Kublai Khan

Also known as Yuanshi Zu · Xue Chanhan

Kublai, fourth son of Tolui and grandson of Chinggis Khan, was given charge of the conquered Chinese lands by his brother Mongke and gathered Chinese scholar-advisers at his headquarters in Jinlianchuan. After Mongke died on campaign in 1259, Kublai was enthroned at Kaiping in 1260 under the reign title Zhongtong and defeated his brother Ariq Boke in the succession war. In 1271 he named his state Da Yuan after a phrase in the Book of Changes, made Dadu (modern Beijing) his capital the next year, and in 1279 crushed the last Song forces at Yamen. He ruled through a Central Secretariat with branch secretariats in the provinces, had the Tibetan lama Phags-pa devise a new script for Mongolian, and in 1280 issued the Shoushi calendar of Guo Shoujing and others. He died in 1294 with the temple name Shizu and the Mongol title Sechen Khan. Marco Polo's travel account describes his court and capital in detail.