Lingbei (Yuan province)

The Yuan dynasty ruled over the Mongolian Plateau, including both Inner and Outer Mongolia as well as part of southern Siberia, between 1271 and 1368. The Mongolian Plateau is where the ruling Mongol Borjigin clan of the Yuan dynasty came from, thus it enjoyed a somewhat special status during the Yuan dynasty, although the capital of the dynasty had been moved from Karakorum to Khanbaliq (modern Beijing) since the beginning of Kublai Khan's reign, and Mongolia had been converted into a regular province, known as the province of Lingbei (Chinese: 嶺北行省), by the early 14th century.

History

The Mongols came from the Mongolian steppe, and Karakorum was the capital of the Mongol Empire until 1260. During the Toluid Civil War, Mongolia was controlled by Ariq Böke, a younger brother of Kublai Khan. After Kublai's victory over Ariq Böke, the Yuan dynasty was founded in China in 1271, and both North China and Mongolia were put within the Central Region (腹裏) directly governed by the Zhongshu Sheng of the Yuan at the capital Khanbaliq (Dadu). Even though Karakorum was no longer the empire's capital and Mongolia had partially lost its importance by now, as homeland of the Mongols, it still had a strong influence both politically and militarily over other parts of the empire. There were many Mongolian princes concentrated in the Mongolian steppe, whose influence extended into the Yuan capital. In fact, in order to maintain his claim as the Great Khan, Kublai Khan made significant efforts to control and restore peace in Mongolia after the Toluid Civil War. In 1266, Nomukhan, one of Kublai's favorite sons, was dispatched to Mongolia to guard the north.

During the Kaidu–Kublai war which lasted a few decades, Kaidu, the de facto ruler of the Chagatai Khanate, tried to take control of Mongolia from Kublai Khan.