Yuan dynasty in Inner Asia

TheYuan dynasty in Inner Asiawas the domination of theYuan dynastyinInner Asiain the 13th and the 14th centuries. TheBorjiginrulers of the Yuan came from theMongolian steppe,and theMongolsunderKublai Khanestablished the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) based inKhanbaliq(modernBeijing). The Yuan was a dynasty that incorporated many aspects of Mongol and Chinese political and military institutions.^[1]

The Yuan directly ruled over most of modern China, Korea, Mongolia, and parts of Siberia (Russia). Specifically, the Yuan extended toManchuria(modernNortheast ChinaandOuter Manchuria),Mongolia,southernSiberia,theTibetan Plateauand parts ofXinjiang.People from these 'Inner Asian' regions either belonged to the 'Mongol' class, 'Northern Han' class, or 'Semu' class.

In addition, theYuan emperorsheldnominal suzeraintyover the three western Mongol khanates (theGolden Horde,theChagatai Khanateand theIlkhanate).

Manchuria

Manchuriawas originally ruled by theHan,Tang,Liao,andJindynasties before the emergence of theMongol Empirein the early 13th century. During theMongol conquest of the Jin dynasty(1211–1234),North Chinabecame ruled by Mongols, and Manchuria became part of the Yuan dynasty.

In 1269, the Yuan founderKublai Khanset up theLiaoyang province( liêu dương hành tỉnh ) which extended to theKorean Peninsula.In 1286, it became aXuanweisi( tuyên úy tư ). In 1287, the Liaoyang province was established again, and lasted until the end of the Yuan dynasty.

According toYuanshi,the official history of the Yuan dynasty, the Mongolsmilitarily invaded Sakhalin islandand subdued theGuwei( cốt ngôi ) there. By 1308, all inhabitants ofSakhalinhad submitted to the Yuan dynasty. After the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty by theMing dynastyin 1368, some Mongols underNaghachu(originally a Yuan official) fled to Northeast Asia, where he became a general of theNorthern Yuan dynasty.The Ming then conquered and annexed Manchuria after theMing military campaign against Naghachuin 1387.

Mongolia

The ethnic Mongol rulers of the Yuan dynasty came from the Mongolian steppe, andKarakorumwas the capital of theMongol Empireuntil 1260.

During theToluid Civil War,Mongolia was controlled byAriq Böke,a younger brother ofKublai Khan.After Kublai's victory over Ariq Böke, Mongolia was put within the Central Region ( phúc lí ) directly governed by theCentral Secretariatat the capitalKhanbaliq(Dadu). However, it was shortly occupied byKaidu,leader of theHouse of Ögedeiandde factokhan of theChagatai Khanateduringhis war with Kublai Khan,although it was later recovered by the Yuan commanderBayan of the Baarin.

Temurwas later appointed a governor in Karakorum and Bayan became a minister.

During the rule ofKülüg Khan,the third Yuan emperor, Mongolia was put under the Karakorum province ( hòa lâm hành tỉnh; Helin Province) in 1307, although parts ofInner Mongoliawere still governed by the Central Secretariat.

The province was renamed to the Lingbei province ( lĩnh bắc hành tỉnh ) by his successorAyurbarwada Buyantu Khanin 1312. After the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty by theMing dynastyin 1368, the Yuan court retreated north whilst maintaining the dynastic name of "Great Yuan" (thenceforth known as theNorthern Yuan dynastyin historiography) and maintained control over northern China, theMongolian Plateauand Siberia.

Tibet

After theMongol conquest of Tibetin the 1240s, Tibet was incorporated into theMongol Empire.After the enthronement ofKublai Khan,founder of theYuan dynasty,Tibet was put under theBureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairsor Xuanzheng Yuan, a government agency and top-level administrative department set up inKhanbaliqthat supervisedBuddhist monksin addition to managing the territory ofTibet.^[2]^{[full citation needed]}

Besides modern-dayTibet Autonomous Region,the Yuan also governed parts ofSichuan,QinghaiandKashmir.It was separate from the other provinces of the Yuan dynasty such as those of formerSong dynasty,but stillunder the administrative rule of the Yuan.

