Pen Portraits: Kublai Khan

Kublai Khan (1215-1294), Mongol overlord

The founder of the Yuan dynasty was born in Mongolia. Grandson of Genghiz Khan he was also the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (1260-1294) and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China. He assumed the title emperor of China, and his conquest of South China’s Song Dynasty was the last step in the Mongols’ efforts to rule China wholly. With that conquest behind him, he became the overlord of all the Mongol dominions (the Golden Horde in southern Russia,the Il-Khanate of Persia and regions inhabited by traditionally nomadic Mongol princes), as well as the ruler of his own territory of China.
Kublai Khan (known to Mongols as Setsen Khan, or “Wise Khan”) was fortunate to take close at heels the trail carved by his famous grandfather. The Mongols before him were illiterate and more accustomed to live on horseback living only for the day. Genghiz Khan had stepped farther than all his predecessors and gave him a vision of an empire. Mongols had come to power in China, as they had elsewhere, by brute force, never incorporating their successes into a cohesive structure. Kublai brave and intelligent was 17 when his father died. He never forgot the axiom one of the advisors gave to him, “I have heard that one can conquer the empire on horseback, but one cannot govern it on horseback,” He took this to heart. Besides he adapted the Confucian thought and set himself as a role model to act his part as the ruler never forgetting his obligations to the ruled.
In 1257, unhappy with how the war against the Chinese Song Dynasty was progressing, Mngke the khan led an expedition into western China. He was killed by the Chinese defense in August 1259, however, and his younger brother Arigbge immediately made plans to have himself named khan. When Kublai, who was besieging a Chinese city with his army, heard of Arigbge’s plans,he and his associates held an assembly, during which Kublai was unanimously elected khan in succession to Mngke. Ten days later, he announced his succession in an announcement drawn up in classical Chinese. However, because primogeniture was not a recognized principle at the time (Kublai was older), Arigbge had himself declared khan, ignoring Kublai’s pronouncement.

In 1264, Kublai defeated Arigbge in battle; two years later, Arigbge died. However, the disputed nature of Kublai’s reign did not die with Arigbge, as certain family factions would repeatedly lay claim to the throne. The fame of Kublai, however, would remain secure for posterity.(ack: biography.com)

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The Silk Road and Via Appia-3

outline: Silk road carried trade,exchange of ideas, culture,religion- ups and downs

Trade along the route was adversely affected by the strife which built up between the Christian and Moslem worlds. The Crusades brought the Christian world a little nearer to Central Asia, but the unified Moslem armies under Saladin drove them back again. In the Fourth Crusade, the forces of Latin Christianity scored a triumph over their Greek rivals, with the capture of Constantinople (Istanbul). However, it was not the Christians who finally split the Moslem world, but the Mongols from the east.
Whilst Europe and Western Asia were torn by religious differences, the Mongols had only the vaguest of religious beliefs. Several of the tribes of Turkestan which had launched offensives westwards towards Persia and Arabia, came to adopt Islam, and Islam had spread far across Central Asia, but had not reached as far as the tribes which wandered the vast grasslands of Mongolia. These nomadic peoples had perfected the arts of archery and horsemanship. With an eye to expanding their sphere of influence, they met in 1206 and elected a leader for their unified forces; he took the title Great Khan. Under the leadership of Genghis Khan, they rapidly proceeded to conquer a huge region of Asia. The former Han city of Jiaohe, to the west of Turfan, was decimated by the Mongols as they passed through on their way westwards. The Empire they carved out enveloped the whole of Central Asia from China to Persia, and stretched as far west as the Mediterranean. This Mongol empire was maintained after Genghis’ death, with the western section of the empire divided into three main lordships, falling to various of his descendents as lesser Khans, and with the eastern part remaining under the rule of the Great Khan, a title which was inherited from by Kublai Khan. Kubilai completed the conquest of China, subduing the Song in the South of the country, and established the Yuan dynasty.
The partial unification of so many states under the Mongol Empire allowed a significant interaction between cultures of different regions. The route of the Silk Road became important as a path for communication between different parts of the Empire, and trading was continued. Although less `civilised’ than people in the west, the Mongols were more open to ideas. Kubilai Khan, in particular, is reported to have been quite sympathetic to most religions, and a large number of people of different nationalities and creeds took part in the trade across Asia, and settled in China. The most popular religion in China at the time was Daoism, which at first the Mongols favoured. However, from the middle of the thirteenth century onwards, buddhist influence increased, and the early lamaist Buddhism from Tibet was particularly favoured. The two religions existed side by side for a long period during the Yuan dynasty. This religious liberalism was extended to all.
Any history on the Silk Road would be incomplete without mention of Marco Polo. As a member of a merchant family from Venice he took the route. Starting in 1271, at the age of only seventeen, he trekked across Persia, and then along the southern branch of the Silk Road, via Khotan, finally ending at the court of Kubilai Khan at Khanbalik, the site of present-day Beijing, and the summer palace, better known as Xanadu.
postscript:
Mongol invasion was a turning point in the history of the region. Islam will fall back from what they had gained: all the turbulence,-force released by falling edifices of old beliefs, cultures muddied by trades, wars was for their taking. There was the Black Death that hit as far as Europe. Two thirds of Europe will succumb to it. History would never be the same. Islam will make a giant leap backwards and would never be the same.
(ack:http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html;www.silk-road.com)
(To be Cont’d)

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Terrible Effect Of A Trifle

Jochi the eldest son of Genghis Khan was a prince who did not care much for power; he spent much time carousing and hunting with his cronies than living in style as was entitled to. Once over the cups some nobles seeing a jovial figure so common and harmless began to tease him; but the son of Genghis Khan did not say a word.
The nobles continued at their pastime till a bodyguard of Jochi went over to them and pointed out the identity of their victim.
Realizing the danger the tormentors pleaded, ” We are nothing but dust before the Great Khan!” They quickly left the place.
Jochi may not want power; but as a member of that family of Khans that wielded the destiny of Mongols, he represented power despite of himself. His Life Signs was made stronger by his connections. . When the question of succession came up it was Jochi’s choice that settled in favor of Kublai Khan rather than Ogodei or his successors.
Without Kublai Khan, history of the world would have been decidedly different.

benny

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