Mongol Conquests - Political Divisions and Vassals

Political Divisions and Vassals

The early Mongol Empire was divided into five main parts and various appanage khanates. The most prominent sections were:

• Mongolia, Southern Siberia and Manchuria under Karakorum;
• North China and Tibet under Yanjing Department;
• Khorazm, Transoxiana and the Hami Oases under Beshbalik Department
• Persia, Georgia, Armenia, Cilicia and Turkey (former Seljuk ruled parts) under Amu Dar'ya Department
• Golden Horde, which was further subdivided into 10 provinces.

When Genghis Khan was campaigning in Central Asia, his general Muqali (1170–1223) attempted to set up provinces and establish branch departments of state affairs. Genghis's successor Ögedei abolished them, instead dividing the areas of North China into 10 routes (lu, 路) according to the suggestion of Yelü Chucai, a prominent Confucian statesman of Khitan ethnicity. Ögedei also divided the empire into separate Beshbalik and Yanjing administrations, while the Headquarters in Karakorum directly dealt with Manchuria, Mongolia and Southern Siberia. Late in Ögedei's reign, an Amu Darya administration was established. Under Möngke, these administrations were renamed Branch Departments.

Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, made significant reforms to the existing institutions. He established the Yuan Dynasty in 1271 and assumed the role of a Chinese emperor. The Yuan forces seized South China by defeating the Southern Song Dynasty, and Kublai became the emperor of all China. The territory of the Yuan Dynasty was divided into the Central Region (腹裏) and places under control of various Xing Zhongshusheng (行中書省, "branch secretariats") or the Xuanzheng Institute (宣政院).