One of the department's purposes was to select adpon-chen('great administrator'), usually appointed by the lama and confirmed by the Yuan emperor in Beijing.^[3]

During the Yuan rule of Tibet, Tibet retained nominal power over religious and regional affairs, while the Yun managed a structural and administrative rule over the region,^[4]^{[full citation needed]}reinforced by military intervention.

Tibetan Buddhismwas one of the mainstate religionsof the Yuan dynasty, and theSakyaleaderDrogön Chögyal PhagpabecameImperial Preceptorof Kublai Khan.

Yuan control over the region ended with the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty by theMing dynasty,the revolt ofTai Situ Changchub Gyaltsenagainst the Mongols, and the Ming'sestablishment of relations with Tibet.^[5]

Xinjiang

TheMongol Empirebegan to rule modern-dayXinjiangduringtheir conquest of the Qara Khitai (Western Liao).After thedivision of the Mongol Empireand the established of theYuan dynastybyKublai Khan,Xinjiang became a battle place between the Yuan dynasty and theChagatai Khanate.

Kublai attempted to subject Kaidu to an economic siege by entrenching his forces in the Tarim basin and over the Uyghurs, cutting him off from these resources. In 1276 he stationed a garrison inKhotanand reinforced it several times between 1278 and 1283. In 1278 he stationed a garrison atBeshbalik,which from 1280 was under the Chinese general Qi Gongzhi. From 1281 to 1286 the garrison was reinforced, and the Chagatai prince Ajiqi was also sent to join the garrison.^[6]In 1281, 22 postal stations were set up between Beshbalik and Shanxi province, and more were set up to link Khotan and Cherchen in 1286. Military agricultural colonies (tuntianwere set up in Beshbalik in 1283 and 1286, and more set up between Khotan and Cherchen in 1287 in response to a famine in the Tarim basin. In 1278 a Qara Qocho regional supervision bureau was established, which later become a Pacification bureau, and in 1281, a Beshbalik protectorate was established. Through these, Yuan law and currency was imposed on the region.^[6]However, these measures were unsuccessful as the entire region was repeatedly raided by Kaidu and his allies. From 1288 to 1289 the Yuan was forced to start withdrawing from Kashgar, Khotan and Beshbalik back to the interior of China.^[6]

The Yuan had shortly put most of present-day Xinjiang under its control under the Bechbaliq province ( biệt thất bát lí hành tỉnh ), but they were occupied by the Chagatai Khanate in 1286. After a long-time war between them, most of Xinjiang became under the control of the Chagatai Khanate, while the Yuan dynasty only retained control over the eastern part of Xinjiang. No province was set up again by the Yuan dynasty in Xinjiang, although the Yuan imperial court did set up an institution named Qara-hoja commandery "Cáp lạt hỏa châu tổng quản phủ" in eastern Xinjiang in 1330, which was directly governed by the Yuan dynasty. After the fall of the Yuan dynasty in 1368, theKara Delkhanate was founded inHamiby the Yuan prince Gunashiri, a descendant ofChagatai Khan.

Suzerainty over western khanates

Yuan dynasty (in green) and the three western khanates, c. 1300.

The Yuan dynasty retained nominal political suzerainty over the whole Mongol Empire, including the three western khanates: theGolden HordeinRussia,theChagatai KhanateinCentral Asiaand theIlkhanateinIran.

