caliph and ending the Caliphate; Turkish Mamluks in Egypt now center of Muslim power.

1259 Khubilai, grandson of Chinggis, elected Great Khan by a Kuriltai; the same year, his brother elected Great Khan by a rival Kuriltai in the Mongol homeland, but surrenders to Khubilai after four years of bitter civil war. The Four Mongol Empires

1260 Pope’s envoy to Khan Hulagu is assured that Latin Christians in Holy Land would be protected by Mongol armies.

1260 Major defeat of Mongol army in Palestine by Mamluks of Egypt ends Mongol expansion in Southwest Asia.

1262 Khan Hulagu sends Pope and European kings proposal for joint military action against Mamluks. Response urges him to be baptized as precondition for alliance.

1260-1309 Intermittent civil war among Mongol rulers descended from the four sons of Chinggis Great Khan.

1270 French king leads an unsuccessful eighth crusade; Prince Edward of England plans joint attack with Mongols on Mamluks, but design fails for lack of manpower.

1275 Italian merchant Marco Polo arrives at Khubilai’s court in China.

1287 Nestorian Christian monk from China serves as Mongol envoy in Europe, and returns with Latin Christians’ offers of assistance against the Mamluks.

1291 Egyptian Mamluk armies conquer last Christian footholds in Western Asia. Decline and fall of the Mongol empire 1294 Death of Great Khan Khubilai. His successor rules for 13 years, but after that Mongol regime in China becomes more and more unstable.

1295 Mongols in Persia become Muslim; ties binding them to the Mongol rulers in China weaken and gradually disappear.

1306-1316 Several more attempts to coordinate joint Mongol-European military action against Mamluks.

1313 Mongols of the Golden Horde become Muslims. 1320’s to 40’s Genoese and other Italian merchant colonies flourish in Chinese cities.

1338 Mongol ruler in China sends an embassy to the Pope composed of Frenchmen and Italians living at his court. Simultaneously, Pope’s embassy carries gifts to the Great Khan, the last western mission to the Mongols.

1360-1405 Tamerlane, who claims descent from Chinggis Khan, conquers and rules what had been the western one-third or so of the Mongol empire.

1368 Han Chinese Ming Dynasty ousts the Yuan Dynasty. The last Yuan ruler dies in 1370 in Mongolia.

1478 Ivan III of Russia throws off Mongol sovereignty. 1526 Babur, a distant descendant of Chinggis Khan, founds Moghul dynasty in India.

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