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Kublai Khan or Khubilai Khan (1215 – 1294),
Mongol military leader, was Khan (1260-1294) of
the Mongol Empire and founder and first Emperor of
China|Emperor (1279-1294) of the Chinese Yuan
Dynasty.

Born the second son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki
and grandson of Genghis Khan, he succeeded his
brother Möngke Khan|Möngke in 1260 as ruler of
the Mongol Empire. Kublai Khan's brother, Hulagu
Khan|Hulagu, was the conqueror of Persia and
founder of the Ilkhanate.  

==Empire==

The empire was separated into four khanates, each
ruled by a separate khan and overseen by the Great
Khan. The Kipchak Khanate (also called the Golden
Horde) ruled Russia; the Ilkhanate ruled the
Middle East, the Chagatai Khanate ruled over
western Asia, and the Great Khanate controlled
Mongolia and eventually China. The empire reached
its greatest extent under Kublai with his conquest
of China, completed with the final defeat of the
Song Dynasty in 1279. He ruled well, promoting
economic growth with the rebuilding of the Grand
Canal of China|Grand Canal, repairing public
buildings, extending highways and introducing
paper currency. He encouraged Chinese arts and
demonstrated religious tolerance, except to
Taoism. His capital was at Beijing (then Cambuluc
or Dadu 大都 lit. big capital). The
empire was visited by several Europeans, notably
Marco Polo in the 1270s who may have seen the
summer capital in Shangdu (上都 lit.
upper capital or Xanadu?).

He conquered Dali (Yunnan) and Goryeo (Korea).
Under pressure from his Mongolian advisors, Kublai
kamikaze (typhoon)|attempted to conquer Japan,
Myanmar, Vietnam  and Indonesia . All those failed
attempts, costly expeditions, and his introduction
of paper currency caused inflation.

==Era names==
*Zhongtong (中統 Zhōngtǒng):
June 29, 1260 - September 6, 1264
*Zhiyuan (至元 Zhìyuán): September
7, 1264 - January 16, 1295

==Kublai Khan in fiction==
*Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote a poem fragment in
1798 entitled "Kubla Khan", which invokes Kublai
Khan among opium-induced imagery of exoticism. It
begins "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately
pleasure-dome decree..."
**The pop band Frankie Goes To Hollywood used the
poem's beginning in their lyrics, substituting
"decree" with "erect".
**The progressive rock band Rush (band)|Rush
turned Coleridge's poem into an entire ballad
entitled "Xanadu". The song is regarded by many
Rush fans as one of the group's best songs, along
with their science fiction epic 2112 (album)|2112.
*Kublai Khan also appears as a character in Italo
Calvino's book Invisible Cities, together with
Marco Polo.

==Offspring==
Kublai had a nephew known as Kaidu, who died in
1301.  

==Books==
:Cathay and the Way Thither, (Two volumes, Yule,
London, 1866) 
:The Book of Ser Marco Polo, (edited) (Yule,
London, 1875)  
:History of the Mongols, (Four volumes, Howorth,
London, 1876-88)

==External links==
*http://www.galmarley.com/framesets/fs_monetary_hi
story_faqs.htm Inflation under Kublai

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 before1=Möngke Khan|
 title1=List of Mongol Khans|Mongol Khan
(Dai-ön/Yuan Dynasty|Yuan)|
 years1=|
 after=Emperor Chengzong of Yuan China|
 before2=Emperor Bing of Song China|
 title2=Table of Chinese monarchs|Emperor of
China|
 years2=

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