Khitan and Han Chinese administrators were sent to Bukhara and Samarqand to govern by the Mongols in the 1220s and this was witnessed byQiu Chujion his way to meet Genghis Khan in Afghanistan.^[7]Chinese siege engineers were deployed in Iran and Iraq by the Ilkhanate.^[8]^[9]

Han Chinese were sent to the Upper Yenisei valley as weavers, into Samarkand and Outer Mongolia as craftsmen as noticed by Ch'ang-ch'un in 1221-22 when he travelled to Kabul from Beijing and they moved to Russia and Iran. The Euphrates and Tigris basins were irrigated by Chinese hydraulic engineers and in 1258 at the siege of Baghdad one of Hulagu Khan's generals was Han Chinese. Because of the Mongols, Chinese influenced architecture, music, ceramics and Persian miniatures in the Golden Horde and Il-khan. Han Chinese, Mongols, Uighurs, Venetians and Geonese all lived in Tabriz were paper money was introduced and movable type printing and wood engraving as well as paper money, printed fabrics and playing cards spread from china to Europe due to the Mongols. wood engraving which was Chinese was mentioned in the 1313 book "Treasure of the Il-khan on the Sciences of Cathay" which was about Chinese medicine and translated by Rashid al-Din.^[10]

The KhitanYelü Chucaiwas sent by the Mongols to Central Asia^[11]^[12]

Since theToluid Civil Warin the 1260s, theMongol Empireover timepolitically fragmentedinto four khanates. Kublai Khan continued to hold the nominal title ofKhaganand claimed the rule over the whole Mongol Empire, but he was unable to do so due to the disintegrated nature of the empire. TheBerke–Hulagu waralong with theKaidu–Kublai war(1268–1301) that lasted a few decades accelerated this process.

After the death ofKublai Khanin 1294 and theIslamizationof the Ilkhanate in 1295, IlkhanGhazansent his envoys to greet Kublai Khan's successor and second Yuan emperorTemürin 1298, who responded favorably. The Ilkhanid envoys presentedtributeto Temür and inspected properties granted to Hulagu inNorth China.^[13]They stayed at the Yuan capital (Khanbaliq,modernBeijing) for four years. The Ilkhanate, while functionally autonomous, remained the most friendly khanate to the Yuan dynasty among the three western khanates until its downfall in the 1330s.

Around 1300,KaiduandDuwaof the Chagatai Khanate mobilized a large army to attackKarakorum(under Yuan control) during the final stage of the Kaidu–Kublai war. The Yuan army suffered heavy losses while both sides could not make any decisive victory in September. Duwa was wounded in the battle and Kaidu died soon thereafter. After that, Duwa, Kaidu's son Chapar,Tokhtaof the Golden Horde andIlkhan Oljeitu(Ghazan's successor) negotiated peace with Temür Khan in 1304 and agreed him to be their nominal overlord.^[14]^{[better source needed]}This established the nominal suzerainty of the Yuan dynasty over the western khanates.

In 1306, more fighting between Duwa and Chapar soon broke out over the question of territory. Temür backed Duwa and sent a large army underKhayisanin the fall of 1306, and Chapar finally surrendered. The territory controlled by Chapar was divided up by the Chagataids and the Yuan. The nominal supremacy of the Yuan, based on the same foundations as that of the earlier Khagans (even though there were continued border clashes among them), lasted until 1368, when the Yuan dynasty was replaced by theMing dynastyin China.

Rashid al-din said that the Chinese millet grain known as tuki was brought by Han Chinese first to Marv in Turkmenistan and then to Iranian Azerbaijan in Khoy and Tabriz. Later Han Chinese were reported to be the most significant ethnicity generations later in Khoi around 1340 when Mustawfi wrote about them.^[15]

The Tabriz based Rob'-e Rashidi and the Maraghe observatory in Ilkhanid Iran had scientists and scholars of Chinese origin. The "Book of Precious Presents or the Medicine of the Chinese People" (Tansuq-name ya tebb-e ahl-e Kheta) was translated by people working under Rashid-al-Din Fazl-Allah to Persian from Chinese and it was about Chinese medicine.^[16]^[17]

The four khanates continued to interact with one another in the first half of the 14th century. They formed alliances, fought one another, exchanged envoys, and traded commercial products. In the case of the Yuan dynasty based in China and the Ilkhanate based in Iran, there was an extensive program of cultural and scientific interaction, while exercising extensive autonomy in the conduct of their internal affairs.^[18]This also set an example for the later cultural and scientific interaction between the Ming dynasty in China and theTimurid Empirein Iran.

