1 Northeast Asia and the Mongol Empire

1 Northeast Asia and the Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire in the Fourteenth Century By the mid-fourteenth century, the glory days of the Mongol empire were decades in the past.1 From its earliest days on the steppe, the Mongols’ regime had been characterized by flexibility, pronounced re- gional autonomy, and an ever-shifting balance of interests within the Mongol aristocracy.2 However, even after the famed “dissolution” of the Mongolian realm during the 1260s and emergence of several major, largely autonomous uluses (the Golden Horde in Rus and the Qipchaq steppe, the Il-khanate in western Asia, the houses of Ögödei and Chaghatay in Central Asia, and the Great Yuan in East Asia),3 certain bureaucratic practices such as taxation, population censuses, investiture rituals, and revenue-sharing provided the empire a loose structural coherence.4 The Mongols’ deservedly famous communication system facilitated the movement of personnel, goods, and information across Eurasia. Many of these structures and practices would outlive the Mongols’ reign, surviving in various successor regimes from China to Persia. By the 1330s, Mongol control over much of Eurasia was under im- mense strain. In the Il-khanate, increasingly violent competition for political legitimacy and control of modern-day Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan 15 16 Northeast Asia and the Mongol Empire began with the death of Abu Sa’id, whose lack of an heir ended the direct line of the house of Hülegü. Early in the fourteenth century, intra-Mongol rivalry brought an end to the house of Ögödei in Turke- stan. Despite the impressive success of Qaidu (1236–1301), who had dramatically improved Ögödeid fortunes during the second half of the thirteenth century, by 1307 the house had been largely subordinated to the Chaghatayid line. During the mid-fourteenth century, the power of the Chaghatayid house became restricted to eastern Turkestan and even there faced increasing challenges.5 In contrast, although its authority was periodically challenged during the fourteenth century, the Golden Horde retained its rule over Rus well into the fifteenth century. Begin- ning in the 1330s, the Great Yuan ulus confronted a series of natural di- sasters, civil wars, and local revolts. As the following chapters show, however, the Mongol regime in East Asia demonstrated vigorous and occasionally brilliant leadership until a surprisingly late date. The Last Decades of the Yuan The Mongol conquest of first the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) and then the Chinese Southern Song (1127–1279) over the course of the thirteenth century is well known and requires little comment here; scholars have examined its political, economic, and military facets in great detail.6 Under Chinggis Khan’s grandson, Qubilai (r. 1260–93), all Song territory fell under Mongol control. The Great Yuan ulus came to include neighboring lands that had not previously been subject to Chi- nese rule. In addition to Manchuria, Mongolia, and Tibet, such areas as Yunnan and the oasis-cities west of Shanxi were now more thoroughly tied to the major population and economic centers of China than ever before. Although such Great Khans as Möngke (r. 1251–59) and Qubilai strove to bring greater control over local revenues into the hands of the central government,7 Mongol rule was relatively indirect. After incorpo- ration into the Mongol polity through formal submission and investiture, local rulers were often left in place. As long as they guaranteed the flow of tribute, taxes, and personnel to the Mongol court, local power- holders enjoyed considerable autonomy. Few efforts were made to im- pose religious preferences, social practices, or cultural orientations on local populations. .

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