ABOUT THE BOOK The Mongol Empire changed the course of history and transformed the map of the world. Driven by an inspiring vision for peaceful world rule, Genghis Khan – mass-murdering barbarian to his victims, genuis and demi-god to his people – united warring clans and forged an empire that spanned Asia, bringing people, cultures and religions together and opening intercontinental trade. Under his grandson, Kublai Khan, the vision evolved into a more complex ideology, justifying further expansion. Fuelled by the belief that Heaven had given the whole world to the Mongols, Kublai doubled the empire’s size until, in the late thirteenth century, he and his family controlled one-sixth of the world’s land area. Along the way, he conquered China, made Beijing his capital and gave the nation the borders it has today, establishing the roots of the twenty-first century superpower. Charting the rise and eventual fall of Genghis’s ‘Golden Family’, John Man’s authoritative account brings the empire vividly to life, providing essential reading for anyone with an interest in history, geopolitics, and today’s complex and volatile world. CONTENTS Cover About the Book Title Page Dedication List of Maps Acknowledgements The Empire: Rulers and Regions Introduction Part I Genghis 1 ‘His Destiny Ordained by Heaven’ 2 The Founder of His Nation 3 To the South 4 The Gates of Hell 5 The Great Raid 6 Emperor and Sage 7 Death and Secrecy Part II Transition 8 The Woman Who Saved the Empire 9 Terror on Europe’s Edge 10 The Foundations Secured Part III Kublai 11 Westwards Again: Conquest and Defeat 12 The Taking of Yunnan 13 In Xanadu 14 Kublai Emerges 15 A New Capital 16 Embracing Tibet, and Buddhism 17 The Conquest of the South 18 Burned by the Rising Sun 19 Challenge from the Heartland 20 What Kublai Did for China 21 Kamikaze 22 A Murder, and a Secret Grave Part IV Aftermath 23 The Outer Reaches of Empire 24 Grave-hunting on the Sacred Mountain 25 What the Mongols Did for Us 26 How to Survive Death Afterword: Back to the Future Picture Section Bibliography Picture Acknowledgements Index About the Author Also by John Man Copyright THE MONGOL EMPIRE Genghis Khan, His Heirs and the Founding of Modern China JOHN MAN For TW and DW-M MAPS The World of the Mongols, c 1150 The Empire at the Death of Genghis Khan, 1227 The Mongol Empire in 1294 From the Empire, 10 Nations ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With thanks to: Chris Atwood, Professor of Mongolian History, Indiana University; Charles Bawden, Emeritus Professor, and former Professor of Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, who started it all; Dr Dambyn Bazargur and Badraa; Siqin Brown, SOAS; Yuefan Deng, Stonybrook University, NY; Dalai, historian, Ulaanbaatar; Ruth Dunnell, Associate Professor of Asian History and Director of International Studies, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio; Erdenebaatar, Institute of Animal Husbandry, Ulaanbaatar; Stephen Haw, for vital guidance on Marco Polo’s China; ‘Helen’, Renmin University, Beijing, for wonderful interpreting; Professor Tsogt-Ochir Ishdorj, Head, Department of Historiography, History Institute, Mongolian Academy of Science; Jorigt and Nasanbayar of the Mongolian Language Institute, School of Mongolian Studies, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot; Luc Kwanten and Lilly Chen, Big Apple-Tuttle Mori, Beijing and Shanghai; Professor Yao Dali, History Department, Fudan University, Shanghai; Lars Laaman, History Department, SOAS, for his help with Sharaldai (see Bibliography) and his translator, Geok Hoon Williams; Yuan-chu Ruby Lam, Department of Chinese, Wellesley College, MA; Du Jian Lu, Xi Xia Institute, Ningxia University; Richard John Lynn, for his Xanadu verse translations; Tom Man, of Perioli-Man, Oxford, for putting flesh on the Pleasure Dome; David Morgan, formerly Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Nachug, Director, Institute for Genghis Khan Studies, Edsen Khoroo (Genghis Khan Mausoleum); Oyun Sanjaasuren, MP, leader of Citizens’ Will-Republican Party, Head of Zorig Foundation; Igor de Rachewiltz, School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, for vital and unstinting guidance; Panoramic Journeys, together with Esee, two Nyamas, Ravi, Refika, Nancy and Joan; my Mongol guides, Goyotsetseg Reston (Goyo) and Tumen; Randall Sasaki, Texas A&M University, and Kenzo Hayashida for an introduction to Kublai’s lost fleet; Sainjirgal, researcher, Genghis Khan Mausoleum; Sharaldai, theologian, Genghis Khan Mausoleum; Professor Noriyuki Shiraishi, Niigata