References

^Murowchick, Robert E. (1994).China: Ancient Culture, Modern Land.Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p.145.ISBN 0-8061-2683-3.
^Ars Orientalis:9.{{cite journal}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
^Norbu, Dawa (2001).China's Tibet Policy.Psychology Press. p. 139.ISBN 9780700704743.
^Wylie. p. 104.To counterbalance the political power of the lama, Khubilai appointed civil administrators at the Sa-skya to supervise the mongol regency.{{cite book}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
^Rossabi, Morris(1983).China Among Equals: The Middle Kingdom and Its Neighbors, 10th–14th Centuries.Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 194.ISBN 0-520-04383-9.
^^a ^b ^cMichal Biran (2013).Qaidu and the Rise of the Independent Mongol State In Central Asia.Routledge. pp. 42–44.ISBN 978-1136800375.
^Buell, Paul D. "Sino-Khitan Administration in Mongol Bukhara." Journal of Asian History, vol. 13, no. 2, 1979, pp. 121–51. Accessed 28 July 2022.
^Raphael, Kate. "Mongol Siege Warfare on the Banks of the Euphrates and the Question of Gunpowder (1260-1312)." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 19, no. 3, 2009, pp. 355–70. JSTOR, Mongol Siege Warfare on the Banks of the Euphrates and the Question of Gunpowder (1260-1312) on JSTOR. Accessed 28 Jul. 2022.
^Li, Chi Ch'ang (1888).The Travels of Ch'ang Ch'un to the West, 1220-1223 recorded by his disciple Li Chi Ch'ang.Translated by Bretschneider, E.
^Gernet, Jacques (1996). Cambridge University Press (ed.).A History of Chinese Civilization.Translated by J. R. Foster, Charles Hartman. Cambridge University Press. p. 377.ISBN 0521497817.
^Schivatcheva, Tina (13 December 2017). ""Impressions of Early 13th century Central Asia as seen in the poetry of Yelü Chucai": a guest lecture by Dr. Sally Church with Prof. Qiu Jiangning ".Joined-up History.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|url=(help)
^Ye-lü, Ch'u ts'ai (1888).Account of a Journey to the West (Si Yu Lu), 1219-1224.translated by E. Bretschneider.
^Allsen, Thomas T.(2001).Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia.Cambridge University Press. p.34.ISBN 0-521-80335-7.
^Д.Цэен-Ойдов.Чингис Богдоос Лигдэн хутагт хүртэл 36 хаад.
^Allsen, Thomas T. (2004).Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia.Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization (illustrated, reprint, revised ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 121.ISBN 052160270X.
^Vesel, Ziva; Brentjes, Sonja (2021). "Science in Persian". In Utas, Bo (ed.).Persian Prose: A History of Persian Literature.Vol. V. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 255.ISBN 978-0755617814.
^Boyd, Kelly, ed. (1999).Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing, Volume 1.Taylor & Francis. p. 1466.ISBN 1884964338.
^Twitchett, Denis C.; Franke, Herbert; Fairbank, John King.The Cambridge History of China.Vol. 6. p. 413.

[1] Murowchick, Robert E. (1994).China: Ancient Culture, Modern Land.Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p.145.ISBN 0-8061-2683-3.

[2] Ars Orientalis:9.{{cite journal}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)

[China's_Tibet_Policy-3] Norbu, Dawa (2001).China's Tibet Policy.Psychology Press. p. 139.ISBN 9780700704743.

[4] Wylie. p. 104.To counterbalance the political power of the lama, Khubilai appointed civil administrators at the Sa-skya to supervise the mongol regency.{{cite book}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)

[Rossabi194-5] Rossabi, Morris(1983).China Among Equals: The Middle Kingdom and Its Neighbors, 10th–14th Centuries.Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 194.ISBN 0-520-04383-9.

[biran-6] Michal Biran (2013).Qaidu and the Rise of the Independent Mongol State In Central Asia.Routledge. pp. 42–44.ISBN 978-1136800375.

