Mongolia under Yuan rule Lingbei province 岭北行省 |
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Province of the Yuan dynasty | |||||
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Mongolia within the Yuan dynasty under the Lingbei province | |||||
Capital | Karakoram | ||||
Government | Yuan hierarchy | ||||
History | |||||
• | Established | 1271 | |||
• | Disestablished | 1368 |
The Yuan dynasty ruled over the Mongolian steppe, including both Inner and Outer Mongolia as well as part of southern Siberia, for roughly a century between 1271 and 1368. The Mongolian Plateau is where the ruling Mongols of the Yuan dynasty as founded by Kublai Khan came from, thus it enjoyed a somewhat special status during the Mongol Yuan dynasty, division of the Mongol Empire, although the capital of the dynasty had been moved from Karakorum to Khanbaliq (modern Beijing) since the beginning of Kublai Khan's reign, and Mongolia had been turned into a province by the early 14th century.
The Mongols came from the Mongolian steppe, and Karakorum was the capital of the Mongol Empire until 1260. During the Toluid Civil War, Mongolia was controlled by Ariq Böke, a younger brother of Kublai Khan. After Kublai's victory over Ariq Böke, the Yuan dynasty was founded in China in 1271, and both North China and Mongolia were put within the Central Region (腹裏) directly governed by the Zhongshu Sheng of the Yuan at the capital Khanbaliq (Dadu). Even though Karakorum was no longer the empire's capital and Mongolia had partially lost its importance by now, as homeland of the Mongols, it still had a strong influence both politically and militarily over other parts of the empire. There were many Mongolian princes concentrated in the Mongolian steppe, whose influence extended into the Yuan capital. In fact, in order to maintain his claim as the Great Khan, Kublai Khan made significant efforts to control and restore peace in Mongolia after the Toluid Civil War. In 1266, Nomukhan, one of Kublai's favorite sons, was dispatched to Mongolia to guard the north.