Geographic HistoryMap of the Yuan dynasty
On the Geographic History map, the Yuan dynasty appears from 1272 to 1369. It reaches its largest mapped extent in 1280: about 11 million km² across 171 provinces.
The Yuan dynasty was founded by Kublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, who proclaimed it in 1271 and completed the conquest of the Southern Song in 1279. It ruled China and Mongolia from Khanbaliq, today's Beijing, and also held Tibet under its authority; Marco Polo's account of Kublai's court made it famous in Europe. Rebellions drove the Mongols out of China in 1368, when the Ming took power.
Mapped area over time
The Yuan dynasty on the world maps
Largest other states in 1280
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Golden Horde | 4.8 million km² |
| Ilkhanate | 3.5 million km² |
| Chagatai Khanate | 2.3 million km² |
| Mamluk Sultanate | 1.4 million km² |
| Mali Empire | 960 thousand km² |
| Yeren | 960 thousand km² |
| Delhi | 950 thousand km² |
| Kanem Bornu | 940 thousand km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
