Kublai Khan

Kublai Khan (1215–1294) was a grandson of Genghis Khan who became Great Khan of the Mongols in 1260 and founded China's Yuan dynasty. When he was nine, Genghis is said to have praised his words after the boy's first hunt as full of wisdom. After Möngke died on campaign in 1259, Kublai was proclaimed khan at Kaiping in 1260; he took four years to defeat Ariq Böke, and the war split the empire into rival khanates.

In 1271 he took the dynastic name Great Yuan and made Dadu his capital. Xiangyang fell in 1273, and in 1279 the last Song loyalists were crushed at Yamen, making him the first non-Han ruler of all China. His Japan and Java invasions failed.

After his wife Chabi and heir Zhenjin died, he sank into gout and depression. He died on 18 February 1294, and his grandson Temür succeeded as second Yuan emperor.