Mongol Empire timeline
This chart puts 7 Mongol states on one timeline in order, from Khamag Mongol (c. 1130 to 1206 CE) to Northern Yuan (1368 to 1635 CE). On these dates, Northern Yuan lasted longest, about 267 years.
See it on the interactive chart
- Khamag Mongolc. 1130 to 1206 CE
- Mongol Empire1206 to 1368 CE
- Chagatai Khanatec. 1225 to 1370 CE
- Golden Horde1242 to 1502 CE
- Ilkhanate1256 to 1335 CE
- Yuan dynasty1271 to 1368 CE
- Northern Yuan1368 to 1635 CE
- Mongolic
- People or culture without a state
In order
Khamag Mongol
A confederation of Mongol clans on the Onon, Kherlen and Tuul rivers, first led by Khabul Khan, great-grandfather of Temujin, the future Genghis Khan. It began to break up after the Tatars poisoned Temujin's father Yesugei.
Mongol Empire
Genghis Khan united the steppe in 1206, and he and his heirs built the largest contiguous empire in history, from the Sea of Japan to Eastern Europe. After 1260 it split into the Yuan, Chagatai, Golden Horde and Ilkhanate.
Chagatai Khanate
The share of the Mongol Empire given to Genghis Khan's son Chagatai. Its Mongol rulers gradually became Muslim and Turkic-speaking; from 1363 they lost Transoxiana to Timur, and the eastern remnant became Moghulistan.
Golden Horde
Batu's Mongol khanate ruled the steppe from Sarai on the lower Volga and took tribute from the Rus princes for two centuries. Its Mongol elite adopted Islam and the Kipchak language.
Ilkhanate
Mongol khanate founded by Hulagu, who sacked Baghdad in 1258. Ghazan converted to Islam in 1295 and his vizier Rashid al-Din wrote a history of the world. It broke apart after Abu Sa'id died in 1335.
Yuan dynasty
Kublai Khan's dynasty, the first founded by a non-Han people to rule all of China proper. It welcomed visitors such as Marco Polo and twice failed to invade Japan; famines and the Red Turban Rebellion drove it north from Khanbaliq in 1368.
Northern Yuan
The Mongol court that retreated to the steppe after the Ming took Beijing in 1368. Dayan Khan and Mandukhai Khatun reunited most Mongol tribes in the late 15th century, and the Later Jin conquered it in 1635 after defeating Ligdan Khan.
Major events
- Temujin proclaimed Genghis Khan. A kurultai at the source of the Onon river proclaims Temujin khan of the Great Mongol Nation under the title Genghis Khan, founding the Mongol Empire.
- Mongols sack Bukhara and Samarkand. Genghis Khan's armies take Bukhara and the Khwarazmian capital Samarkand, killing their defenders and enslaving or conscripting most of the people, during the invasion that destroyed the Khwarazmian Empire.
- Mongols sack Kiev. Batu Khan's Mongol army takes Kiev after a short siege in late 1240. Galicia and Volhynia then submit to Mongol rule, and the Mongols advance west into Hungary and Poland.
- Mongols sack Baghdad. Hulagu's army storms Baghdad, kills the caliph al-Musta'sim and many thousands of residents, ending the Abbasid caliphate in Iraq.
- Battle of Ain Jalut. The Mamluks of Egypt defeat a Mongol army in Galilee, a rare major Mongol defeat that halts their advance toward Egypt.
- Mongols complete the conquest of the Song. At the Battle of Yamen on 19 March the Mongol-led Yuan destroy the last Song forces in southern China. The boy emperor Zhao Bing drowns, ending the dynasty and leaving Kublai Khan's Yuan in control of all China.
- Kamikaze wreck the Mongol fleet. A typhoon devastates Kublai Khan's second invasion fleet off Kyushu, the storm remembered in Japan as kamikaze, the divine wind.
- Altan Khan names the Dalai Lama. The Tumed Mongol ruler Altan Khan meets the Tibetan lama Sonam Gyatso and gives him the title Dalai Lama, starting the Mongols' conversion to Tibetan Buddhism.
Questions
What is the order of Mongol states?
By start date: Khamag Mongol, Mongol Empire, Chagatai Khanate, Golden Horde, Ilkhanate, Yuan dynasty and Northern Yuan.
Which of the Mongol states lasted longest?
On this timeline, Northern Yuan, at about 267 years (1368 to 1635 CE).
How many Mongol states were there?
This timeline shows 7. Other lists count differently, depending on how they treat rival states and periods of division.
Which came first?
Khamag Mongol, c. 1130 to 1206 CE, is the earliest on this timeline.
Where do these dates come from?
Each row's dates were checked against the sources listed on that row's own page, mostly English Wikipedia articles, which cite the underlying scholarship. Dates that are uncertain are marked c.