Xandu, a smaller city than Beijing, was the Mongols summer capital. The capital, located in inner Mongolia, was also referred to as K’ai-p’ing by Qublai. Qublai was Genghis (Chinggis) Khan’s grandson. The summer capital was built to symbolize Qubilai as a ruler rather than as an invader. This site was also symbolic to Qublai for […]
Author: Sarah Nemeth
Qaraqorm
Qaraqorm once stood magnificently at the heart of present-day Mongolia. Situated on the banks of the Orkhon River, Qaraqorm, the first permanent Mongol capital, was established by Ogodei Khan (r. 1227-41). Unlike Ogodei’s father Chinggis Khan; who believed that the roaming conqueror most also rule on the move, Ogodei did not follow his father’s nomadic […]
Mongolia
The Mongols were first mentioned in Chinese texts from c. 600-900 A.D. The narrative “Secret History of the Mongols” is the closest source resembling a primary document that remains for the Mongols. This narrative is a mythical account of the formation of the people that would become known as the Mongols. The original narrative ends […]
Georgia
Jebe Noyan along with Subodai Bahadur Noyan were two of the Mongol ‘Hounds of War.’ They were Mongol military generals and between 1221-1224 they participated in an epic reconnaissance excursion. The two generals would come to capture the Georgian kingdom in c. 1223 and make it the first European vassal state. Vassal states are states […]
Samarkand (Samarqand)
Samarqand was an urban city of Central Asia, more specifically located in modern day Uzbekistan. The city was taken over in c. 1210 by the Khwarazmians. During this time, Chinggis was focused on China and had no desire to start a fight with Khwarazmians. At this time he pursued a working relationship, sending political envoys to […]
Zhongdu (Beijing)
Zhongdu was the northern capital for the Chin seized by Chinggis in 1215. Later Zhongdu became the Mongol capital under Qublia (Chinggis Khan’s grandson). Qublia chose Zhongdu as the capital to appease the Chinese citizens. The streets were wide enough for nine horses to trod abreast at the same time. The Yellow River ran through […]
