Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the dynastic name "Great Yuan" in 1271, and ruled Yuan China until his death in 1294.
| Kublai Khan | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Portrait by artist Araniko, drawn shortly after Kublai's death in 1294. His white robes reflect his desired symbolic role as a religious Mongol shaman. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Khagan-Emperor of the Mongol Empire | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 21 August 1264 – 18 February 1294 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coronation | 5 May 1260 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Möngke Khan Ariq Boke (as regent and a claimant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Temür Khan (Yuan dynasty) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Emperor of the Yuan dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 18 December 1271 – 18 February 1294 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Temür Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 23 September 1215 Mongol Empire | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 18 February 1294 (aged 78) Khanbaliq, Yuan dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial | Unknown, presumptively Burkhan Khaldun (in present-day Khentii Province, Mongolia) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Empress | Tegulen Khatun
(m. 1232; died 1233)Empress Nambui
(m. 1283; went missing 1290) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Issue | Zhenjin | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| House | Borjigin | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Yuan | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Tolui | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Sorghaghtani Beki | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Buddhism | ||||||||||||||||||||
Kublai was the second son of Tolui by his chief wife Sorghaghtani Beki, and a grandson of Genghis Khan. He was almost 12 when Genghis Khan died in 1227. He had succeeded his older brother Möngke as Khagan in 1260, but had to defeat his younger brother Ariq Böke in the Toluid Civil War lasting until 1264. This episode marked the beginning of the fragmentation of the empire. Kublai's real power was limited to the Yuan Empire, even though as Khagan he still had influence in the Ilkhanate and, to a significantly lesser degree, in the Golden Horde.
In 1271, Kublai established the Yuan dynasty and formally claimed orthodox succession from prior Chinese dynasties. The Yuan dynasty came to rule over most of present-day China, Mongolia, Korea, southern Siberia, and other adjacent areas. He also amassed influence in the Middle East and Europe as khagan. By 1279, the Yuan conquest of the Song dynasty was completed and Kublai became the first non-Han emperor to rule all of China proper.
The imperial portrait of Kublai was part of an album of the portraits of Yuan emperors and empresses, now in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. White, the color of the imperial costume of Kublai, was the imperial color of the Yuan dynasty based on the Chinese philosophical concept of the Five Elements.