Mongol Empire

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The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire . It emerged from the unification of Mongol and Turkic tribes in modern day Mongolia, and grew through invasions, after Genghis Khan had been proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206. At its greatest extent it stretched from the Danube to the Sea of Japan and from Arctic to Camboja, covering over 33,000,000 km2 (12,741,000 sq mi), 22% of the Earth's total land area, and held sway over a population of over 100 million people. It is often identified as the "Mongol World Empire" because it spanned much of Eurasia.As a result of the empire's conquests and political and economic impact on most of the Old World, its wars with other great powers in Africa, Asia and Europe are also believed to be an ancient world war.Under the Mongols new technologies, various commodities and ideologies were disseminated and exchanged across Eurasia.

However, the empire began to split following the succession war in 1260-1264, with the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate being de facto independent and refusing to accept Kublai Khan as Khagan. By the time of Kublai Khan's death, the Mongol Empire had already fractured into four separate khanates or empires, each pursuing its own separate interests and objectives. But the Mongol Empire as a whole remained strong and united. The Great Khans of the Yuan Dynasty assumed the role of Chinese emperors and fixed their capital at Khanbaliq (modern-day Beijing) from old Mongol capital Karakorum. Although other khanates accepted them as their titular suzerains and sent tributes and some support after the peace treaty in 1304, the three western khanates were virtually independent, and they each continued their own separate developments as sovereign states. Eventually the Mongol rule in China fell in 1368 though the Genghisid Borjigin Dynasty survived in Mongolia until the 17th century.