Kublai Khan

Kublai or Khubilai Khan (September 23, 1215 – February 18, 1294) (Хубилай хаан; Hūbìliè), was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China. As the second son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki and a grandson of Genghis Khan, he claimed the title of Khagan of the Ikh Mongol Uls (Mongol Empire) in 1260 after the death of his older brother Möngke in the previous year, though his younger brother Ariq Böke was also given this title in the Mongolian capital at Karakorum. He eventually won the battle against Ariq Böke in 1264, and the succession war essentially marked the beginning of the civil war of the Mongol empire. But the Mongol Empire, as a whole, remained united and strong. Kublai's influence was still strong in the Ilkhanate and Golden Horde, western parts of the Mongol Empire. His realm reached from the Pacific to the Urals, from Siberia to Afghanistan – one fifth of the world's inhabited land area.