Samantha
Hovasse
Period
4
AP
World History
Biography
Kublai (Khubilai)
Khan
Kublai Khan was born September
23, 1215 in Mongolia. His father was Tolui Borjigin and
his mother was Sorghaghtani Beki, who was a Nestorian
Christian princess of the Kereyid Confederacy. Khan’s grandfather was
the famous Genghis Khan. Kublai Khan also was known as Shizu in his lifetime,
meaning that he was a wise person. He also had other siblings who were Mengke,
the older brother, and Arigbge, the younger brother and he had another older
brother named Hulegu. When Kublai Khan was seventeen, his father died. His
mother was a very strong woman and raised her sons to become the next rulers of
the Mongol Empire. In 1251, when Kublai was in his mid-thirties, Mengke became
the next Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, and Kublai was given control over
Chinese territories in the eastern part of the empire, which happened to be
China. Kublai Khan was a very intelligent person. He cared about the people he
ruled. He organized a group of Confucian Chinese advisers to introduce reforms
in his territories. But in August of 1259, Mengke was killed in battle and that
meant that Kublai was supposed to be the next Khan, but his younger brother
Arigbge had other ideas and decided to name himself Khan. But Kublai had the
support of his people and advisors and they named Kublai the next great Khan.
Kublai and Arigbge eventually went to battle and Kublai won. Two years after
that battle Arigbge died and Kublai was named the great Khan and the true
leader.
Since Kublai mainly reigned in
the northern part of China, he sent emissaries to the Song Dynasty in the south
to restore relations but the emissaries always came back in bad condition. He
then decided to take his army down and was victorious in bringing the end of
the Song Dynasty and unifying China under the Mongol rule, and with this, he
created the Yuan Dynasty. Kublai Khan was a respected leader. The Mongols and
Chinese lived separate lives and did not come in contact with each other that
often so the Chinese way of life never changed. He tolerated many religions and
actively promoted Buddhism, but he supported Doaists, Muslims, and Christians
in his realm. He never forced anyone to follow one religion or to make everyone
live the life of a Mongol. Kublai Khan was a rare man in the fact that he was a
Mongol, but unlike his ancestors before him, he was able to sit still in one
place and not try to go conquer the whole world. He cared more about the people
living inside his kingdom. He was one of the only rulers to successfully use paper
money as the currency in an empire. Kublai
Khan also met a very important person by the name of Marco Polo, he became a
friend to him, since Marco Polo wrote highly of him in his writings and Kublai
Khan made him a part of his court. However, like any ruler, he did want more
land, just not the world. He successfully conquered parts of Burma and Vietnam,
but he led invasions against Japan and he lost every time. The people thought
it was a sign that Kublai Khan was not the Mandate of Heaven. In 1281, his
favorite wife, Chabi died, and then his eldest son and heir, Zhenjin, died in
1285. Kublai Khan then became an alcoholic, grew obese, and got gout. He later
died on February 18, 1294.
Kublai Khan is a significant
leader in history because he is the first Mongol to ever rule China, to ever be
an emperor of China, and the first to ever start his own Dynasty. He’s even
more famous and respected by being able to live in peace, for the most part,
with the two sides, the Mongols and the Chinese. He is also significant because
he had a close relationship with Marco Polo, who was a very famous explorer and
some of Kublai Khan’s fame comes from him.
Bibliography
"Kublai Khan." 2013. The
Biography Channel website. May 27 2013, 07:55 http://www.biography.com/people/kublai-khan-9369657.
Szczepanski, Kallie. N.p.. Web. 27 May 2013. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/mongolia/p/Kublai-Khan-Biography-Of-The-Great-Khan.htm
Bentley, Jerry H. and Herbert F. Ziegler. Traditions and Encounters: A Global
Perspective on the Past. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2006. Print.
