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Mongol Empire

Explorer · ages 7 and underAdapted from Wikipedia
A historical painted portrait of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, from an album of Yuan emperor portraits made about 700 years ago.

The Mongol Empire was the largest connected empire in history. It began in the land that is now Mongolia, in East Asia. At its biggest, it stretched from the Sea of Japan to Eastern Europe.

A Leader Named Genghis Khan

Many groups of people joined together in the Mongol heartland. A man named Temüjin led them. He became known as Genghis Khan. In 1206, a council chose him as ruler of all the Mongols.

The empire grew under his rule and under the rule of his family. It linked the East with the West. Goods, ideas, and new inventions were shared across Eurasia. This calm and busy time is called the Pax Mongolica.

Life in the Empire

People in the empire followed many different religions, such as Buddhism and Christianity. Genghis Khan let people follow their own beliefs. The Mongols also had a fast mail system. Riders carried messages from one station to the next, along with fresh horses.

Merchants traveled on good roads that linked many lands. This network is called the Silk Road. Famous travelers like Marco Polo used it.

Changes Over Time

Later, family members did not always agree about who should lead. Because of this, the empire split into smaller states. Kublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, ruled the eastern part. He started the Yuan dynasty in China. He moved his home to a city that is now Beijing.

Today, the Mongol Empire is remembered as a big part of world history. It helped people in faraway lands learn about each other.

Quiz time!

3 questions about Mongol Empire

Question 1 of 3

Where did the Mongol Empire begin?

Pictures

A map of the states and peoples of the Mongolian Plateau and nearby regions before the Mongol Empire was formed in the early 1200s.
A 15th-century manuscript painting showing Temüjin being proclaimed Genghis Khan in 1206, when he became the leader of the Mongols.
A painting from the Jami al-Tawarikh showing the coronation of Ögedei Khan in 1229, the son of Genghis Khan who became the second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.
Batu Khan seated on his throne, as shown in a historical manuscript illustration by the Persian historian Rashid al-Din. Batu Khan founded the Golden Horde, a Mongol state in the 1200s.
A portrait of Hulagu Khan, a Mongol leader who founded the Ilkhanate, a kingdom in western Asia, in the 1200s.
A painting from a 14th-century Persian manuscript showing mounted warriors chasing their enemies on horseback. It was made in Tabriz as part of Rashid-ad-Din's history book.
The Turkic name 'kür uluγ ulus', meaning the 'whole great nation', as written in Güyük Khan's letter, referring to the Mongol Empire.
A historical letter from Great Khan Güyük to Pope Innocent IV, written in Persian and brought to Europe in the 1240s. Its seal is inscribed in Mongolian script.
A carved stone tortoise, called a bixi, at Karakorum in Mongolia. Bixi statues often carry stone tablets and were used to support monuments.
14th-century depiction of Mongol warriors in lamellar armour, on Mongolian ponies and using unique cavalry techniques, pursuing their enemy
Tribal confederations of the Mongolian steppe (c. 12th century)
Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan's grandson and founder of the Yuan dynasty
The funeral of Chagatai Khan
Mongol rider, Yuan dynasty
Persian miniature depicting Ghazan's conversion from Buddhism to Islam
A 1363 astronomical handbook with Middle Mongolian glosses. Known as the Sanjufini Zij.
Tuda Mengu of the Golden Horde
Map showing the boundary of the 13th-century Mongol Empire compared to today's Mongols in Mongolia, Russia, and China
Tokhtamysh and the armies of the Golden Horde initiate the siege of Moscow in 1382.

Keep exploring

Genghis Khan
Mongolia
East Asia
Mongols
Eurasia
Christianity

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Mongol Empire, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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