WarlordA warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of history, albeit in a variety of different capacities within the political, economic, and social structure of states or ungoverned territories. The term is most often applied to China in the mid-19th century and the early 20th century. The term can also be used for any supreme military leader.
KhanbaliqKhanbaliq or Dadu of Yuan () was the winter capital of the Yuan dynasty of China in what is now Beijing, the capital of China today. It was located at the center of modern Beijing. The Secretariat directly administered the Central Region () of the Yuan dynasty (comprising present-day Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, and parts of Henan and Inner Mongolia) and dictated policies for the other provinces. Kublai (Emperor Shizu of Yuan) and his successors also claimed supremacy over the entire Mongol Empire following the death of Möngke (Kublai's brother and predecessor) in 1259.
KarakorumKarakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, Kharkhorum; Mongolian Script:, Qaraqorum; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in the northwestern corner of the Övörkhangai Province of modern-day Mongolia, near the present town of Kharkhorin and adjacent to the Erdene Zuu Monastery, which is likely the oldest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. They are in the upper part of the World Heritage Site Orkhon Valley.
Jami' al-tawarikhThe Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (Persian/Arabic: مجموعه تاريخ/جامع التواريخ, Compendium of Chronicles) is a work of literature and history, produced in the Mongol Ilkhanate. Written by Rashid al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318 AD) at the start of the 14th century, the breadth of coverage of the work has caused it to be called "the first world history". It was in three volumes and published in Arabic and Persian versions. The surviving portions total approximately 400 pages of the original work.
BerkeBerke Khan (died 1266) (also Birkai; Бэрх хаан, Бәркә хан) was a grandson of Genghis Khan and a Mongol military commander and ruler of the Golden Horde (division of the Mongol Empire) who effectively consolidated the power of the Blue Horde and White Horde from 1257 to 1266. He succeeded his brother Batu Khan of the Blue Horde (West), and was responsible for the first official establishment of Islam in a khanate of the Mongol Empire.
Secret History of the MongolsThe Secret History of the Mongols (Middle Mongol: Mongɣol‐un niɣuca tobciyan; Traditional Mongolian: Mongɣol‐un niɣuca tobcii'a, Khalkha Mongolian: Монголын нууц товчоо, ; ) is the oldest surviving literary work in the Mongolian language. It was written for the Mongol royal family some time after the 1227 death of Genghis Khan (born Temujin). The author is anonymous and probably originally wrote in the Mongolian script, but the surviving texts all derive from transcriptions or translations into Chinese characters that date from the end of the 14th century and were compiled by the Ming dynasty under the title The Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty ().
MerkitThe Merkit (literally "skillful/wise ones"; Mergid; ) was one of the five major tribal confederations (khanlig) of probably Mongol or Turkic origin in the 12th century Mongolian Plateau. The Merkits lived in the basins of the Selenga and lower Orkhon River (modern south Buryatia and Selenge Province). After a struggle of over 20 years, they were defeated in 1200 by Genghis Khan and were incorporated into the Mongol Empire.
KurultaiKurultai (kʊrʊlˈtaɪ; ) was a political and military council of ancient Mongol and Turkic chiefs and khans. The root of the word is Proto-Mongolic *kura-, *kurija- "to collect, to gather" from which is formed khural meaning "meeting" or "assembly" in Turkic and Mongolian languages. Khuraldai, khuruldai or khuraldaan means "gathering" or, more literally, "intergatheration". From this same root arises the Mongolian word khurim (хурим), which means "feast" and originally referred to large festive gatherings on the steppe but is used mainly in the sense of "wedding" in modern times.
Orda (organization)An orda (also ordu, ordo, or ordon) or horde was a historical sociopolitical and military structure found on the Eurasian Steppe, usually associated with the Turkic and Mongol peoples. This form of entity can be seen as the regional equivalent of a clan or a tribe. Some successful ordas gave rise to khanates. While the East Slavic term ordo and later derived term horda/horde were in origin borrowings from the Turkic term ordo for "camp, headquarters", the original term did not carry the meaning of a large khanate such as the Golden Horde.
Dali KingdomThe Dali Kingdom, also known as the Dali State (; Bai: Dablit Guaif), was a state situated in modern Yunnan province, China from 937 until 1253. In 1253, it was conquered by the Mongols but members of its former ruling dynasty continued to administer the area as tusi chiefs under the auspices of the Yuan dynasty until the Ming conquest of Yunnan in 1382. Today the former capital of the Dali Kingdom is still called Dali in modern Yunnan Province. The Dali Kingdom takes its name from Dali City.