[7] Buell, Paul D. "Sino-Khitan Administration in Mongol Bukhara." Journal of Asian History, vol. 13, no. 2, 1979, pp. 121–51. Accessed 28 July 2022.

[8] Raphael, Kate. "Mongol Siege Warfare on the Banks of the Euphrates and the Question of Gunpowder (1260-1312)." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 19, no. 3, 2009, pp. 355–70. JSTOR, Mongol Siege Warfare on the Banks of the Euphrates and the Question of Gunpowder (1260-1312) on JSTOR. Accessed 28 Jul. 2022.

[9] Li, Chi Ch'ang (1888).The Travels of Ch'ang Ch'un to the West, 1220-1223 recorded by his disciple Li Chi Ch'ang.Translated by Bretschneider, E.

[10] Gernet, Jacques (1996). Cambridge University Press (ed.).A History of Chinese Civilization.Translated by J. R. Foster, Charles Hartman. Cambridge University Press. p. 377.ISBN 0521497817.

[11] Schivatcheva, Tina (13 December 2017). ""Impressions of Early 13th century Central Asia as seen in the poetry of Yelü Chucai": a guest lecture by Dr. Sally Church with Prof. Qiu Jiangning ".Joined-up History.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|url=(help)

[12] Ye-lü, Ch'u ts'ai (1888).Account of a Journey to the West (Si Yu Lu), 1219-1224.translated by E. Bretschneider.

[13] Allsen, Thomas T.(2001).Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia.Cambridge University Press. p.34.ISBN 0-521-80335-7.

[14] Д.Цэен-Ойдов.Чингис Богдоос Лигдэн хутагт хүртэл 36 хаад.

[15] Allsen, Thomas T. (2004).Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia.Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization (illustrated, reprint, revised ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 121.ISBN 052160270X.

[16] Vesel, Ziva; Brentjes, Sonja (2021). "Science in Persian". In Utas, Bo (ed.).Persian Prose: A History of Persian Literature.Vol. V. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 255.ISBN 978-0755617814.

[17] Boyd, Kelly, ed. (1999).Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing, Volume 1.Taylor & Francis. p. 1466.ISBN 1884964338.

[18] Twitchett, Denis C.; Franke, Herbert; Fairbank, John King.The Cambridge History of China.Vol. 6. p. 413.

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v t e Yuan dynastytopics
History	Division of the Mongol Empire Toluid Civil War Kaidu–Kublai war Kublai Khan's campaigns Mongol conquest of China anti-Mongol fortresses conquest of the Song dynasty Battle of Xiangyang Yamen Sakhalin Japan Vietnam Battle of Bạch Đằng (1288) Java invasion Burma Battle of Ngasaunggyan Pagan Second Mongol invasion of Burma Esen Buqa–Ayurbarwada war War of the Two Capitals 1344 Yellow River flood Red Turban Rebellions Red Turban invasions of Goryeo Battle of Lake Poyang Ispah rebellion
Government	Emperors family tree Empresses Imperial Preceptor Zhongshu Sheng Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs Administrative divisions of the Yuan dynasty Yuan dynasty in Inner Asia Mongolia Manchuria Tibet Dpon-chen Goryeo under Mongol rule
Science and technology	Jade Mirror of the Four Unknowns Jiaochao Coinage Shiyi Dexiaofang Nong Shu
Architecture	Cloud Platform at Juyong Pass Gulou and Zhonglou (Beijing) Miaoying Temple Pagoda of Bailin Temple Temple of Azure Clouds Jinan Great Southern Mosque
Society and culture	Yuan poetry History of Liao Jin Song Shilin Guangji Menggu Ziyun Wenxian Tongkao Zhongyuan Yinyun The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars Zaju The Chalk Circle The Injustice to Dou E The Orphan of Zhao The Story of the Western Wing Semu Islam Fashion
Other topics	Mongols Mongol Empire Borjigin ʼPhags-pa script History of Yuan Khanbaliq Shangdu Northern Yuan