A people of this name is mentioned as early as the

records of the Tang Empire, living as nomads in northern

Eurasia. After 1206 they established an enormous empire

under Genghis Khan, linking western and eastern

Eurasia.

Genghis Khan (ca. 1167–1227) The title of Temüjin when he

ruled the Mongols (1206–1227). It means the “oceanic” or

“universal” leader. Genghis Khan was the founder of the

Mongol Empire

A way of life, forced by a scarcity of resources, in

which groups of people continually migrate to find pastures

and water.

 Empire created in China and

Siberia by Khubilai Kha

A bacterial disease of fleas that can be

transmitted by flea bites to rodents and humans; humans 

in late stages of the illness can spread the bacteria by 

coughing. Because of its very high mortality rate and the

difficulty of preventing its spread, major outbreaks have

created crises in many parts of the world

A “secondary” or “peripheral” khan based in Persia.

The Il-khans’ khanate was founded by Hülegü, a grandson

of Genghis Khan, and was based at Tabriz in modern

Azerbaijan. It controlled much of Iran and Iraq

 Mongol khanate founded by Genghis Khan’s

grandson Batu. It was based in southern Russia and quickly

adopted both the Turkic language and Islam. Also known as

the Kipchak Horde

(1336–1405) Member of a prominent family of the

Mongols’ Jagadai Khanate, Timur through conquest gained control over much of Central Asia and Iran. He consolidated

the status of Sunni Islam as orthodox, and his descendants,

the Timurids, maintained his empire for nearly a century

and founded the Mughal Empire in India.

Adviser to the Il-khan ruler Ghazan,

who converted to Islam on Rashid’s advice

(1201–1274) Persian mathematician and

cosmologist whose academy near Tabriz provided the 

model for the movement of the planets that helped to

inspire the Copernican model of the solar system.

r (1220–1263) Prince of Novgorod (r. 1236–

1263). He submitted to the invading Mongols in 1240 and

received recognition as the leader of the Russian princes

under the Golden Horde.

From Latin caesar, this Russian title for a monarch

was first used in reference to a Russian ruler by Ivan III.

Ottoman Empire Islamic state founded by Osman in northwestern Anatolia ca. 1300. After the fall of the Byzantine

Empire, the Ottoman Empire was based at Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) from 1453 to 1922. It encompassed

lands in the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus, and

eastern Europe.

Last of the Mongol Great Khans

(r. 1260–1294) and founder of the Yuan Empire

China’s northern capital, first used as an imperial

capital in 906 and now the capital of the People’s Republic 

of China

(1368–1644) Empire based in China that Zhu

Yuanzhang established after the overthrow of the Yuan

Empire. The Ming emperor Yongle sponsored the building

of the Forbidden City and the voyages of Zheng He. The

later years of the Ming saw a slowdown in technological

development and economic decline.

An imperial eunuch and Muslim,

entrusted by the Ming emperor Yongle with a series of state

voyages that took his gigantic ships through the Indian

Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa.

The Yi dynasty ruled Korea from the fall of

the Koryo kingdom to the colonization of Korea by

Japan

The “divine wind,” which the Japanese credited

with blowing Mongol invaders away from their shores in

1281.

The second of Japan’s military governments headed by a shogun (a military ruler).

Sometimes called the Muromachi Shogunate.