Decline and Fall

The Four Khanates

in 1260 the Mongol Empire split into four groups called khanates. These four khanates were the  Yuan Dynasty based in China, the Golden Horde in Russia/Pontic Steppes,  the Ilkhanate in Persia/Middle East, and the Changhatai in Central Asia. 

Decline and Fall of the Yuan Dynasty

The yuan Dynasty was created by Kublai Khan (picture on the left) around 1260, and fell in 1368 when Toghon Temur, the last mongol emperor was driven out of China. The native Chinese people were definitely not happy with the Mongol rule and revolts against the dynasty began to become more and more frequent as time went by. Eventually, because the Mongol army was no longer as strong as it was before, the empire fell as the Mongol army could not deal with the continued revolts. Another factor that contributed to the eviction of the Mongols was that their population was much smaller than the population of native Chinese in the area. The yuan Dynasty was replaced by the Ming Dynasty.

Decline and Fall of the Ilkhanate

The Ilkhanate fell some time after the death of the ninth Ilkhan Abu Sa'id in 1335. However, it was not revolts nor war that caused the khanate to fall. In fact, it was that  Abu Sa'id had the same kind of difficulty Henry VIII of England had. Abu Sa'id could not produce a male heir to his position. When he died in 1335, the question of succession began eminent. The khante tried many different expedients, but they all failed. Eventually, the central government crumbled without a leader and the land was split up and some was taken over by warlords.

Decline and Fall of the Golden Horde

In the last quarter of the 14th century, the Golden Horde began to lose its power. The Horde was defeated by the grand prince of Moscow at the battle on Kulikovo Plain in 1380. Afterwards, the Mongols invade and destroy  Sarai Berke, located in Poland. After that success, the Golden Horde remained a strong force for another two centuries. However, there were many internal problems and the Khanate slowly fell into disarray. The Golden Horde fell in 1502 when the Crimean Khan attacked what was left of them after they were already weakened by the Black Death , the murder of the successor to the Golden horde's leader position, and a split into different khanates, some of the most important ones being the Crimea, Astrakhan, and Kazan Khanates. 

Decline and Fall of the Chagatai Khanate

The Chagatai Khanate split into two parts in the 1340's and everything began to disintegrate. In the 14th century Chagatain leaders bega to convert to Islam, showing the beginning of the Mongols assimilating to the Turkic people they ruled over. Islam was the religion of the Turkic people and they spoke Turkic. Eventually, the Chagatain leaders changed the official language of the Khanate from Mongolian to Chagatai Turkic. In the end, the Khanate was defeated by outside enemies and fell.